Aaron Hand

Editor-in-Chief

Aw 404221 Thumbnail 2 3bc58cfa V3

Robots Connect With Food in Hygienic Environments

At PACK EXPO Las Vegas, Stäubli demos its capabilities in fresh food, including work in washdown and sterile environments, with its fully enclosed robots.

Q130WD can sensor from Turck

Can Detection Gets an Upgrade

Besides adding washdown capability, the Q130WD sensor from Turck eliminates incidental contact with cans and improves LED visibility.

Agr's Pilot Vision+ is an in-blowmolder vision inspection system particularly suited to containers with high percentages of recycled PET.

Finding Defects, Color Variations in Plastic Bottles

The Pilot Vision+ in-blowmolder inspection system from Agr International tackles challenges from increased levels of recycled PET.

Aw 403611 Thumbnail 2 Ccb1b754 V3

End-to-End Cobot Solution for Blessings in a Backpack

System integrator Allied Technology worked with Universal Robots to create a compact system for packaging food into bags for kids in need.

More from Aaron Hand

Putting the pieces together for a secure industry

Cybersecurity alliances are a key part of protecting the industrial sector from an increasingly coordinated and sophisticated attack base. How much can—or should—automation vendors work collaboratively for the good of all?

Jason Sagstetter, H.B. Fuller

Wearables improve troubleshooting through live streaming

Keeping it relatively simple, adhesive maker H.B. Fuller is finding great value in giving its field workers Google Glasses in order to video stream issues to remote experts.

Bill Taylor, BWI Group

Partnership essential to build your automation

Even more than the technology itself, a tier-one automotive supplier found how important it was to have a responsive automation supplier when trying to build a new plant in Indiana—and reduce machine control costs by 25 percent.

Understanding what a digital twin could do for you

From virtual commissioning to performance modeling, digital twin technology can provide a wide array of benefits. It’s important to decide first what you want from it to know what you’ll need to put into it.

A more connected, dynamic and adaptable wind energy system helps optimize both the production of wind turbines and the operation of them after installation. Source: GE

Data insight helps renewables weather the market

Whether the weather is sunny or whether the weather is windy, the conversation in making renewable energy a cost-effective part of the grid has turned to the optimization of existing assets—a subject near and dear to the manufacturing and processing industries.

Visual MESA Multi-Period Optimizer 6 allows companies to incorporate more precise forecasts into the decision-making process over various time horizons when dealing with multiple time-dependent constraints.

High-fidelity analytics help optimize energy across process industries

KBC, a Yokogawa company, has introduced Visual MESA Multi-Period Optimizer 6 to reduce costly uncertainty in energy use over multiple time periods across generation portfolios.

Jim Heppelmann and Blake Moret take the stage together at Automation Fair 2018 to discuss their new partnership.

Rockwell and PTC launch collaborative digital suite

The first joint product introduced since the two companies announced their partnership earlier this year, FactoryTalk InnovationSuite combines the respective IT and OT capabilities to accelerate digital transformation strategies.

The partnership between Atos and Nozomi brings together data analysis capabilities not only for real-time cybersecurity protection, but to provide the predictive maintenance and operational analysis that the increased visibility makes possible as well.

Partnership combines cybersecurity with predictive maintenance

Bringing data analytics and artificial intelligence together for IT/OT insights, Atos and Nozomi Networks provide value whether deviations are caused by malicious or nonmalicious events.

Honeywell Process Solutions new president John Rudolph at the Honeywell Users Group (HUG) Americas symposium.

Give workers what they need to succeed

Access to clean data and training attached to business outcomes are two key factors in creating an organization that will survive, emphasizes Honeywell Process Solutions’ new president.