Modern PLCs Provide Support for Advanced Data Access
CommunicationsData and IIoTData System MonitoringOperator InterfaceProgrammable Control

Modern PLCs Provide Support for Advanced Data Access

Although many think of PLCs as primarily for real-time control, modern versions make it easy to implement extensive data connectivity and analytics. While everyday consumers are familiar with getting things their way, this type of flexibility has often been less available within the industrial manufacturing arena. This is an issue for many end users when…
Finding the Right Balance of Local Automation and Remote Connectivity
ApplicationCommunicationsData and IIoTData CollectionData System Monitoring

Finding the Right Balance of Local Automation and Remote Connectivity

Robust real-time industrial control is essential, and remote connectivity is also becoming indispensable for many users. Here are some considerations for achieving the best of both worlds. Damon Purvis at AutomationDirect wrote an article for the February 2023 issue of Processing. Titled Balancing Local Automation with Remote Connectivity, this article explores some concepts around designing…
Add Remote Monitoring to Your Maintenance Toolkit
ApplicationCommunicationsData System MonitoringProduct

Add Remote Monitoring to Your Maintenance Toolkit

Remote monitoring options help maintenance personnel respond faster for the systems they manage and support, saving time and money. Bill Dehner, technical marketing engineer for AutomationDirect, wrote an article for the March-April 2020 issue of ISA InTech titled Add Remote Monitoring to Increase Maintenance Personnel Productivity. Here’s a summary, click on the link above for…
Mobile Industrial is the New Normal
Automation NotebookData System MonitoringIssue 42 - 2019Learning ResourcesMachine ControlNotebook IssueOperator InterfaceProduct

Mobile Industrial is the New Normal

Most plant floor workers already carry mobile devices, so using them to access, control and monitor equipment is a natural next step. The September 2018 issue of Control Design magazine featured a cover story spotlighting new and better ways for delivering a mobile industrial operator interface experience. Titled A Better Interface, the article presented input…
Layered Security Goes Beyond Hardware In IIoT Implementations
+Tech TopicsApplicationCommunicationsData and IIoTData System MonitoringeBookIIoT and DataLearning ResourcesOperator InterfaceProductWhy HMI

Layered Security Goes Beyond Hardware In IIoT Implementations

Industry is certainly starting to take note of the IIoT, which raises cybersecurity issues because it requires connecting field devices and other automation system components to the outside world, often through the internet. Connectivity capability is built into many automation components, typically via an Ethernet port, but can these connections be made secure?
Are You “Data-driven"? |Industry Survey
ApplicationCommunicationsCompany TopicsData and IIoTData System MonitoringeBookIIoT and DataLearning ResourcesNewsProductProgrammable Control

Are You “Data-driven"? |Industry Survey

With all the talk lately about Big Data and the IIoT, we got to thinking about how much of an impact these trends would have on our industry. Since the primary goal of these two trends is to improve bottom lines/profit margins through data collection, data analysis and remote access, we were curious as to…
A Quick View of SCADA in Oil and Gas
+Tech TopicsApplicationCommunicationsData System MonitoringEnergy/UtilitiesIndustryLearning ResourcesOnline OnlyOperator InterfaceProduct

A Quick View of SCADA in Oil and Gas

For quick and secure access to production and process data, a PC-based supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system is often the best solution. Whether upstream, midstream or downstream in the process, data can be collected by the SCADA system using a variety of built-in tools. Once collected from controllers and smart devices, the data…
Portable Water Treatment Platform Removes Phosphorus Economically
ApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookAutomationDirect SpotlightData System MonitoringEducation/DIYIndustryIssue 34 - 2016Learning ResourcesMotion ControlNotebook IssueOnline OnlyOperator InterfacePLCPLC eBookProductProgrammable ControlStudent SpotlightStudent SpotlightWater/Wastewater

Portable Water Treatment Platform Removes Phosphorus Economically

A trailer-mounted water treatment process controlled by a Productivity2000 PLC has recently been developed at the University of Idaho. Professor Greg Möller, in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, along with engineers from the College of Engineering have teamed up to build the platform, and to further research the economical removal of phosphorus from various…