Raising the curtain
When DS Smith Converters introduced automatic paper reel handling at its corrugated board production site in Louth, Lincolnshire, it faced a dilemma. The process was already automated, with operators ensuring that paper reels were received and fed, overseeing the line and transferring pallets of finished goods to storage. However, with the new addition - which transports 2.5 tonne reels along a conveyor track in the factory floor, before automatically picking them up and loading them onto one of five reel stands - there was a safety issue.
PC versus PLC controls
PC-based automation, in various forms, has been around for decades, but PLCs and related systems remain as popular as ever. Brian Tinham examines the differences and establishes which approach makes most sense where
In the driving seat
Motors, drives and controls have been advancing fast, with a goal of improving plant operations, energy efficiency and the bottom line. Steed Webzell explores new systems, emerging best practice and top tips
Instruments for control
Help is at hand for plant engineers facing up to the challenge of handling instrumentation and control. Brian Tinham reports on recent developments
Intrinsically safe?
Hazardous areas and electrical/electronic circuits have been treated with caution ever since the Senghenydd colliery disaster of 1913. Brian Tinham provides a technology update
Make sense of data to boost profit
Significant advances are constantly being made in gathering information about what is really going on in process and industrial plant - especially where located in more remote locations - and in processing this information to reduce downtime and improve profitability.
Mustang reborn
Ford's classic Mustang is now being manufactured at the AutoAlliance car plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, USA. Brian Tinham looks at the automation now behind the all American icon
Living with obsolescence
Obsolescence of components can be a constant headache for plant managers, but there are several ways around the problem, as Mark Venables discovers
Electric Engineers
It's often said that one of the biggest differences between plants in, say, the chemical or pharmaceutical industries, as opposed to those in power generation, is that the former are developed in a laboratory pilot (where the learning is done) and scaled up for mass production, while the latter are built to produce power from day one, but then evolve constantly over time, as efforts are made to improve efficiency and output.
Engineers under pressure
Operations engineers have never been so challenged as they are now. Look at the plethora of new tools, technologies and equipment flooding into industry generally. Look at the heightened requirements of competitiveness and efficiency, tightening budgets and also environmental awareness.