Control and Instrumentation articles from March 2000

Control and Instrumentation archives from March 2000

www.e4engineering.com.
March 1, 2000... A daily news service updates visitors on all aspects of our industry Nobody can deny that the way we get our information has been changed dramatically since the development of the World Wide Web. And the fact that new technology is making...

New members for Gambica.
March 1, 2000... Gambica, the association for instrumentation, control and automation welcomes eight new members. Pantek Ltd has joined the newly formed automation products group and the Vida group incorporating Cal Controls Ltd. Comark Ltd and Datapaq Ltd have...

Manufacturing up or down.
March 1, 2000... Manufacturing suffered an unexpectedly sharp slowdown in January according to The Times. One of the first signs that the Millennium effect has had an impact on industry is companies unwinding stockpiles. Though the purchasing manager's index...

WBF takes to Brussels.
March 1, 2000... The World Batch Forum (WBF) has recently decided to expand its activities into Europe by merging with the existing European Batch Forum. The WBF aims to disseminate best practice through a series of meetings. The first meeting will be held in...

Change of direction gives boost to ABB Group results.
March 1, 2000... THE ABB GROUP had a successful 1999 and has reported significant increases both in profits and cash flow following a shift in emphasis to knowledge based businesses and divesting itself of some more traditional transportation and power...

MBA.
March 1, 2000... Modular Batch Automation is a methodology applied to many modern batch control systems. It involves modularising the control system and batch processes in two ways in order to achieve a consistent and flexible approach. The processes are broken...

S88.
March 1, 2000... Developed by the International Society for Measurement and Control (ISA), S88.01 is a standard terminology plus a consistent set of concepts and models for describing batch manufacturing and batch control systems. It supports the Modular Batch...

WBF & EBF.
March 1, 2000... When the batch manufacturers found themselves a common language (S88), they needed a forum to start using it. That is essentially how the World Batch Forum (WBF) and European Batch Forum started. These are now regular events, attracting major...

SP95.
March 1, 2000... SP95 is the name of the ISA committee set up to define the interface between control functions and other enterprise functions within business systems. In the context of batch manufacturing, SP95 starts where S88 leaves off and addresses the...

SI Pressure Instruments.
March 1, 2000... SI Pressure Instruments has supplied a PC6 calibration kit to Prodrive. Prodrive markets high performance vehicles and components for both road and motorsport vehicles, such as Subaru in the World Rally Championships. The handheld PC6 pressure...

Siemens wants even more.
March 1, 2000... SIEMENS CONTINUES to strengthen its international operations in process automation with an all-for-cash bid for Milltronics Ltd. The Siemens industry segment is poised to expand globally in the field of automation with the take-over of Applied...

ARC launches its e-business service.
March 1, 2000... ARC ADVISORY GROUP has launched an E-Business Advisory Service and increased its staff by more than 45%. The service will deliver knowledge-based products and services to apprise clients of the latest developments across the entire spectrum of...

Emerson creates new business unit.
March 1, 2000... EMERSON ELECTRIC, the holdings company of Fisher Rosemount, has created 'Emerson Performance Solutions' to improve the process control services offered. Charles Knight, chairman and CEO of Emerson said: "Emerson Performance Solutions reflects...

Beamex UK.
March 1, 2000... Beamex UK has been selected by the Royal Navy to supply 60 of its portable temperature calibrators in a contract worth in excess of [pounds]100,000. The order follows a close relationship with the UK's defence forces after a contract with the...

Parker Hannifin and Commercial Intertech.
March 1, 2000... The boards of directors of Parker Hannifin and Commercial Intertech have approved a definitive agreement to merge in a cash and stock transaction with an equity value of approximately $366 million. Parker Hannifin is a manufacturer of motion...

MK Instruments.
March 1, 2000... MK Instruments has received an order for 1,400 mini-Baratron pressure sensors from ATTO, a Korean manufacturer of gas cabinets. The sensors will be used in delivery systems which feed ultrapure gases to critical process systems

Akzo Nobel.
March 1, 2000... Akzo Nobel has chosen Pantek to provide software and training solutions for a recently developed batch management system for its decorative paint manufacturing area. The new control system was required to increase paint production in line with...

