We found 59 posts about Technology Insights from DO Supply, a global automation parts
reseller focused on hard-to-find and obsolete industrial automation products.
For a guy who swore he’d seen it all, Mark was baffled. His plant ran like clockwork; at least, that’s what he thought. Yet somehow, his energy bills kept climbing, his motors weren’t lasting as long as they should, and maintenance crews were spending more time reacting to breakdowns than preventing them. He’d thrown money at the problem, replacing parts, upgrading motors, and even tightening maintenance schedules, but nothing made a dent. That’s when someone finally asked him: What kind of motor controllers are you using? Turns out, the culprit wasn’t the motors themselves, but the outdated motor controllers running them. Fortunately for Mark, replacing those archaic controllers with more advanced smart motor controllers had extinguished the fires and put money right back in his pocket with the savings from lower energy bills. By adjusting power delivery, monitoring performance in real-time, and predicting failures before they happen, smart motor controllers give businesses like...
Wireless Sensor Networks, or WSNs, are infrastructure-less wireless networks that use thousands of spatially distributed sensors to monitor environmental and physical parameters, like temperature, motion, pressure, etc. Each sensor node collects data and transmits it to a sink node or a central hub using radio frequency. At this main location, it is processed, stored, and analyzed by a computer or a human. These smart sensors are self-configured, meaning that they can automatically supervise processes without any manual intervention. WSNs have several key components: A sensor node comprises of a sensing unit (or a transducer) that measures physical parameters, a micro-controller that processes the data, an ADC, a transceiver for wireless communication, and a power source which is usually a battery. WSNs come in three main structures for radio communication. Radio Telescopes In Star Topology, the sink node can send or receive information from various remote sensors. However...
Allen Bradley is a leading brand under Rockwell Automation, and is renowned for its extensive range of automation equipment which includes PLCs, HMIs, sensors, safety equipment, software, drives, and motor control systems. With all these products, various management and training, services and support are needed for optimum, reliable and sustainable user experience. This article covers various customer support and services offered by Allen-Bradley. Buy Allen-Bradley Drives, PLCs, and more from DO Supply A good Asset Management Strategy helps better asset availability, boosts Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), and saves Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) expenses. Following are some of the Key Benefits of the Industrial Asset Management services provided by Allen-Bradley: Lower MRO costs, yet enhanced storeroom processes. Access to essential spares for minimizing downtime. Mitigation of obsolescence risks. Technology upgrades with modernization projects. Proper management of...
Efficiency and versatility are key components of industrial automation, which are incorporated into the design of the Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 525 AC Drive. The drive is equipped with features that deliver precise motor control while also conserving energy. As a result, the PowerFlex 525 drive plays a crucial role in many industrial operations by helping businesses save money and streamline their processes. In this review, we will cover the drive’s features and capabilities as well as explore its applications across various industries. The Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 525 AC Drive is part of the PowerFlex 520 series from Rockwell Automation, designed for diverse industrial applications. Developed to provide advanced motor control and improved energy efficiency, the PowerFlex 525 quickly became a favorite among engineers and facility managers. Here is a quick look at just what they could do: The STO feature enables the drive to be safely switched off, preventing unintended operation of...
The Stratix 5900 is a service router developed by Rockwell Automation. The Stratix 5900 simplifies configuration with embedded software and offers robust connectivity for industrial networks. To assist manufacturers in establishing a safe and cohesive environment from the enterprise level down to end devices, it plays a critical role in industrial automation control systems. In this article, we will discuss some of the security-related features of Stratix 5900 that will show us how it protects industrial automation systems from harm. These features include One Step Router Lock-down, Firewall (Zone Based and CBAC), Security Audit of the Router, VPN and Advanced VPN Functions, Intrusion Prevention System, Content Filtering, Port Security and MAC Address Filtering, Role-Based Access Control, and Intellectual Property Protection. Network administrators may quickly and easily protect a service router against possible security risks or unauthorized access using the “One-step router...
Adaptive manufacturing is a noteworthy development in the industrial landscape because of its dynamic capacity to adjust to changing conditions and client requirements. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the vanguard of this revolution, a force that is transforming product design, production, and distribution. This overview of AI and adaptive manufacturing aims to lay out the whole process and possibilities brought forth by this creative combination. High efficiency and homogeneity were prioritized in the linear mass-production paradigm that characterized manufacturing in the past. However, digitization and customer desire for customization have sparked a move toward more adaptable and responsive production techniques. The answer is adaptive manufacturing, which combines advanced AI technology with conventional manufacturing techniques to create a more flexible, customer-focused production environment. AI plays a variety of roles in this paradigm change. The first step is using...
A new era is beginning in the field of construction, where human labour has long been the engine of advancement. The building sector will undergo a dramatic transition in the future because of industrial automation. Robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning developments are driving the inexorable march of technology, which is set to transform the construction industry completely. The days of labour-intensive physical labour activities and inefficiencies that plagued conventional construction techniques are long gone. Instead, a surge of innovative automation technologies is expected to change the landscape by bringing in previously unheard-of levels of productivity, safety, and efficiency. It becomes more and clearer as we look forward to this bright future that the building sector is about to undergo a significant paradigm shift. The future building site will be a highly coordinated and digitally choreographed environment with autonomous construction trucks, intelligent...
