Why you should always supplement your safety light curtain with stop time measurement

Why you should always supplement your safety light curtain with stop time measurement

A safety light curtain can help avoid serious accidents on the factory floor by ensuring that a potentially hazardous machine ceases operation before a person enters the hazard zone. However, this is only the case if the light curtain has been set up at a sufficient distance relative to the time it takes for the machine to stop.

 

 

 

Water/Wastewater: Drive Out Distortion With a Low-Harmonic Drive

Water/Wastewater: Drive Out Distortion With a Low-Harmonic Drive

There’s a contaminant that has long troubled water and wastewater operations, and you won’t find it in the water. Harmonic distortion is like a pollutant on a power line. It can cause electrical equipment to act erratically or shut off, resulting in unplanned downtime. And it can frustrate workers by making water treatment systems more difficult to optimize.

 

 

 

PBSI CArl harting 400

Discussing Automation and IIoT with Harting Canada’s Carl Maalouf and Peter Hannah

Harting Canada held their annual trade media luncheon in Toronto this past month to provide insight into the company’s direction moving into the next fiscal year. The event provided Panel Builder & Systems Integrator a fantastic opportunity to sit down with Carl Maalouf, the Canadian Director of Sales for Harting Canada, as well as Territory Sales Manager, Peter Hanna.

 

 

 

ENHANCED ROBOT CALIBRATION IMPROVES PROGRAMMED PATH PERFORMANCE

ENHANCED ROBOT CALIBRATION IMPROVES PROGRAMMED PATH PERFORMANCE

Cole Technologies, Inc, located in Columbus, Indiana, are a certified Universal Robots system integrator supplying automation systems specializing in pick and place, deburring, and plastic part trimming applications. One recent project involved the deflashing of molded parts where a more accurate robot path was deemed necessary.

 

 

 

Key reasons why a backward-compatible system is essential for a future-oriented manufacturing facility

Key reasons why a backward-compatible system is essential for a future-oriented manufacturing facility

Omron are committed to developing advanced technologies that maximize our customers’ potential for innovation. They invest 7% annually in research and development so that they can design and build products in-house that work together at maximum efficiency.

 

 

 

Rockwell Automation Helps Protect Food Safety and Pharmaceutical Quality with New Hygienic Hardware

Rockwell Automation Helps Protect Food Safety and Pharmaceutical Quality with New Hygienic Hardware

Food and pharmaceutical makers can better protect the integrity of their products using new hygienic industrial control hardware from Rockwell Automation. The new Allen-Bradley Kinetix VPH hygienic servo motors and a new stainless-steel version of the Allen-Bradley PanelView Plus 7 graphic terminal both help minimize contamination during production and ease compliance.

 

 

 

DCS 1889 motor 400

Looking Back at Electric Motor Use in Factories, Advancements in 1889

The other day I came across an interesting article that takes us back to some early innovations regarding the use of electric motors in manufacturing facilities. The article titled “The Electric Motor in Factories”, and was published in Science by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1889. 

 

 

 

A systematic approach to the ideal toolholder

A systematic approach to the ideal toolholder

Modern 5-axis and multi-tasking machines as well as high-precision machining centers for micro-cutting enable continuously new and improved machining concepts. In addition to the cutting edge, the choice of the tool clamping device is the main key to success. The range of technologies is correspondingly large. A systematic comparison helps to define the optimum clamping technology for the respective machining process.

 

 

 

Start Seeing Savings When You Use a VFD With Synchronous Capabilities

Start Seeing Savings When You Use a VFD With Synchronous Capabilities

The savings keep coming when you use a variable frequency drive (VFD) with synchronous bypass and transfer capabilities. It can help reduce up-front capital costs and long-term energy and maintenance costs in various motor-control applications. And along with the cost savings, the VFD can help you increase efficiency and achieve more flexible process control.

 

 

 

Coordinated Systems = Limitless Potential: Digitally Supported Switchgear Engineering

Coordinated Systems = Limitless Potential: Digitally Supported Switchgear Engineering

What do NBA sportsmen like the world champions from Toronto, The Raptors, and the workings of their teams, have in common with system technology from Rittal and Eplan? More than you might expect. In short, both operate on an “all for one and one for all” basis. Both demonstrate how coordinated systems that link together can tap into unimagined potential.

 

 

 

Taking the Show on the Road in Canada: Pepperl+Fuchs takes technology right to the users

Taking the Show on the Road in Canada: Pepperl+Fuchs takes technology right to the users

This June the Pepperl+Fuchs road tour made its way through Ontario and Quebec, visiting several automation providers and manufacturing facilities. During one of the stops at a manufacturing facility in southern Ontario I was able to tour the mobile exhibit with Richard Krawczyk, Account Manager of Factory Automation in Canada.

 

 

 

Fanuc: Optimize Your Warehouse Footprint with Automation

Fanuc: Optimize Your Warehouse Footprint with Automation

With the growth of e-Commerce, comes major changes in global retail and logistics. Because of this, companies are seeking automated warehouse solutions to meet this growth. New automated technologies are providing these companies with the capabilities they need to optimize their use of resources. By minimizing operational space, automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) enable retailers to not only maximize their resources but also ship products faster and more efficiently.