ABB Automation.
March 1, 2000... ABB Automation is to supply electrical equipment as part of a [pounds]20 million programme by East of Scotland Water (ESW) to upgrade water supplies to Scotland. The [pounds]2.1 million electrical installation includes five uninterruptible...

Weir Engineering Services (WES).
March 1, 2000... A consortium, comprising Weir Engineering Services (WES) and Dowding & Mills. has been awarded a contract worth around [pounds]4.25 million by Scottish and Southern Energy. The contract covers the mechanical and electrical refurbishment of the...

Alstom T&D.
March 1, 2000... Alstom T&D has been selected by the Compagnie Ivoirienne d'Eiectricite (CIE) of Ivory Coast for the supply of a new Scada system for monitoring and controlling their electrical power network. The project is worth a total of 2.4 million Euros...

Campbell Scientific.
March 1, 2000... Campbell Scientific has seen a recent rise of 24% in exports over the last 12 months, especially from Spain. The company supplies data logging products for environmental monitoring and industrial R&D. European governments have invested in their...

Nematron supports NT.
March 1, 2000... The Nematron Corporation has released HyperKernel version 5,4, which now supports, Windows NT-Embedded alongside Nematron's suite of industrial automation software including OpenControl for machine control and Paragon for HMI and Scada...

Maple leaves no alternative.
March 1, 2000... Adept Scientific had launched version (Maple 6) of their advanced computer algebra system. The version incorporates enhancements such as the Incorporation of leading edge numerical solvers and new programming functions including the ability to...

Rockwell adds tools.
March 1, 2000... Rockwell has introduced two new products for the Rockwell Software RSView32 HMI software, RSView32 GEMTool and RSView32 SECSHost. GEMTool is an off the shelf driver that gives any PLC based semiconductor equipment a fully GEM-capable...

Baan uses Windows 2000 for enterprise Internet-enabling.
March 1, 2000... BAAN COMPANY has announced its new BaanERP 5.0c software which they claim, in conjunction with Microsoft Windows 2000, will provide customers with a mechanism for the Internet enabling of their enterprise by using its integrated web application...

Automsoft software bridges the plant floor - enterprise gap.
March 1, 2000... AUTOMSOFT'S RAPID (RealTime Access Plant Information Database) Historian has been designed to provide a database system which, on the plant side, offers the performance required to handle the most demanding process and manufacturing...

Intellution sees more of the enterprise.
March 1, 2000... INTELLUTION has announced its new Windows CE visualisation solution, IVisualize, and a partnership with Pro-face Europe to provide a pre-installed hardware and software Windows CE solution in Europe. By offering an integrated hardware and...

Merger mania grips Europe.
March 1, 2000... As the control engineering continues to consolidate, European majors are preparing themselves against possibility of hostile bids while a keen eye on possible acquisitions. JUST A FEW leading players in the process automation and control...

Finnish rally in drives market.
March 1, 2000... WHEN A CERTAIN VERY LARGE international engineering company rationalised its operations in 1993, the relocation of that company's Finnish frequency converter manufacturing plant from Vaasa to Helsinki left experienced workers with no future. As...

Thermography tests vent air flow at MIRA.
March 1, 2000... THE MOTOR INDUSTRY Research Association (MIRA) has successfully used thermography in monitoring the air flow in motor cars MIRA's Fluids Group analyse the performance of air conditioning systems, radiators, charge air, oil cooling systems and...

A cool solution for hot tyres.
March 1, 2000... PIRELLI TYRES REQUIRED an energy efficient cooling system that could accurately maintain the temperature of process water at 18[degrees]C and ensure no impurities were present that could affect its new tyre manufacturing process. Spirax Sarco...

Sensor probe saucy but clean.
March 1, 2000... SAUCE MANUFACTURERS for pasta dishes required that the pipelines were regularly cleaned to avoid contamination and product coagulation. Maintenance and cleaning is costly due to down time and change over time but blockages can also result in...

On-line hits the right.
March 1, 2000... WAVELENGTH Colin Carter discusses the use of on-line process analysis for quality improvement using techniques such as IR- and NIR- spectroscopy and Raman spectrometry On-line analysers come in many shapes and sizes and are capable of...

