Australia is yet to discover the real potential of automation in the manufacturing, mining and processing industries though many processes are already automated to a degree. Factories of the future will undergo a digital revolution, which will herald a new world of productivity excellence.

Forward-thinking manufacturers constantly work to maximise asset utilisation, productivity and uptime - as well as integrate these with other aspects of the enterprise through plant-wide optimisation. The convergence of manufacturing and enterprise functions is more easily achieved using a common network technology. Gordon Bartlett discusses the implications.

Urtekram International A/S is the largest Danish manufacturer of organic body-care products such as cream, shampoo and liquid deodorant. Recently the company has achieved an increase in its production capacity by installing new batch-mixing technology.

In Parts 1 and 2 of this article on vortex shedding flowmeters we looked in detail at how they work and how they are constructed. In Part 3 we look at what needs to be considered in the application of vortex flowmeters.

The increasing use of nonlinear electrical loads in all types of industrial and commercial applications has resulted in the introduction of potentially harmful problems. Active filters provide a reliable and cost-effective solution.

There comes a point in machine safety design when the designer needs to decide if it makes more sense to use multiple safety relays or to upgrade to a safety controller.

Sensor-equipped grippers enhance quality and productivity of automated assembly processes and can enable fully automatic, recipe-driven flexible production.

As the marine chronometer demonstrated, simply keeping accurate time is a huge competitive advantage: it allows you to precisely coordinate complex systems.

In today’s highly competitive global marketplace, improving outputs and increasing productivity is a key organisational priority. That means the focus for most industries in 2011 and beyond will be to improve processes and efficiencies, and wherever possible, automate.

In Part 1 of this article on vortex shedding flowmeters we looked at the principles of their operation and the basic construction of the meter. In Part 2 we examine the transducer and the transmitter.

In central New York State, recent upgrades at a municipal water plant have provided the means for operators to enhance their process for meeting the water quality needs of customers.

As businesses strive to gain a competitive advantage from their operations, the way operators perform their work has evolved. Shifting from being purely functional to highly analytical, operators have become an increasingly critical part of today’s business processes - significantly changing the way businesses operate and adding more value than ever before.

When you introduce robotics into a workplace an assumption is sometimes made that it will cost jobs. Greg Allison believes exactly the opposite.

There comes a point in machine safety design when the designer needs to decide if it makes more sense to use multiple safety relays or to upgrade to a safety controller. This point typically occurs when the application requires three or more safety relays. This article focuses on some of the issues that designers must consider when determining whether a safety relay or a safety controller is the best solution for a particular job.

Shell Eastern Petroleum Ltd (SEPL) has recently completed its Ethylene Cracker Complex (ECC) as part of its Houdini project on the island of Pulau Bukom, Singapore. The full project included modifications and additions to the existing Bukom refinery.