Control and Instrumentation articles from December 2000

Control and Instrumentation archives from December 2000

Wake up, it's nearly 2001.
December 1, 2000... Too few companies in manufacturing are accepting the e-business challenge Another year gone and what's changed? Well quite a lot actually. The control engineering sector arrived into the 21st century to be greeted by a wealth of new...

Siemens concludes purchase negotiations.
December 1, 2000... Siemens Automation and Drives Group has concluded negotiations for the purchase of a share in the process and engineering technology supplier Axiva and has also acquired a 75% share of Celanese AG. Axiva, which had sales of some $67 million in...

Centaur launches show in response to industry change.
December 1, 2000... A new exhibition, Integrated Automation Solutions (IAS), has been launched by Centaur Engineering Group in response to changes experienced in the manufacturing industry, Market trends indicate OEMs are moving towards an enterprise wide strategy...

250 jobs lost through ABB UK consolidation.
December 1, 2000... With plans to combine its UK automation and instrumentation companies to create a single customer-driven industrial IT organisation, ABB is to consolidate its UK operations in this area from 17 locations to seven over the next 18 months. with...

Rotork wins Far East contract.
December 1, 2000... ROTORK IQ intelligent actuators have been specified for isolating and modulating valve control at a power station being built at Pha Lai, Vietnam. Rotork actuators were specified in the United States by Stone & Webster, the overall design...

Trio headquarters moves to purpose-built building.
December 1, 2000... MOTION CONTROL Specialist, Trio Motion Technology, has moved its Tewkesbury headquarters to a new, purpose-designed building providing twice the operational areas of its old premises. The company has also opened a United States office in...

US drive manufacturer hits UK.
December 1, 2000... AC TECHNOLOGY Corporation is launching its compact and ruggedly constructed AC drives into the already intense UK drives market. The vehicle for AC Technology's thrust into the UK market is the SCF range of inverter drives. Offering a range...

ABB acquires pharmaceutical MES software.
December 1, 2000... ABB HAS AGREED to acquire the rights and associated research and development resources of Base Tens manufacturing execution systems (MES) software, used in pharmaceutical manufacturing. ABB already claims to be one of the world's leading...

British Gear Association (BGA).
December 1, 2000... Web site activity has more than doubled in the last twelve months for the British Gear Association (BGA), who is having record, downloads. Research has shown particular interest is being shown in members' pages and technical publications. Total...

Variohm Components.
December 1, 2000... Variohm Components has concluded an agreement with Lebow Products of Troy, Michigan, whereby Variohm will be selling the Lebow range of products throughout the UK. Best known for its extensive range of torque transducers, Lebow is a specified...

Casella Group.
December 1, 2000... The Casella Group has made its fifth acquisition in 12 months with the purchase for an undisclosed sum of Monitor Environmental Consultants from the Monitor Group. Neil Griffiths, chief executive office of Monitor Group, said: "I am very...

MTL Instruments Group.
December 1, 2000... The MTL Instruments Group has announced the opening of its new company in Italy. MTL Italia is located in Milan and was launched at the recent International Automation, Instrumentation and Microelectronics Conference and Exhibition, BIAS 2000....

Neles Automation.
December 1, 2000... After a year of commercial negotiations, Neles Automation's Field Controls Division and DSM have signed a memorandum of understanding indicating that the two companies will work together in pursuit of DSM's vision of world-class manufacturing....

Invensys to fully separate Power Systems division.
December 1, 2000... FOLLOWING A comprehensive strategic review, automation and controls group Invensys has decided to fully separate the Group's fast growing Power Systems division, with 25% of the business scheduled for floatation in the summer of 2001. ...

Sensa acquires York.
December 1, 2000... The demand for fibre optic technology to optimise the production and delivery of energy has led Sensa, specialists in real-time fibre optic data solutions to the oil and gas industry, to acquire York Sensors. The purchase will enable Sensa to...

ABB at top of list.
December 1, 2000... The SAM Sustainability Group has named global technology group, ABB, number one in corporate sustainability among the electric equipment industry. "We are pleased our efforts are recognised," said Goran Lindahl, president and CEO of ABB....

Software enhances paperless system.
December 1, 2000... YOKOGAWA UK has introduced a range of Windows-based application software packages that enhance the versatility and ease of use of the DAQSTATION DX100/DX200 range of paperless recorders. The software options make it easy for users to open...

