Control and Instrumentation articles from September 1998

Control and Instrumentation archives from September 1998

Always look on the bright side. (business recessions)(Editorial)
September 1, 1998... So, there's a likely recession round the corner. But rather than tut-tutting and wringing our hands, we should be railing against the slide of the shares and striking out for more business. We've been there before and the cooler operators are...

Cash-rich Rotork 'ready to spend' - chairman.
September 1, 1998... Rotork is on the lookout for another major acquisition after unveiling a strong half-year performance to the end of June '98, comfortably boosting cash reserves. Interim pre-tax profits were up 16% to [pounds]12.2m at the group, which claims...

Making software part of the furniture. (interview with Intellution's European Marketing Director David Taylor)
September 1, 1998... David Taylor, Intellution's man in Europe, tells Chris Webb how he aims to reinforce the automation software provider's position as a world beater 'You'd be surprised how little it cost to furnish.' It wasn't quite the opening gambit I...

Feedback forecast. (predictions on automation software providers)
September 1, 1998... Recently, the SCADA Centre gave a series of one day seminars for the automation industry. The main aim was to explain the latest software and standards. One part of the course involved looking into a crystal ball to see what the future holds for...

Industrial software gets object-oriented. (object-oriented automation software systems)
September 1, 1998... The future of flexible control systems is in an object-based environment. So says the author of this article, which sets out describing FrameworX and concludes with a bird's eye view of the internal architecture of the Toolchest. In recent...

Controllers: single or multiloop, where next? (includes related article on market trends for loop control systems)
September 1, 1998... Ron Higginson considers some of the likely technical developments in loop controllers What is a controller? For three-term or similar continuous loop controllers, we tend to think of a small panel mounting box with display, controls and...

Pressure raises its market profile. (pressure measurement equipment industry)
September 1, 1998... The industry's key players in pressure measurement and control tell Chris Webb where the technology is and where it's going Any attempt to chart the progress of pressure measurement devices in the last two decades inevitably returns to the...

Flexibility in batch control. (Croda Chemicals International Ltd. boost output through batch control software)(includes related article on batch control market consolidation)
September 1, 1998... Croda Chemicals has boosted production volume and efficiency at its plants by adopting batch control software, the openness and flexibility of which makes it suitable for implementation world-wide. Nowhere is the time-to-market imperative more...

Control on tap plugs watery wastes. (water industry uses automation to enhance resource management and control leakage)
September 1, 1998... Resource management isn't the only area where automation is making its mark in water. Wasteful leakage is being targeted, too. Spending a massive [pounds]3bn annually to remedy many years of infrastructural neglect, it's not surprising that the...

Acquisitions on the up
September 1, 1998... Chris Webb Weir Group last month joined the growing club of cash-rich British engineering companies poised to prey on less fortunate businesses in a bullish buyer's market. Defying the market slow-down and with GBP40m cash in the bank, md...

Rockwell and Festo begin jv
September 1, 1998... Pneumatics supplier Festo and Rockwell Automation, parent of control systems corporation Allen-Bradley, have entered into a partnership to produce the miniature Allen-Bradley SLC500 PLC integrated into three models of Festo pneumatic valve...

Fisher's 'free' licences
September 1, 1998... Fisher Controls International is offering a royalty-free licence to Hart Communication Foundation members under its Seberger US patents numbers 5,451,923 and 5,684,451 for the manufacture and sale of Hart-compatible positioners. 'An open Hart...

Bug helps power sales
September 1, 1998... Sharon Everitt Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) revenues in the European market have been valued at $1.3bn in 1997 and they are forecast to reach $2.0bn by 2000, in a study carried out by Frost & Sullivan, the marketing consultancy...

Sales up at TCP
September 1, 1998... Sharon Everitt Total Control Products (TCP), parent company of Taylor Industrial Software UK, has announced results for its first quarter, ending June 1998. Net income was $1.2m, up by 43% on the same period last year. Total sales of $16.9m...

