Control Amplified

It’s been some three decades since the Purdue model first formalized the seven-layer pyramid for “computer-integrated manufacturing." While the model’s intent was primarily functional, form often follows function, and the intervening decades have left us with complex strata and siloes of isolated data that is difficult to integrate and contextualize. Peter Zornio, chief technology officer for Emer...

The touch panel has a long and storied history in the industrial automation arena. To better understand the changing roles and capabilities of the not-so-humble touch panel in today's production environments, Keith Larson is joined by John Wozniak, product manager for digital automation projects with  Wago . Read the transcript: https://controlglobal.com/21438616  

Green hydrogen can decarbonize applications where renewable electrons simply can't go, but does bring with it some challenges, notably the very high pressures and low temperatures needed to contain it. To talk more about the challenges posed and opportunities presented by green hydrogen in transportation applications, Keith Larson is joined by Genny Fultz, product manager, Marc Buttler, director o...

While green hydrogen promises to play a significant role in the decarbonization of our energy infrastructure, it won't be as simple as throwing a switch. One key avenue for it is to leverage the existing natural gas distribution networks to deliver a blend of green hydrogen and traditional natural gas to the homes, buildings and industries that currently rely on natural gas in full. In this episod...

The digital transformation of industry doesn't only apply to the real time control and optimization of industrial processes. It also applies the documentation, the supply chains, and context-specific workflows that support industrial assets across their entire lifespan. To better understand how, when it comes to industrial automation, digital technology at our disposal can make online retailers es...

As the digital transformation of the process industries advances, innovative solutions are easing OEE pain points and making way for more flexible methods of applying OEE on an enterprise level. To learn more about how digital transformation is allowing manufacturers to extract new value from this tried and true metric, Keith Larson is joined by Joe Reckamp, principal analytics engineer for  Seeq...

Today's current events have ratcheted up uncertainty among industrial enterprises around the world. One result has been an increased sense of urgency to implement digital transformation strategies at scale, including those advancing the realization of industrial autonomy. To provide a status report on our collective journey from Industrial Automation to Industrial Autonomy, or IA2IA in Yokogawa sh...

Industry is among the largest consumers of fresh water, and many global manufacturers have identified water scarcity as a significant risk factor to continuing operations. To answer this challenge operators of both municipal and industrial water and wastewater treatment systems are in the midst of their own transformations. To discuss the ongoing transformation of our water/wastewater infrastructu...

When Coriolis flow measurement technology first debuted back in the 1970s, food and beverage companies were among the earliest adopters. To learn more how Emerson’s Coriolis pioneers continue to tailor their portfolio to align with the needs of today’s F&B makers, Keith Larson speaks with Melissa Stiegler, director, food & beverage industry for Emerson.   Learn more about Emerson: https://www.emer...

Despite a deluge of pledges from companies to reduce their environmental impact, the evolving sustainability space and growing regulatory investor and social pressures have left many organizations questioning where to begin. In this episode, Chris Hamlin, Seeq Corp.'s capability development lead, shares his seasoned perspective on the issue. Learn more about Seeq: https://www.seeq.com/   Read the...

In this episode of Control Amplified: The Process Automation Podcast, Keith Larson is joined by John Colpo, global manager, marketing strategy, oil & gas, at Honeywell Process Solutions. In their discussion live from Honeywell Users Group Americas 2022, they discuss the synergies between the pursuit of sustainability goals and autonomous operations.  Learn more about Honeywell Process Solutions: h...

Keith Larson talks about the range of CEMS technologies now available and how to choose among them with SICK's Phil Zyskowski, market application engineer, and John Calame, market product manager for Analyzers and Continuous Gas Analyzer Systems. Learn more about SICK: https://www.sick.com/us/en/   Read the transcript: https://www.controlglobal.com/podcasts/control-amplified/the-case-for-in-situ-c...