Upgrade announced for software family.
December 1, 2000... LABTECH CORPORATION has announced a major upgrade to its software family, Labtech Notebook, Notebookpro, Control and Controipro. Version 12 of the instrumentation and control software adds such features as the Visionpro network client, for...

New business unit formed.
December 1, 2000... Wonderware, a supplier of industrial automation software, has entered the engineering consulting business for large-scale industrial automation projects, through the formation of a new business unit, Wonderware Consulting Services. Consulting...

Plumtree expands in Europe.
December 1, 2000... Plumtree Software has launched its expansion into Europe, with support from partners and customers in seven countries. Plumtrees platform, the Plumtree Corporate Portal, is software that allows companies to create a Web portal for employees,...

Monitoring and controlling leak testing instruments.
December 1, 2000... NEW S-3085 Monitor Software from InterTech Development Co (IDC), allows up to 34 IDC M-10x5 production-line leak testing instruments to be monitored and controlled by a remote IBM-compatible host computer (virtually any PC) for better...

Miniature drives.
December 1, 2000... Electra Mechanical Systems has introduced a new range of miniature drives for precision motion control. With a diameter of only 12mm, the family of precision, miniature re In-line DC-Micromotors, Encoders and Gearheads offers a high performance...

Water-cooled technology.
December 1, 2000... A near 50% reduction in the footprint of drives used in marine and offshore applications has been achieved by ABB using water-cooling technology. The ACS 600 MarineDrive W, rated from up to 4300 kW in the low voltage range 525V to 690VAC, uses...

A moving performance at the Royal Opera House.
December 1, 2000... CONTROL TECHNIQUES has been chosen as supplier of AC Drives to help with scene changing at the recently refurbished Royal Opera House (ROH). Out of a total refurbishment budget of [pound]214m for the ROH, over 10% was allocated to...

Panel mounted display.
December 1, 2000... In response to customer demand, Invertek Drives has launched the Optiport keypad for applications requiring a panel mounted display and control pad. The primary benefit of Optiport is the ability to provide constant visible display of drive...

Devicenet options.
December 1, 2000... Omron has introduced a DeviceNet option card for its industry standard 3G3MV open loop vector control inverters. "Devicenet has far some time been adapted as a major Fieldbus by automation users," said Omron business development manager...

New features for Impact AC drive.
December 1, 2000... ROCKWELL AUTOMATION has announced the addition of three new features to its Allen-Bradley 1336 Impact AC drive. The inclusion of speed profiling, encoder/encoderless switchover and an encoderless-with-deadband option considerably broadens the...

Has Y2K spend killed e-business?
December 1, 2000... THE TAKE UP of e-business systems in the manufacturing sector is not achieving the growth seen in other sectors. But a recent Microsoft sponsored survey by Mori and Cranfield School of Management reveals that the majority of the 120 companies...

POWER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS CUT ENERGY COSTS.
December 1, 2000... Many US manufacturers have benefited from energy saving solutions provided by Rockwell Automation and now, with the creation of a Power and Energy Management Solutions group in the UK, companies this side of the Atlantic also have access to...

Full steam ahead.
December 1, 2000... C&I looks at the energy saving measures recommended by Spirax Sarco to minimise the effects of the forthcoming Climate Change Levy The recent floods in Britain are seen by many people as a sign of climate change starting to make itself felt...

Sweet success ABROAD.
December 1, 2000... The Fisherman's Friend brand is popular in over 120 countries. In today's competitive climate, accurate product weighing is a vital part of the production process Every day, UK manufacturers of major international food brands export...

FOUNDATION WINS THE DAY.
December 1, 2000... Bristol-Myers Squibb has chosen a Fieldbus Foundation solution for its new greenfield pharmaceuticals site at Cruiserath in Ireland Fisher-Rosemount and Bristol-Myers Squibb have announced a contract for a new greenfield pharmaceutical...

CAUGHT IN THE NET.
December 1, 2000... John Ballinger, managing director of Adroit Technologies, discusses what implications the introduction of .Net from Microsoft may have on Scada applications In June this year Microsoft unveiled its .NET strategy. The fundamental idea...

MASS APPEAL.
December 1, 2000... Peter West of Krohne traces the development of the Coriolis mass flowmeter, which measures flow rates directly, and highlights some of the issues for users. Mass flow measurement - as opposed to volumetric flow which assumes constant...

Actuator eliminates need for a systems approach.
December 1, 2000... THE NEW GS40 linear actuator from Inmoco has been designed to eliminate the cost and complexity of a systems engineering approach by combining a brushless servomotor, an inverted roller screw and an encoder/resolver feedback into a single...