Connected with growth
September 1, 1998... Continuous recovery in the demand for connectors, attributed to rising sales in automotive, telecommunications and electronic data processing, is expected to drive growth in the European electromechanical components market from $8.5bn this year...

Europe firms in scramble for patents
September 1, 1998... More European firms are seeking patent protection for their inventions than ever before, according to the European Patent Office (EPO). Last year 50.1% of the applications filed with the EPO came from 19 of its member states and total...

Retailers push APS
September 1, 1998... Manufacturers are turning to Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) solutions as a response to pressure being put on them by retailers to use vendor management inventory, efficient customer response or quick response programs, according to Advance...

Marketing needs a makeover
September 1, 1998... Marketing has been given the thumbs down as a management tool in a recent survey carried out by the Cranfield University School of Management, Beds. In the report The Future of Marketing In Industrial and Technological Organisations only Human...

Install HMIs confidently
September 1, 1998... When sourcing one of the most important parts of any product, the keyboard/human-machine interface (HMI), OEMs often leave it too late in the design chain. Rowland Automation, based in Wimbourne, Dorset, believes that as user-friendly interfacing...

Price not key to flowmeter sales
September 1, 1998... Lower prices mean more sales, right? Not when you're talking flowmeters. In recent years, prices have tumbled to the point where cost is no longer the key selling point. Much more important to end-users are product improvements and technical...

Hydraulics market on the up
September 1, 1998... The European market for hydraulic equipment will see a continued and sustained increase in revenues. In 2004, revenues in the European hydraulics market are forecast to grow by 4.6% to reach GBP4.6bn. So says a report by market analyst Frost &...

Cash-rich Rotork 'ready to spend' chairman
September 1, 1998... Rotork is on the lookout for another major acquisition after unveiling a strong half-year performance to the end of June '98, comfortably boosting cash reserves. Interim pre-tax profits were up 16% to GBP12.2m at the group, which claims more...

Rototherm buys steam pressure pioneer
September 1, 1998... Sydney Smith Dennis, a manufacturer of pressure gauges for more than 150 years, has been plucked from receivership by British Rototherm, for an undisclosed sum. SSD's founding father Sydney Smith invented the steam pressure gauge, enthuses...

Making software part of the FURNITURE
September 1, 1998... 'You'd be surprised how little it cost to furnish.' It wasn't quite the opening gambit I expected on meeting David Taylor, Intellution's md in Europe. The company's immaculate Milton Keynes offices, first occupied six months ago, and of which...

Inverter drive boosts testing
September 1, 1998... Motor manufacturer, Morley Engineering has installed a Cegelec inverter in its test facility to confirm and test the specifications of its a.c. electric motors. The drive, a 100kW Alspa GD41050, is used to supply a water-cooled, 1000kW,...

Subsea cables deal for rigs
September 1, 1998... Elmeridge Cables is to supply two types of specialist subsea cable - seven-core cable and four-screeded twisted-pair, both screened with flame retardant polyurethane - to Sonardyne International for subsea acoustic navigation and positioning...

Drive beats burn out blues
September 1, 1998... BSL's introduction of a Siemens 75kW MasterDrive to the pump motor on a Sand Classification and Dewatering plant, at Desthorpe Quarry, Nottinghamshire, not only overcame the problem of motor burn-out every six months, but has also provided energy...

No flops - just the perfect pizza
September 1, 1998... How do you mechanically transfer half rolled and floppy pizza bases from one conveyor to another, around a 90 deg angle and without ending up with a mess on the floor? The speed of transfer is crucial for perfect pizzas. The solution provided...

Optimising oil well output
September 1, 1998... MDC Technology has just completed an on-line real-time optimisation system for the largest on-shore oil field in Europe - at BP Exploration's Wytch Farm site in Dorset - in order to maximise its oil production: The system supplied, based on...

It's the stimulator ...
September 1, 1998... Whoever dares ride on the Predator may or may not be reassured to know that this rare example of a six-axis simulator uses Penny & Giles VRVT in-cylinder technology to provide position feedback for its computerised hydraulic control system....

