Reducing Total Cost of Ownership
+Tech TopicsApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookCover StoriesEnergy/UtilitiesFacilitiesIndustryIssue 24 - 2012Learning ResourcesManufacturingNotebook IssuePLCProcess ControlProductProgrammable Control

Reducing Total Cost of Ownership

Automation is a key component when developing strategies to help customers reduce their operating costs. Many times when making buying decisions, people look only at the initial price of an item without considering other factors that contribute to the overall cost of owning that product. For example, a certain laptop may seem like a great…
Is It Time to Upgrade Your Control System?
ApplicationAutomation NotebookCover StoriesIssue 19 – 2011Learning ResourcesManufacturingNotebook IssueOnline Blog

Is It Time to Upgrade Your Control System?

Are your machine or robot control systems good enough, or should you make a change? The machines and robots you build work well. You’ve kept up with periodic improvements. Most of your support calls are predictable. Why rock the boat? As a machine or robot builder OEM, you understand the favorable economics of selling machines…
Machine Automation 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not
+Tech TopicsApplicationAutomation NotebookCover StoriesIssue 16 – 2010Learning ResourcesMachine ControlNotebook IssueProductProgrammable Control

Machine Automation 2010: What’s Hot and What’s Not

Machine and Robot Builders Look Ahead to the New Decade As a new decade dawns, machine and robot builder OEMs are looking to embrace new trends and put the past behind them. Recent economic travails seem to be lessening, especially in the developing world. The hope is for continued improvement in the world economy, spurring…
Powerful PAC Upgrades Tortilla Machine
Application StoriesCover StoriesFood and BeverageFood Beverage AutomationIndustryIssue 18 – 2010Notebook Issue

Powerful PAC Upgrades Tortilla Machine

Advanced automation helps Casa Herrera produce tortillas reliably, quickly and precisely. Casa Herrera builds tortilla preparation equipment for the corn and flour tortilla industry, provides equipment for the bakery and snack food industries, and is the preferred supplier to several national brands. We build several varieties of our machines to meet customer specifications, and we…
Bale Hay While the Sun Shines: A Revolution in Commercial Hay Production
AgricultureApplicationApplication StoriesAutomation NotebookCover StoriesIndustryIssue 17 – 2010Learning ResourcesMachine ControlNotebook IssueOperator InterfacePLCProductProgrammable Control

Bale Hay While the Sun Shines: A Revolution in Commercial Hay Production

A steam generating plant on wheels? That’s right. The DewPoint 6110 hooks up between a large farm tractor and hay balers that make large rectangular bales from 1,500 to 2,000 lb each (Fig. 1). Its purpose is to add moisture to dry hay to prevent mechanical damage to the crop during the baling process. This revolutionary…
Industry Slims Down, Peps Up
ApplicationAutomation NotebookCover StoriesEnergy/UtilitiesIndustryIssue 15 – 2009Learning ResourcesManufacturingNotebook IssueOnline Blog

Industry Slims Down, Peps Up

Manufacturers Are Discovering That Producing Smarter Means Cutting Energy It now seems like a thousand years ago, but before the wave of economic bad news, many managers and executives had been weighed down by out of control energy prices, and with a fear that the world was reaching peak oil production and things would get…
Match The Motor To The Load For Maximum Efficiency
+Tech TopicsAutomation NotebookCover StoriesIssue 10 – 2008Learning ResourcesMotorsNotebook IssueProduct

Match The Motor To The Load For Maximum Efficiency

A half-loaded motor uses almost as much energy as one that’s fully loaded. To save energy, optimize motor horsepower to the specific application.  When electricity was cheap, efficiency was not necessarily top of mind for many. However, current energy prices force manufacturers to further analyze where they use energy and how they spend their energy…