INTELLIGENT MICROBES: A SMART WAY TO CLEANER WATER.
March 1, 2000... Measuring pollution in rivers, sewage works or factory inlets is a vital but expensive and labour-intensive task. Current technology also makes it an inexact science. Even the best measuring equipment requires testing on-site by...

SCADA WORKS HARDER FOR LAGER.
March 1, 2000... Carlsberg-Tetley has increased the efficiency of the canning production line at its Northampton site. Doug Woodbridge, of Dickinson Control Systems, explains how Brewing is an industry in which today's players are more than ever combining...

COMPETITIVE: MARKET PLACE ON SHOW AT TELFORD.
March 1, 2000... The competitive drives sector has seen considerable new technology during the past year. We review the Drives and Controls show being held later this month at Telford The UK market for variable speed drives, currently worth around...

C&I 2000 -- instrumental in control of the new Millennium.
March 1, 2000... CONTROL & INSTRUMENTATION 2000 will be the key event at which leading players from the automation industry will be able to display their technologies and solutions to engineers, managers and directors in the process and industrial manufacturing...

Launch of new OpenNetComms Zone.
March 1, 2000... THE GROWING RANGE of issues concerning open solutions through networks and communications will be addressed at C&I 2000. The new OpenNetComms Zone will provide visitors with insights into developments in field communications and show case new...

INDUSTRY SPONSORS EXPECT SUCCESSFUL SHOW.
March 1, 2000... ISA ENGLAND (international society for measurement & control), together with the Institute of Measurement & Control (InstMC) and Gambica will be co-sponsoring C&I 2000. Michael Yates, Secretary of the InstMC sees C&I 2000 at its core: "C&I...

C&I 2000 seminar programme tackles industry issues head on.
March 1, 2000... THE SEMINAR AND WORKSHOP programme of events for C&I 2000 brings together some of the best minds and most experienced figures in the field of control and instrumentation, focusing on the critical technologies and issues facing the industry...

PLC systems cut energy costs.
March 1, 2000... Sophisticated data mining techniques have been used by the UK's only potash mine, based in Cleveland, to provide energy savings in the minerals drying process Boulby in Cleveland is the site of the UK's only potash mining and mineral...

Siemens' PC family suits industrial environment.
March 1, 2000... SIEMENS AUTOMATION & DRIVES plans to expand its share of the industrial PC market with the development of a family of products based around a common motherboard and suitable for the manufacturing and process industry environment. The range...

Powerful controller is claimed the World's most advanced.
March 1, 2000... THIS MONTH, Eurotherm will launch a powerful new temperature and process controller, called the Model 2704, this instrument is a high accuracy, high stability controller available in a single, dual or three loop format. The controllers...

Laser sensor for under [pounds]100 is easy to use and flexible.
March 1, 2000... A LOW COST SENSOR from ATC will operate as in diffuse mode up to 300 mm, allowing precise object detection at a distance far greater than is achievable with a standard photoelectric sensor. Beyond this range the laser acts as a retro-reflective...

Label line gets check over.
March 1, 2000... Tania Coates reports on how Cognex promises accuracy and repeatability in simple pharmaceutical checking procedures. THE AUTOMATIC MACHINE vision system is used in many branches of industry and is steadily increasing with the factory floor...

Teaching Company can bring specialist skills in.
March 1, 2000... COMPANIES INCREASINGLY have a requirement for specialist highly technical input for specific projects - input which can be difficult to source and be expensive. The Teaching Company Associates initiative, funded by the Government and run in...

GEMS SENSORS.
March 1, 2000... Lennox Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG22 44W, UK WHAT DOES GEMS DO? Gems sensors manufacturers and sells a comprehensive range of level flow and pressure sensors. It employs approx 400 people based at three manufacturing sites UK,...

People on the move.
March 1, 2000... Andrew Blazey has been appointed UK national sales manager for process control company Militronics. Blazey will manage a team of 11 sales engineers in the regions. ABB Automation of Stevenage has appointed Daniel Manley Industry manager,...