Full featured managed switches from the IT world feature an impressive array of options and functionality—perhaps too many for operational technologists. Unmanaged switches, on the other hand, are relatively unsophisticated devices that cost less, but lack security and redundancy features. In this episode of Control Amplified: The Process Automation Podcast, Keith Larson talks to Charlie Norz, pro...

The FDT integration standard first came into being as a means to deal with all aspects of multivendor device configuration and diagnostic data generated by smart process instruments. Over the years, it has evolved in both scope and functionality, and in its current iteration as FDT UE, it provides a platform-independent, web-enabled environment for managing and monitoring instrumentation and all m...

It's been 45 years since Micro Motion debuted its first Coriolis meter, and back then, the chemical lab industry was the first to recognize the advantages of direct mass flow measurement. But over the years, Coriolis technology and complementary instrumentation that Emerson has assembled has proved the worth of this technology in many other dimensions. In this episode of Control Amplified: The Pro...

Ethernet-APL products are due to hit the marketplace this year. With this, process industries will be able to boast a unified Ethernet architecture that reaches from intrinsically safe field devices to the cloud. While bandwidth will be much faster, Ethernet-APL will also deliver substantially more electrical power to those field devices, bringing unprecedented capabilities to the digital field. I...

Ethernet-APL technology is an important technology milestone, enabling a new high performance paradigm of digital field communications for the process industries. But from a practical perspective, there are millions of analog 4-20 mA instruments installed around the world, and growing. No one will be tearing them out anytime soon. Further these analog devices are joined by a growing number of wire...

The process industry’s packaging, paper, plastics and textile manufacturing applications are among its most challenging. Conveyors, continuous sheets and webs are moving faster than ever, even as the volume of real-time data needed to feed industry’s digital transformation ambitions continues to mount. So, how can a maker of the industrial networks and input/output (I/O) systems that make all this...

Many industrial organizations today list increased sustainability as one of their main corporate objectives. But it's not just altruism, they understand that advancing sustainability also offers significant competitive advantage, from both an image perspective and a business bottom line. In this podcast, Control's editor in chief Keith Larson discusses how advanced analytics are being used by proc...

Since its introduction more than four decades ago, the distributed control system, or DCS, has made enormous contributions to the safe, efficient and reliable operation of innumerable industrial processes around the world. In this episode of Control Amplified, editor in chief Keith Larson talks about the forces reshaping the distributed control system (DCS) landscape and how ABB is responding to t...

Food and beverage producers are being asked to do more with fewer people, to anticipate and prevent potential disruptions to production, and to advance the overall sustainability of their operations. And the COVID-19 pandemic has only brought added pressures to bear. But suppliers of instruments and controls are once again answering the call. In this episode, Keith Larson talks about how instrumen...

Once you know what to fix, how do you ensure that your maintenance team has ready access to the information it needs to execute the necessary repairs both quickly and effectively? In this episode, Control editor Keith Larson talks about Emerson’s efforts to help reimagine maintenance workflows through the use of connected systems with Brad Budde, vice president, digital customer experience for Eme...

Jim Smith set the bar for innovation sky high from the very start when in 1977 he led the team that brought the first mass flowmeter based on the Coriolis effect to the industrial market. Since that time, as Micro Motion and now as part of Emerson, Emerson, the organization has continued to break new ground. To talk about how Emerson has responded to changing industry demands, and what trends are...

Keith Larson, editor of Control magazine and ControlGlobal.com talks about Ethernet-APL and what it means for the future of field communications in the process industries is Paul Sereiko, director of marketing and product strategy the FieldComm Group. Learn more about FieldComm Group at https://www.fieldcommgroup.org/ Learn more about our sponsor Emerson at https://www.emerson.com/en-us Read the t...

As in other industrial sectors, the past 30 years have seen substantial consolidation among suppliers serving the process automation marketplace. Indeed, the last burst of entrepreneurial spirit seemed to have left the market when the late 1990s dot-com bubble burst. Today, of the top 25 suppliers to the U.S. market that Control magazine identified in 1990, a full two thirds of that “old guard” no...