Data on demand.
December 1, 2000... National Instruments has introduced a new LabView module designed to easily configure distributed datalogging and supervisory control applications. With the new easy-to-use tools integrated into the module, the company claims that engineers and...

Absolute encoder.
December 1, 2000... NEW FROM Wimbledon based CTL components is a multiturn absolute encoder that incorporates a built-in Profibus-DP interface, making it ideal for use in a variety of applications in automation, robotics and motion control. As well as...

Melt pressure controller.
December 1, 2000... The latest addition to Eurotherm's Series 2704 family of 1/4 DIN process controllers is a high stability melt pressure controller designed for plastics and rubber extrusion processes. The controller features high accuracy, and a choice of...

Remote I/O in hazardous areas.
December 1, 2000... Turck Banner has introduced Excom, claimed by the company to be the ultimate decentralised remote I/O system for use in Zone 1 hazardous areas. Excom has been designed specifically to meet the need in the petrochem, chemical, pharmaceutical and...

Compact Industrial operating system.
December 1, 2000... ROCKWELL Automation has introduced the RAC6182, the first Allen-Bradley industrial Computer designed specifically for the Microsoft Windows CE operating system. Ideal for OEMs and end-users involved with the development of powerful and...

Servo actuators offer versatility.
December 1, 2000... NEW FROM Heason Technologies is an AC hollow-shaft servo actuator that can be used with various leading manufacturers controllers. Heason says the new Harmonic Drive FHA servo actuator provides better acceleration for fast positioning,...

Flat panel displays for use with range of multimedia systems.
December 1, 2000... DEDICATED NEC distributor, Sunrise Electronics, has announced a new high resolution small format color TFT module in its range of flat panel displays from NEC. Designed for use in display terminals, multimedia systems and mobile monitors,...

Conditioned to protect.
December 1, 2000... Eurotherm has introduced ten new DIN rail-mounted signal conditioner modules for process and temperature control systems. Designated the E-Series, the modules are designed protect sensitive control equipment with up to 1800V DC isolation. The...

New digital drives are ready-to-use.
December 1, 2000... CONTROL TECHNIQUES new En-Series digital servo drives have been designed to meet all the demands of contemporary motion systems for compactness, reliability, high performance, ease of use and cost. The drives integrate state-of-the-art DSP,...

Sensor for tough conditions.
December 1, 2000... THE NEW PH2O combination sensor from Yokogawa is an all-in-one device for measuring pH, oxidation reduction potential and temperature. The device uses a patented compensation technique to minimise drift and enhance accuracy in conditions of...

Resolving the problem.
December 1, 2000... Data Translation has released the DT9821 and DT9822 ultrahigh resolution USB chromatography modules that can resolve from 60 parts per billion at 24 bits to one part in 65,536 at 16 bits. These multifunction modules are targeted to a...

Clamp-on flowmeters.
December 1, 2000... INLEC UK HAS announced the availability of the Fluxus ultrasonic flowmeter, designed to utilise ultrasound for the accurate measurement of liquid flow. In operation, measurements are made by penetrating the pipe with ultrasound. Time...

Self-powered control valves.
December 1, 2000... FISHER CONTROLS has announced a range of self-powered control valves for control of steam, water or air in applications where maintenance of a constant process temperature is critical. The model 92CT valves are pilot operated using a liquid...

Features injected in lab tool.
December 1, 2000... Thermo Onix has introduced the Unicam ProGC+ gas chromatograph, a modular laboratory instrument with a range of features and accessories. The ProGC+ platform provides high performance in oven heating, cooling and stability, says the...

People on the move.
December 1, 2000... Immelt named president and chairman-elect of GE JEFFREY R IMMELT has been named president and chairman-elect of General Electric. Immelt will succeed John F Welch, GE's chairman and CEO, when Welch retires at the end of 2001. Immelt,...

ITALIAN RELOCATION.
December 1, 2000... Motion control supplier, Baldor, has relocated its Italian support cenrte to Guazate in Lombardy. The new location positions the organisation close to many centres of industry and machinery design. Blador Italia offers sales and technical...

GERMAN LAUNCH.
December 1, 2000... IMO is preparing to launch its products through its own sales channel in Italy and Germany by October 2000. On making this announcement, IMO managing director Fausto Furiotti said: "Our products have been available in both countries for...