Manufacturing and Automation White Papers

A multibillion-dollar consumer foods manufacturer produces dozens of well-known brands, ranging from soups and snacks to pasta and pizzas. With operations in more than a dozen countries, the organization serves markets in more than 100 countries. PSbyM initially engaged with the company at four of its U.S. plants.

These success stories seek to highlight the industry-level challenges faced, the resulting automation and motion control requirements that need to be addressed, the results that can be achieved and the key platform strategy that allows customers to distinguish themselves in the worldwide market.

We wrote this guide to help you understand how an account-centric approach to digital marketing will address the new realities of B2B buying and selling. In this new whitepaper, you will learn: How and why your buyers have changed, About engaging key accounts digitally, What kind of use cases work best, How to get budget and plan a pilot & How to prove marketing ROI.

Pleora helps to lower costs, automate manual processes, and improve efficiencies for global brands in the consumer goods, pharmaceutical, life sciences, packaging, and transportation markets, and provides a unique hybrid approach with a “no code” software and hardware platform for AI development and deployment.

Compressed air safety is a concern for all. Compressed air is commonly referred to as the “fourth utility” because it is very common as a resource within manufacturing, mining and processing environments. Employees or contractors in every industrial company or setting are exposed to compressed air’s effects regularly and it should be handled with responsibility and care. The primary dangers from compressed air come from high pressure and noise exposure. Personnel being exposed to compressed air which exits an open line or non-safety nozzle at a higher pressure than 30 PSI risk the air entering the bloodstream and causing air embolism, a serious health risk. Improper use of compressed air commonly exceeds OSHA’s noise exposure standards and causes noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). The CDC reports NIHL is one of the most common occupational diseases and the second most self-reported occupational illness or injury. And because compressed air can be loud and result in hearing loss when it is used through poor nozzles, open tubes and pipe, or home-made blowoffs, their noise exposure standard is important. Limiting pressure and noise is effectively done by using products which are purposefully designed to meet these strict OSHA safety standards. EXAIR's White Paper "Understanding Compressed Air Safety and Savings" is designed to help readers learn more about compressed air, how to be sure you are OSHA compliant and how EXAIR’s Intelligent Compressed Air products can help.

CNC machining is a powerful tool for generating custom parts using subtractive manufacturing. This guide outlines CNC machining, its basics, some pros and cons, and the top commercial CNC machining processes and materials used today.

From parameter storage to detailed diagnostics, IO-Link’s advanced features and functionality have generated plenty of excitement. However, this intensive focus has created the common misconception that advanced capabilities are the only reasons to implement this technology.

Since the 1960s, programmable logic controllers (PLCs) have been the device of choice for automating and controlling machine operation, making them the head of automated processes. In recent years, engineers have started asking why they need to invest in a PLC. The devices can be expensive, require dedicated software and often mean additional panel and wiring expenses. Is a PLC and its cost really the best option for an application that may only need to control dozens rather than hundreds of I/O points?

Manufacturers are faced with the constant demand to increase productivity and reduce operating costs. A powerful industrial tool being implemented today to streamline production is reliable, enterprise-wide connectivity, providing the highest level of visibility, control and flexibility. To accommodate evolving networking requirements, such as decentralization of control, integrated diagnostics and simplified maintenance, network protocols integrate with industrial equipment and control systems to communicate crucial status updates and production data.

Extremely fast, compact, robust and secure: The TBEN-L managed Ethernet switch combines these features, thus enabling the creation of decentralized Ethernet connections directly at the machine. With two GBit high-speed backbone ports, the switch offers enough bandwidth for a high-performance data flow of the eight standard ports (100 MBit/s). Supported by the fastest linkup times and cut-through forwarding, the switch ensures high cycle rates even in tool changing applications. In many applications it therefore saves wiring effort and supports modular machine concepts without the need for a control cabinet.

In a new paper, Shackelford examines the cyber risk in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), including security implications in the smart factory revolution and associated policy implications. Although there has been progress in some areas (e.g., making attacks on civilian critical infrastructure, like smart factories, off limits), there is still much to be done. There are several options to consider for IIoT: self-regulation/cyber due diligence, insurance and/or proposed federal policies, like the IoT Cybersecurity Act of 2017, Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights and the Active Cyber Defense Certainty Act.