Making a Clean Connection with Automated Carwashes
CommunicationsCommunications and EthernetProduct

Making a Clean Connection with Automated Carwashes

This automated car wash supplier needed a better way to connect with a multitude of remotely-located digital systems, and it found the solution with AutomationDirect StrideLinx. Industrial automation isn’t just for factories, as it surrounds us and provides safe, reliable, and consistent performance for elevators, traffic lights, and even the neighborhood carwash. Aulio Gil is…
Cybersecure and Remote-Friendly?
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Cybersecure and Remote-Friendly?

By implementing layers of hardware, software, and procedural defenses, industrial automation systems can be made both cybersecure and remote-friendly. Damon Purvis, PLC Product Manager at AutomationDirect, wrote an article for the November/December 2022 issue of InTech. Titled Defending Remote-Friendly Environments from Cyberattacks, this article describes how cyber defenses can be layered, while still delivering usable…
Upgrading Agricultural Automation
Application StoriesCommunicationsHMIOperator InterfacePLCProductProgrammable Control

Upgrading Agricultural Automation

This company is using modern PLCs and HMIs to revamp existing agricultural equipment automation systems, improving efficiency and adding advanced IIoT capabilities. Modern agriculture relies directly and indirectly on automated equipment for growing, processing, and transporting product. Vinny Endres grew up in a farming family and quickly learned how to keep things up and running….
IO-Link is the Smart Choice for I/O Connectivity
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IO-Link is the Smart Choice for I/O Connectivity

New sensors and connectivity devices supporting digital IO-Link communications let users easily gather extended diagnostic and device data. Chris Kregoski, product engineer for AutomationDirect, authored an article posted August 2022 on the Automation.com website titled A Stronger Link for I/O. Here’s a summary, click on the link above for the full text. A concept called…
Cloud Connectivity Supports Smart HVAC
CommunicationsProduct

Cloud Connectivity Supports Smart HVAC

IoT cloud connectivity lets experts effectively support increasingly complex HVAC systems, such as refrigerant-side economizers for data centers. Robbie Hyde, owner of Interface Mechanics LLC, wrote a success story article for the July 2022 online version of Smart Industry titled Cloud-Based IoT Supports Complex Control Systems from Anywhere. Here’s a summary, click on the link…
Making the Cut with Upgraded Automation
Application StoriesCommunicationsOperator InterfacePLCProductProgrammable Control

Making the Cut with Upgraded Automation

Using the AutomationDirect Do-more BRX PLC, an extrusion company progressively upgraded and simplified their legacy manufacturing lines, greatly improving performance, while minimizing scrap. The situation is common at many manufacturing sites: production equipment is old, degrading, and mismatched, leading to operational and maintenance inefficiencies and nightmares. In an April 2022 Automation.com article bylined by Gary…
IIoT Edge Gateways Provide Fortified Factory Connectivity
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IIoT Edge Gateways Provide Fortified Factory Connectivity

AutomationDirect IIoT edge gateways are the straightforward way for users to provide secure connectivity to factory automation assets. Jonathan Griffith, product manager for AutomationDirect, wrote an article for the April 2022 issue of Efficient Plant titled Edge Gateways Deliver Secure Connectivity. Here’s a summary, click on the link above for the full text. A familiar…
StrideLinx’s IEC 62443 Conformance Helps Machine Builders with Their Own IT/OT Cyber Security
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StrideLinx’s IEC 62443 Conformance Helps Machine Builders with Their Own IT/OT Cyber Security

Applied Risk, a trusted partner in cyber security, has audited StrideLinx on the IEC 62443 security standards. By seeking compliance with the IEC 62443 standards, StrideLinx supports machine builders with getting their security in place. StrideLinx’s mission is to unburden machine builders in terms of security and offer them a helping hand in completing their…
Cybersecurity Best Practices
CommunicationsProductProgrammable Control

Cybersecurity Best Practices

Contemporary industrial cybersecurity measures require the right hardware and software technologies, but must also incorporate user best practices. Damon Purvis, PLC Product Manager at AutomationDirect, wrote an article which posted to the January 2022 publications Control Engineering and Industrial Cybersecurity Pulse. The article is titled Cybersecurity-Centered Systems and Fundamentals (also found at Cybersecurity-Centered Systems and…
Industrial Automation Mobile Access on the Rise
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Industrial Automation Mobile Access on the Rise

Proactive risk mitigation strategies and enhanced technologies are leading more end users than ever before to adopt industrial automation mobile access. Bill Dehner, technical marketing engineer for AutomationDirect, wrote an article for the November 2021 issue of Plant Engineering titled Industrial Access On the Go. Here’s a summary, click on the link above for the…