Industrial Automation News for the Next Generation
Welcome to Library.AutomationDirect.com, where the stacks are filled with tons of industrial automation news & you don’t even need a library card! Here you can read articles from the Automation NOTEBOOK loaded with informative technical articles keeping you on top of what’s happening in the automation industry. Company news, press releases, application stories and more are right here at your fingertips!
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Recent Posts
Cooking Up a Partnership With busy lives and schedules often bursting at the seams, ready-to-eat (RTE) food has become a convenience that many indulge in—and some may even rely on. RTE meal providers highlight the taste, quality, and nutrition of their offerings, emphasizing premium ingredients and careful preparation as key selling points. However, an often-overlooked…
Lumher is an automation and control leader in Spain for more than 40 years, Contaval designed the industrial lighting brand Lumher to fill a critical gap in manufacturing environments.
Even desktop- and garage-sized process and manufacturing applications can benefit greatly from automation, but only when the right products are available to help designers easily create a solution. This Control Design October 2025 article titled How to Apply Industrial Control to Small-Batch Distillation: A Case Study in Smart Reflux Automation followed a small team as…
When you grab a snack from a vending machine or pick up a prescription from the pharmacy, you probably don’t think about the sensors working behind the scenes to make those conveniences possible. And chances are good that you don’t wonder about the sophisticated vision systems ensuring product quality or the precise measurement technologies verifying…
Automated Robotic Welding Cuts Production Time by Over 90% A manufacturing company teamed up with a systems integration firm to significantly accelerate an infrastructure project by integrating a robotic welder with precision motion control, intelligent safety systems, and other advanced automation components. Learn more Demystifying Motion Control Anyone who has ever observed a modern factory…
In process industries like oil and gas, chemical, paper, and water treatment, precision is everything. That’s why PLCs—once simple relay replacers—have evolved into powerful, real-time control hubs capable of enabling intelligent operations across increasingly connected systems. To explore how PLC technology is transforming process control, we spoke with Jeff Payne, Director of Business Development at…
Application StoriesAutomation NotebookHMIIssue 56, 2025Operator InterfacePLCProductProgrammable Control
Automation of a Pilot-Scale Distillation Process
Applying large-scale automation concepts and technologies to a small-scale process operation. By Doug Reneker Small-scale distillation processes can take many forms because there are countless possible objectives, but the underlying principles reflect those used by large-scale companies to produce fuel, chemicals, and alcoholic beverages. Boutique and hobbyist practitioners creating products worthy of aging and imbibing…
Building and Growing Robotics Teams AutomationDirect started supporting student robotics efforts in 2005 by sponsoring a single high school robotics team, as part of the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) organization. FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Team 1746, also known as Team OTTO, which began as a community team of students from…
By: Rin Irvin and Josh Waters It’s an engineering truth that there’s no such thing as a perfect solution, just the best solution for the project at hand. This principle remains true for process control applications. PLCs are powerful and comprehensive control solutions, but not every industrial process needs that level of functionality. For every…
Press Releases
October 8th, 2025 – AutomationDirect has added MP Sensor P.Touch series pressure transmitters that are engineered for industrial automation, combining intuitive operation with reliable performance. They feature a TFT touchscreen interface for easy setup and calibration, and support pressure rangers from vacuum to 2000 psig with ± .0.5% accuracy and response times less than 3ms. …
October 1, 2025 – AutomationDirect has added ProSense SBLT series small bore submersible level sensors which deliver precision, reliability, and durability for challenging water level measurement applications. Their ultra-slim 316L stainless steel housing allows easy installation in deep wells, narrow boreholes, and standpipe installations, while extended sensing ranges from 23.1 to 461.3 feet of water…
October 1, 2025 – AutomationDirect has added ProSense XTD2/XTH2 series fixed-range temperature transmitters that convert a variety of temperature sensor input types into precise signals for PLCs, meters, or controllers. The XTD2 series features compact, DIN-rail–mounted signal conditioners that deliver accurate, isolated temperature signals, support multiple sensor types, and provide flexible monitoring solutions. New fixed-range…
October 1, 2025 – AutomationDirect now offers more CCEA TRACKALPHA-PRO series LED light bars which feature a rugged industrial-grade anodized aluminum construction and are ideal for use with medium to large sized industrial machine tools or for use in wet environments. The new 24 VDC and existing 120 VAC high-powered LED lights provide intense, uniform…
October 1, 2025 – AutomationDirect has added ProSense MAE1 series magnetic proximity sensors which offer excellent value for general industrial applications. They provide non-contact object detection and are used with a separate damping magnet to achieve long sensing ranges. They feature a compact 8mm tubular, flush-mounted 316L stainless steel housing ideal for space-limited installations and…
AutomationDirect has added EtherCAT-capable stepper drives from Ever Motion Solutions® that offer peak performance and a rich feature set.