SERCOS International (SI) has announced that an open source software driver library for the SERCOS III real-time Ethernet communication system master implementation is now available via the sourceforge.net online portal. The software can be used by interested users (control manufacturers, ...

News | MA Staff | January 15, 2010

There’s nothing new about cutting energy consumption. Plant managers have been trying to do it forever; automation users are achieving it where they can but with varying degrees of success. The trouble is there’s never been a consistent, standardized approach ...

Features | Profibus Trade Organization | January 14, 2010

The promise of linking manufacturing and IT systems together has been an ideal of automation professionals for decades, according to one reader, who sees the PC — along with an accessible Ethernet-based network — offering the best chance of true ...

News | André Voshart | November 26, 2009

Ethernet has been the de facto standard for business enterprise systems for many years, and the industry adoption of EtherNet/IP for control and information has enabled of network convergence between manufacturing and enterprise networks. Converging technologies between traditional information technology (IT) ...

Features | Mike Hannah | November 26, 2009

Nine billion dollars. That’s the value of the 761 million gallons of architectural coatings the paint industry shipped in 2006, reports the National Paint & Coatings Association. Valspar Corp. is the third largest paint and coatings company in North America, and ...

Features | Adrienne Lutovsky | November 25, 2009

Kepware Technologies, a leader in communications for automation, has enhanced its award-winning KEPServerEX OPC Server with version 5.1, which delivers significant new functionality and a variety of enhancements to the OPC-A&E Interface, Drivers, as well as the Custom Interface Driver ...

News | MA Staff | November 23, 2009

Prospects for continued adoption of device-level factory automation networks remain overwhelmingly tempered by the weight of current and future economic pressures felt by OEM machine builders and end users. Within the factory automation marketplace itself, however, continued growth in device network ...

News | MA Staff | November 03, 2009

Kepware Technologies, a leader in communications for automation, has released its next generation of KEPServerEX, Version 5, available now for OEMs, channel partners and end users. Kepware’s "next-generation communication platform" delivers a new architecture and new features and benefits while ...

News | MA Staff | July 30, 2009