Baan shake-up
September 1, 1998... Dutch business software supplier Baan Company has announced a boardroom reshuffle following calls for greater openness in its accounting practices. Jan Baan, who founded the company 20 years ago, steps down as its chairman and is succeeded by...

Schneider audits systems for Y2K
September 1, 1998... Schneider engineers are driving their Year 2000 audit service, set up by the company to help customers cope. The service ranges from telephone support advice to a full onsite review of PLC hardware and application software to search for...

Linking 'any serial port' to Windows
September 1, 1998... A data acquisition package that can link any piece of equipment with a serial port to Windows applications running on a PC is now available through Vivcott Technical Marketing, based in Rudgwick, Sussex. Wedge Pro32 can, says the company, 'turn...

JD Edwards stays on track
September 1, 1998... JD Edwards has launched OnTrack, a series of tools to aid and accelerate the implementation of its OneWorld and World-Software, packages that feature manufacture, distribution, financial and accounting solutions. Moreover, the company has...

Protean helps a plant's diet
September 1, 1998... Marcam Solutions has made available the latest version of Protean. Andrew Kinder, senior consultant at the company, commented: 'Protean is a solution that addresses all aspects of running and managing a process manufacturer's plant operations -...

Industrial software gets object-oriented
September 1, 1998... TREVOR BENNETT In recent years, some of our customers have attempted to standardise on how their subcontractors build control equipment for their plants. The aim has been to simplify the production of logic and MMI programs and reduce the...

Food processors opt for Baan kit
September 1, 1998... FOOD High tech food processing and weighing systems company, Avery Berkel, is set to standardise its operations on BaanIV enterprise applications technology. Manufacturing, finance, distribution, service, product data management and...

Control over web simplified
September 1, 1998... FOOD Monitoring and controlling plant processes using a simple web browser running on any platform is feasible with the IntraScada Web Server, a new software package from Southampton-based BVM. Operators can interrogate - and control - real...

Brazil powers on burn-free screens
September 1, 1998... POWER Twenty-nine industrial colour displays systems from Barco Display Systems are being installed by Digital in the control room of Eletrobras, the Rio de Janerio-based Brazilian electricity company. The model ICD321 monitors were picked...

Pouring the oil out of troubled water
September 1, 1998... OIL Jiskoot has supplied a dual redundant fast loop sampling system to Oryx UK Energy for the Murchison platform in Scotland. The system replaces the existing fast loop system installed by Jiskoot in 1991. The system includes a bypass probe...

The Monster mash
September 1, 1998... The Little Monster IX is a small industrial computer system, sitting on a single circuit board. It's the latest Intel Pentlure (Tillamook) based, stand-alone computer from Zykronix. The 'horribly good' system integrates all the key functions...

Java reviewed and revisited
September 1, 1998... Microsoft has launched Visual J++ 6.0 technology preview 2, a beta release of the next version of Java's development system. This update is designed to make it easier to build high performing applications for the Microsoft Windows operating...

Tool that sticks to the rule
September 1, 1998... Rockwell Automation's RSRules from Rockwell Software is a productivity tool for automatically diagnosing faults in Allen Bradley's PLC 5-based control systems. When the application is installed, the developer can specify a selection of data...

Analogue/digital filter
September 1, 1998... Microstar Laboratories has launched an eight-channel, 16bit resolution digital acquisition board for PC-based systems that need anti-aliasing filters and also need to filter acquired signals for all forms of spectral analysis. The iDSC 816...

Sensor gets its bearing
September 1, 1998... The model 6143 7/8 in single turn, servo mount conductive plastic potentiometer from BI Technologies incorporates a ball bearing used in the company's model 6163, on which the potentiometer is based. Incorporating the sintered bronze bearing...

Switches beat dust
September 1, 1998... For dusty environments or areas exposed to regular hose-down, Fortress Interlocks has developed a range of key-operated rotary switches sealed to IP66 standard. The KGRSE switches are for direct control of power circuits operating plant or...

