Industrial Internet of Things, Industry 4.0, Digital Factory, and so on, are buzz words that every marketing executive likes to use. But their extensive adoption today has made them into applicable technologies, allowing manufacturers to achieve the universal goal of higher productivity. Its been about data from the very beginning. The plant floor is rich in data in all aspects; its just a matter of capturing it. It has been found that almost 3 percent of US manufacturers are tapping into their operational data and extracting beneficial information. In order for any IIoT changeover to su ..read more

The steady advancement in sensory and control technology has allowed engineers to accumulate and display more information than necessary on human-machine-interfaces. For years, designers have used indicator lamps to alert operators and color-coded LEDs to indicate the status of vital assets. When it comes to day-to-day operations, operators seldom use all the information displayed on the HMI and mostly use 1–2 status screens to monitor major parameters. Also, usually the HMI is placed within a secure location or room, away from hazards, sparking minimal safety concerns. The scenario, however ..read more

The world we live in is ever-changing and fast-paced through the advancements of technology. With tremendous strides and continuous progress that occurs monthly, industrial automation puts technology to full use. Automation can entail many things, from a simple start-stop conveyor system to a full production line with safety systems, data collection, and more. Swift progress in automation and technology has led us to IoT 4.0, also known as the industrial internet of things 4.0 ..read more

Ever been in one of those situations where you wished you just had a ‘pause’ button? Accidents on the plant floor can cause irreparable damage to equipment and personnel that can adversely affect your company’s productivity, profitability and safety. Banner Engineering has developed highly responsive emergency stop devices that can give you the power to stop an accident as soon as you notice something’s wrong, thus preventing the damage from going any further ..read more

Even though the early adoption of industrial Ethernet has shown marginal productivity gains (+22%) and reduction in maintenance costs (-40%), System Integrators and Plant Engineers are still hesitant for its all-out implementation. But why? Today, traditional control systems can use only 3% of data from plant assets, and are unable to cater for the dynamic business requirements. Out of date systems often run into problems due to limited capabilities, and are always at risk to security loopholes. Therefore, in order to gain an edge over the competition and retain productivity levels, it is ess ..read more

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PID has served the process control industry for well over a decade and has solidified itself as the primary technique for feedback control systems. Over the years, the technique has seen a number of upgrades and improvements, giving way to pneumatic, electronic, and computer-based devices, ensuring tighter control over processes ..read more

Programmable Logic Controllers aren’t only used to provide information on signal levels. They can also capture and analyze data, depending on the use of the controller. The most basic use of PLCs, signal capturing, allows users to capture and record a set of values for analysis and testing. Values captured by PLCs can be entered and displayed on charts to see the frequency and variations in the actual value set compared to the ideal value set. Some value sets will need a PID control scheme to correct them. This is shown via spikes in the chart representing errors such as overshoo ..read more

Long gone is the time when centralized sources of generation were used to produce and supply energy to the grid. The downward price trend followed by technologies such as PVs, Batteries and EVs have allowed residential units to be turned into distributed sources of generation ..read more

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