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What if you collected copious data and didn't know what to do with them? This storehouse of information can be used to prevent equipment failure Key Concepts * Data mining [...]

Plant engineers are urged to choose the UNIX operating system as an operating platform. UNIX effectively enables plantwide control and information systems integration. Its popularity as a tool for network manufacturing control and information intelligence started in Oct. 1992, when participants of the Instrument Society of America Show exhibited distributed control systems based on UNIX. UNIX is also expected to outperform DOS/Windows-based plant control., As long-standing computer operating systems push the limits of their capabilities, UNIX is rapidly growing in popularity as the technology of the future for linking plant automation and information systems [...]

Programmable controllers (PCs) gained wide acceptance as accurate and reliable machinery and process control devices in industrial plants. Initially developed in the late 1960's to provide efficiently modifiable control systems [...]

What happened to the totally automated factory? The factory is automated. It's just not totally automated. Not here. Not yet. But it's getting there. Now, more than ever before, buyers [...]

Factory management systems bring planning to the plant floor Systems that give managers up-to-the-minute control over manufacturing are rapidly gaining acceptance No amount of executive posturing can guarantee that corporate […]

Cat Plugs $200M Into Very Versatile Parts Plant YORK, Pa. - No muscular-looking motor graders or backhoes roll off production lines here. But while the cylindrical parts manufactured in Caterpillar [...]

Transparent Factory web-based factory automation system used open-standard technology to enable business users to monitor the status of their manufacturing and process operations from anywhere in the world via the [...]

Although the personal computer (PC) is fast becoming standard issue in the front office, its movement into the factory has been a bit more leisurely. However, during the past year, [...]

Computer Shock: The Problems It Causes . . . The Remedies at Hand Though urged to take injections of advanced technology to remain competitive, U.S. manufacturers often faint at the [...]

Smart Transmitters: They Bring Computing Power To Process Control Sensors Microprocessor-based process control systems provide major enhancements in control automation, speed, accuracy, data accumulation, and operating ease. Now the 'smart' [...]

Selecting and Managing CAD Systems As computer-aided design (CAD) technology matures, industry focus is gradually moving away from electronic wizardry to more practical considerations. All systems can now handle standard [...]

Upheaval is becoming too commonplace in U.S. industry. Tremors, often spawned overseas, are toppling traditional manufacturing establishments. However, among the firms that survive will be those now building quake-proof structures, [...]

MAP TO THE RESCUE Not long ago General Motors was suffering. Sales were off. Market share was down. Imports were approaching flood levels. Even GM executives had begun conceding that [...]

Ever since a numerical control (N/C) parts programmer handed over the first N/C machine control tape to the toolmaker to run a numerically controlled machine, engineers have dreamed of the [...]

NEW CELL TECHNOLOGY: A SECOND WAVE HITS THE FACTORY FLOOR Manufacturing cells had their gala coming out party at the 1982 Chicago International Machine Tool Show. Robots tending several machine [...]

The plant engineer who understands the workings of the the servco robot will have no problem working with the nonservco robot. The present equipment and the future equipment that industrial robots will have presents new areas of expertise for the plant engineer.

Progress in Programmable Controllers The limits of the technology are now set by the user Now in the 20th year since their introduction, programmable controllers (PC) have become the leading [...]

FITTING AN FMS INTO THE SMALL PLANT Today, the smaller manufacturer (about 100 employees or less) in this country is caught between a rock and a hard place. On one [...]

CAD/CAM DRIVES DEEP INTO THE FACTORY Like the Emperor's new clothes, CAD/CAM, for the most part, does not exist. CAD/CAM (computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing) is the computer integration of the entire [...]

NEW PLAYERS IN THE FACTORY AUTOMATION GAME Selling automation solutions to industry is an inconstant occupation. In my desk are a dozen business cards of people in the factory automation [...]

If metalworking manufacturing is preparing for the automated factory, the factory of the future, why do we see so many machine operators program their jobs on the CNC controls at [...]

WORKHOLDING TECHNOLOGY: THE OPTIONS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER Sometimes it's the less dramatic aspects of things that are pivotal, essential for success. So it is with that aspect of machine tools [...]

Artificial intelligence is beginning to find its way into the manufacturing environment as practical workable projects. Research work is underway in many institutions which will help the growth of this advancing technology., ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE NOW IT'S MACHINES THAT THINK The pyramids, the Cathedral at Chartres, in fact much of civilization, was dragged into place by the arms and backs of men. But [...]

HERE COME THE CELLS AND CELL CONTROLLERS Ever feel like you are on a treadmill going nowhere? To stay competitive, you've worked overtime, scrimped and saved, bought some automated equipment--some [...]

ROBOTICS EXTENDS ITS REACH IN THE FACTORY While orchestrating robot development, robot builders often play variations on a central theme. Each year that theme changes. In 1983 the echoing refrain [...]

Programmable Controller Update Programmable controllers (PC) and their related devices have evolved into the most flexible solutions to control and automation problems. Spanning a range of uses from simple replacement [...]

THE MANUFACTURING ENGINEER: AUTOMATION'S FORGOTTEN MAN Automation efforts in most manufacturing firms focus on administration, design and the factory floor. Manufacturing resource planning (MRP) and just-in-time (JIT) is revolutionizing management; [...]

IMPROVED CONTROLS CUT THROUGH THE MAZE OF PRODUCTION LINE PROBLEMS Someone has said that 'you don't have to look out a factory window to see what's wrong in this country.' [...]

Plant engineers and facilities managers need to carefully plan the conversion of their software systems by the year 2000. The task is very challenging because every software which has a date reference algorithm must be adjusted or replaced to account for the year change to 2000. All kinds of computers are affected including embedded software systems and microprocessors which are often utilized in process control equipment and bar coding systems., Plant engineers and facilities managers should not be waiting for their information systems organizations to address this issue It is the story of the century. December 31, 1999. Midnight. You [...]

Automation of overhead cranes and hoist operations reduces plants' operating costs and improves their productivity. System parameters must be evaluated to determine the advantages of automation. The flexibility and networking characteristics of programmable logic controllers enable easy addition of related equipment. The safety factor must also be taken into account., Reduced costs and improved productivity, quality, and flow usually result The decision to incorporate automation into overhead cranes and hoists in manufacturing applications is often intimidating. However, the task is [...]

Government Cuts Mothball $100M UNC Factory UNCASVILLE, Ct.--A classified $100 million factory of the future just nearing completion here will be mothballed as a result of the Department of Energy's [...]

Parts ID Systems Take Inventory, Control Processes, Improve Quality Manufacturers Are Now Integrating Sophisticated Coding With Planning and Production Operations Bar coding has evolved from a stand-alone system simply used [...]

CPU Firms Jockey to Offer Integration Schemes as CIM Interest Mounts DETROIT -- Leading computer suppliers are leveraging expertise in vertical slices of the factory automation market and are offering [...]