Heating data into 4-20mA
September 1, 1998... The SEM215 in-raft mounting temperature transmitter from Status Instruments accepts the output from most commonly used temperature sensors and converts it into a 4-20mA process signal. This transmitter uses digital techniques and can be...

Low dropout regulator
September 1, 1998... A range of high-efficiency, low dropout regulator integrated circuits, designed to meet the requirement for extended operation of battery-powered equipment, has been launched by Allegro MicroSystems. The 8220-8233 series of voltage regulators...

Tachometer in a spin for data
September 1, 1998... The latest tachometers to be added to Compact Instruments' speed measurement equipment range are for use where rotational speed and data are required. Based on the company's Concorde design, the models provide indication of speed - 3 to...

It's a brand new start
September 1, 1998... A vibrant new-look C&I show with a sharper focus and greater emphasis on leading-edge technologies is just eight months away. The result of extensive market research by the new Miller Freeman Industrial Exhibition team, headed by Simon Bright, it...

YOKOGAWA: 'C&I WILL BE OUR SPEARHEAD FOR THE C21ST
September 1, 1998... Most companies in the control and automation industries have considered attending exhibitions. However, the rate at which technology changes has eliminated the luxury of launching new products only at a major exhibition, undermining the unique...

SIEMENS: 'THE SHOW IS GETTING BACK TO CORE MARKETS'
September 1, 1998... At Siemens Automation and Drives, we believe the UK needs a process automation event that will take the visitor through the integration process from sensor to management information. Hitherto, in the UK, we have lacked an event that is specific...

PEPPERL+FUCHS: 'EXPECTING A WIDER RANGE OF VISITORS'
September 1, 1998... To succeed in global markets, writes Brian Woolley Pepperl+ Fuchs' UK distribution manager, a company must provide unparalleled products, be highly flexible and provide the best possible service for its customers. To achieve these goals, we at...

DRUCK: 'THE C&I SHOW IS THE FOREMOST PLATFORM FOR US'
September 1, 1998... The annual C&I show continues to be the foremost platform for promoting Druck in the UK. It provides an unique opportunity for us to talk with customers and prospects, across a range of business market areas. Breadth of market coverage is an...

NPL: 'Let's get physical'
September 1, 1998... The Competing Precisely Measurement Awareness campaign will be presenting a seminar at Control & Instrumentation 99. The seminar will highlight the impact and benefits of accurate measurement on quality and profitability in the manufacturing and...

Industrial-strength solutions from the DTI
September 1, 1998... The DTI's Advanced Control Technology Transfer (ACTT) programme targets UK small and medium enterprises to help them gain improvements in competitiveness by adopting modem control techniques. Improving competitiveness is the key to an...

CONTROLLERS single or multiloop, where next?
September 1, 1998... Ron Higginson What is a controller? For three-term or similar continuous loop controllers, we tend to think of a small panel mounting box with display, controls and terminals to connect to sensors and actuators. Sizes may vary but the...

Trends in the markets for loop control systems
September 1, 1998... The European market for controllers is growing by between 5 and 10% per annum, writes Rudi Raber, md of Jumo Instrument. As the technology moves ahead and prices fall, OEMs and users alike are using the opportunity to improve their systems to...

PRESSURE raises its market profile
September 1, 1998... Any attempt to chart the progress of pressure measurement devices in the last two decades inevitably returns to the impact on their development made by silicon technology. It hadn't even been developed for high performance pressure measurement...

Flexibility in batch CONTROL
September 1, 1998... GEOFF BROWN Nowhere is the time-to-market imperative more compelling than in the chemicals industry, as Croda Chemicals testifies. Faced recently with making an all-important choice in selecting a batch control software package for recipe...

$700m batch sector 'consolidates'
September 1, 1998... Acquisition, consolidation, globalisation, and the adoption and development of new technology are the key changes in the batch control market, according to Automation Research Corporation's (ARC) newly published study Worldwide Batch Control...