It can happen at the best workplaces and in the safest environments but it’s always chilling news when you come into work and hear that there has been a workplace injury. Whether you are in charge of safety, are a production manager, or are a plant manager, so many questions go through your mind at…
Most factory automation involves moving machinery driven by electric motors. These automated systems frequently use general-purpose motors with simple on/off (across-the-line) control. Although these applications seem deceptively simple, NEC article 430 provides lengthy guidelines for motor installations, wiring, and controllers. It covers the requirements and specifications for motor control components, such as: • Disconnecting means…
Material handling is a broad industry that can mean many things and include many different technologies. At the most basic level, this can include racks, which simply hold products, or pallet jacks and fork trucks which require human intervention. More complex systems include conveyors, high-speed sorters, pick-to-light systems, palletizers, robotics, case erectors, identification systems, and…
When we think of pneumatics we think of simple, reliable, easy to troubleshoot, easy to fix, and just all-around something that always gets the job done and always works. It is no wonder why either since in manufacturing facilities, compressed air is so widely used that it is often regarded as the fourth utility after…
If you work for any type of industrial facility, whether it’s Food and Beverage, Pharmaceutical, Automotive or any other type, then you are constantly buying cables for new installations or repairs. If this is the case, a good design practice is to minimize the variety of types and colors to simplify ordering and reduce waste,…
Most of us are familiar with cloud technology and use it in our everyday lives as convenient online storage for photos, videos, apps, and documents. Microsoft OneDrive® and Apple iCloud® are a couple well-known cloud storage platforms that are readily available and easily accessible from phones and computers anytime we need to store or retrieve…
In this day and age everyone typically wants faster, smarter, more compact, and less complex. We want everything done for us, and we want computers to do all the heavy lifting. We want a smart home. We want our vehicles to be better drivers – checking blind spots, alerting us to cars, people and objects…
As an online supplier, we take our customers’ feedback to heart and try our hardest to accommodate all wants and needs. But besides the valuable suggestions and requests our customers provide, we also pay close attention to industry trends, research studies, and surveys. Recently, there was one trend that stood out from the pack. One…
Data collection is becoming one of the most important features of a control system. Whether it’s used to determine the morning run rate or the cost of production over the last fiscal year, it’s imperative that system data be collected and be available. Today there are many ways to go about collecting data, from complex…
In the world of technology, nothing seems to evolve faster than communication and the effects are felt across many industries with industrial automation being no exception. When you think of how much communication has changed and how many options are available today in terms of transmission media and protocols, it’s really quite astounding and that’s…