Changes are coming hard and fast to the control and automation sectors, obligating a rise in knowledgeable and experienced engineers and integrators. Education is the path to ensuring the technological advances continue and are properly implemented and as such Panel Builder & Systems Integrator turned to a control systems student at the University of Waterloo.
Every industry faces unique challenges. After years with weak demand and low prices, the oil and gas industry is now seeing trends sparking cautious optimism. Protection of assets in the oil and gas segment is especially important in their “please all, please none” environment.
Part 1 of this 4-part series introduced ways in which increasing digitization might improve plant operations. Part 2: how IIoT can improve the productivity of reactive, preventive, predictive and proactive maintenance. Part 3: five converging trends. Here in Part 4: how IIoT is already improving operational profitability.
Industrialized nations are being influenced by transformative forces creating what many are calling “The 4th Industrial Revolution,” also referred to as Industry 4.0, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and Smart Manufacturing.
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), also known as the Industrial Internet, is transforming the way innovative businesses collect and share data. IIoT combines machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, industrial big data analytics, human machine interface and data acquisition to drive smarter, faster business decisions and powerful outcomes for enterprises of any size.
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) technology is nothing new to automation and control experts today, who are used to implementing the system using modern technology, but it wasn’t always so. Early integrators faced a variety of challenges, most prominent among them the lack of computing power, particularly with mobile equipment (laptops, tablets, smartphones) that weren’t available in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
Automation is the name of the game for today’s manufacturers and operators of critical infrastructure. The global market for industrial control and factory automation is expected to grow steadily at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4 percent between 2017 and 2023, from its current value of USD 145 billion.
System Integration has a strong foothold and is a key driver of advanced technology that is increasingly focused on cost saving coupled with higher production rates. However, the evolution of system integration was slow, and does not necessarily meet the exact standards we think of today when we hear the term or consider the type of work system integrators do.
Panel building operations are present in all regions of Canada. However, Ontario has the largest number at 50% which is largely driven by the high number of general and automatoive manufacturing within the province.
Weekly Industry Input Poll
IoT for Industrial Manufacturing, sometimes called the Industrial IoT (IIoT), offers manufacturers the opportunity to radically redefine their operations and even their entire businesses. The capabilities of IoT enable manufacturers to gain greater visibility and insights into their operations through the efficient utilisation of data and the tighter integration of disparate systems.
OPUS Automation was founded in 1998 in Ancaster, On and provides robotic and automation solutions throughout Canada and the US. The company was founded by Peter Young, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from McMaster University where he continued to work as a research engineer and was responsible for the implementation of Canada’s first university-based robotics research facility.
Panel Builder & Systems Integrator was given the opportunity to ask Steve Loftus, President and co-founder of Innovative Automation, about himself, the company and what continues to drive its success.
Recently, while doing research, I came across an interesting article that forced me to stop and consider how insightful the article was when we consider the current application of automation on the manufacturing industry. The article titled “The Scope of Automation” by S. Moos was originally published in the Economic Journal in 1957.
Packaging and palletizing has become a large part of the control and automation industry, particularly in general manufacturing and the food and beverage industry. This is not surprising as automation of packaging and palletizing can reduce labour costs and save time while increasing productivity. Further, and particular to the food and beverage industry, automation ensures safe and uncontaminated packaging and as we will see can cut costs in other areas of the production process through system integration.
Wherever pumping systems are present–in environments such as buildings and water / wastewater and oil and gas facilities–energy consumption exerts a major influence on cost. Despite the fact that electrical energy cost represents 40% of the total cost of ownership of pumping systems, many organizations fail to introduce the proper steps to leverage cost reduction through efficiency improvements. To solve this dilemma, the following major barriers need to be recognized and addressed: Lack of proper metrics – Energy efficiency has traditionally not been used in assessing performance.
This project is funded [in part] by the Government of Canada.
Ce projet est financé [en partie] par le gouvernement du Canada.