The global issue of climate change has hit a critical phase, demanding immediate action and new solutions from all areas of society. Industrial automation is a significant instrument to address climate change. Currently, climate change holds immense significance in our era. It is creating serious risks not only to society and the environment but also to the economy. All sectors must take quick action and come up with novel solutions. Increased temperatures, severe weather events, rising sea levels, and biodiversity loss are among the outcomes of climate change. These variations have serious implications for ecosystems, human health, the stability of food systems, and financial well-being. Given the severity of the issue, there is increasing global consensus that climate change has to be tackled to move towards a sustainable, low-carbon future. Industrial automation is applying modern technology to streamline and automate business operations. This game-changing technology has the...
Nanotechnology is the atomic and molecular engineering of matter. It is a rapidly evolving field that has the power to completely transform a variety of sectors, including industrial automation. The application of technology to manage and observe industrial operations is known as industrial automation. It is utilized in a variety of sectors, such as manufacturing, food processing, and logistics. Productivity, quality, and safety can all be enhanced with industrial automation. Here are several examples of how new and enhanced industrial automation systems are being created using nanotechnology. New forms of sensors that are smaller, more sensitive, and more robust than conventional sensors are being developed using nanomaterials. For instance, sensors that can pick up on minute changes in temperature, pressure, and chemical composition are being created using carbon nanotubes. New kinds of actuators that are more potent and responsive than conventional actuators are also being...
The status of the Environment has become a critical issue due to the fast growth in the number of industries around the world. While businesses support economic development and technical breakthroughs, their growth has resulted in many environmental issues. The state of the Environment is examined in this essay in light of the growing industrial activity. Industries have contributed significantly to pollution by releasing contaminants into the soil, water, and air. This has led to water contamination from inappropriate waste disposal, air pollution from manufacturing emissions and vehicle exhaust, and soil pollution from harmful compounds. Additionally, companies have contributed to deforestation via mining and logging, which cause habitat damage and biodiversity loss. Another effect of industrial expansion is resource depletion because of how much fossil fuel, mineral, and water enterprises need. Additionally, it significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions that cause...
Industrial automation is revolutionizing manufacturing processes with the help of mechanization and data management systems. This advanced technology, known as Industry 4.0, is cost-effective and improves quality, competitiveness, time-efficiency, safety, and control. However, it also adversely affects society, including displacing jobs and impacting the environment, ethics, and economy. Therefore, we must prioritize human well-being over production, sales, and profit. In this article, we will tell you just how to do that. Every day individuals and company owners have long sought novel approaches to increase productivity in routine work. In the past, small machinery, lever, pulley, different hand tools, and working with animals helped our forefathers do most of their work manually. In manufacturing, three categories are characteristic of production processes: Manual, semi-automatic, and automatic. In the first century BC, to grind grain into flour, water wheels were started to use...
In brief, industrial automation is the use of computer-based control systems, such as PLCs, PACs, or robots, and a set of information technologies, like industrial communication systems, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), and EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) platforms, to handle different industrial processes and machinery without significant human assistance. Human involvement is replaced using powerful machinery and logical programming commands. With the increasing need to drive greater manufacturing throughput and reduce production costs, industrial automation is progressively becoming a topic of conversation among manufacturers all over the globe. They are continuously adopting various automation solutions and integrating new Industry 4.0 technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing & analytics, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) into their manufacturing facilities and throughout their operations to drive greater operational efficiencies. The term Internet of...
Automation has already started to transform various industries and is expected to accelerate in the coming years. The automation revolution, powered by advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), robotics, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT), promises to revolutionize the way we live, work, and interact with each other. In the past, automation was mainly limited to repetitive and routine tasks. However, with the recent advancements in technology, automation has become more sophisticated and capable of handling complex and non-routine tasks. As a result, many industries are now exploring ways to leverage automation to improve productivity, reduce costs, and enhance efficiency. As we approach the year 2023, the pace of automation is expected to pick up significantly, with more and more businesses and organizations looking to automate their operations. This means that individuals and businesses need to be prepared for the automation...
Renewable and sustainable energy has been one of the hottest topics for the past decade. The most popular choices for the United States are all familiar to us: hydro, wind, and solar. While it seems that we have been seeing more progress with renewables every month, our current renewable energy production only supplies 20% of The United States’ total energy demands according to The Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. While that figure does seem low, it has doubled in the last decade, proving that there is a considerable amount of innovation and production happening behind the scenes. Solar energy jobs and production have boomed since the last decade with an increase in jobs from about 100,000 workers to over 200,000 while decreasing the average cost of installation on residential homes by $22,000 (SEIA Comms Team). California has since become the first state to mandate all new homes be built with solar panels. If the tides are changing for our renewable energy production...
Industrial automation is the use of information technologies, robotics, machines, and control systems including processors, sensors and actuators to execute production and manufacturing tasks that are normally performed by human workers. Its goal is to improve quality, increase productivity and enhance safety in various industrial applications. Initially, the goal of industrial automation was to increase productivity (since automated systems can operate 24/7 without tiring) and reduce labor costs in the US automotive industry. However, today, 3D technologies and computer-controlled tools such as CNC machines and Robotics have shifted the focus of industrial automation to increasing flexibility and quality of manufacturing processes. For example, installation of engine pistons in automobiles could previously be performed by human workers with an error margin of 1% to 1.5%, but today the task is carried out by automated machinery with an error margin of 0.00001% – an indication of...
