AutomationDirect PLCs and HMIs On Board Luxury Yachts
Application StoriesPLCProductProgrammable Control

AutomationDirect PLCs and HMIs On Board Luxury Yachts

A seagoing story about how a premier yacht builder has progressively incorporated reliable AutomationDirect devices for monitoring and controlling ship systems. Westport Yachts, based in Washington State, constructs luxury 112- to 172-foot-long models and has launched hundreds of seagoing vessels since 1964. As the leading yacht builder in North America, and one of the largest…
ProductivityOpen Speeds OEM Feature Development
ApplicationApplication StoriesMachine ControlPLCProductProgrammable Control

ProductivityOpen Speeds OEM Feature Development

AutomationDirect industrialized open-source hardware and software provides flexibility and options for OEMs looking to deliver tough, IT-capable systems. Güntner is a worldwide original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of evaporative condensers, serving a wide range of industries and users with their reliable large-scale heat exchangers. The company has developed in-house embedded microcontrollers specifically optimized for their equipment….
PLCs Integrate Industrial Data to the Cloud
CommunicationsProductProgrammable Control

PLCs Integrate Industrial Data to the Cloud

New PLCs gain capabilities to connect industrial-sourced OT data with higher-level IT and cloud-based systems. Damon Purvis, PLC Product Manager at AutomationDirect, wrote a cover story article for the January 2021 issue of Control Engineering. The article is titled PLCs Power Industrial Data Integration and it looks at the many ways PLCs have gained enterprise…
Productivity PLCs - Certified to Meet Customers’ Needs
ProductProgrammable Control

Productivity PLCs - Certified to Meet Customers’ Needs

Our Productivity2000 and Productivity3000 PLCs have been used successfully over the years in many industries, even those that constantly evolve with new standards, techniques, and acceptable practices. One specific industry is the marine or maritime industry which includes yacht construction among other areas. To build a quality-certified vessel, a yacht builder can choose to apply…
Crafting More Complete Customer Service
Application StoriesCommunicationsHMIManufacturingPLCProductProgrammable Control

Crafting More Complete Customer Service

AutomationDirect products and services enabled an industrial calibration provider to deliver more services to help their clients save time and money. Industrial calibration firm Gulf State Instruments (GSI) has a 20-year track record of helping their customers optimize operations. In this success story published in the July edition of Control magazine, titled Gulf States Instruments…
PLC or Open-Source Controller?
+Tech TopicsLearning ResourcesProgrammable Control

PLC or Open-Source Controller?

Deciding between a PLC or Industrialized Open Source Controller can be difficult. These two control platforms are often compared against one another in the battle for which is better. Saying that one platform is better than the other is impractical. Both platforms have advantages and disadvantages dependent on the environments that they will be used…
PLCs Help the Show Go On
Application StoriesPLCProductProgrammable Control

PLCs Help the Show Go On

How industrial automation plays a leading role in show-biz scenery. In February 2020, Control Design posted a website article by Ryan Poethke of Showman Fabricators, titled Motor Control When Hanging From The Ceiling. Here’s a summary, click on the link above for the full text. Industrial automation can play a role in many situations beyond…
VFDs Take Control
ProductProgrammable ControlVariable Speed Drives

VFDs Take Control

Many VFDs now have on-board logic programming and I/O, enabling them to perform real-time control for localized applications. Jeff Payne, Product Manager for the Drives & Motors Group at AutomationDirect, wrote an article for the April 2020 issue of Design News titled The Logic of Balancing VFDs and PLCs. Here’s a summary, click on the…
Industrializing Open Source
Open source controlProductProgrammable Control

Industrializing Open Source

Maker hardware and software is now available in industrially-hardened form factors, adding the reliability required for critical applications. Bill Dehner, technical marketing engineer for AutomationDirect, wrote an article for the May 2020 issue of Control Engineering titled Open-Source Benefits for Industrial Controllers. Here’s a summary, click on the link above for the full text. Industrial…