Blog
The benefits of remanufactured automotive parts
During World War II, access to natural resources was incredibly difficult in most European countries. Most countries found that, the effort to build planes, ships and tanks was crippling, creating an urgent need to reuse and remanufacture industrial parts. Beginning with the rebuilding of automotive and truck parts in the 1940s, this gave birth to an entire industry and is now common practice. Here, Darren Halford, sales director of industrial au...
Planning a revamp?
Let me set the scene. As a plant manager, you've set your sights on a full system upgrade. You've broken the news to the rest of the team and you’re pleasantly surprised to see they share your excitement. You might think their happiness is a result of having a brand new system, but in reality it might be the prospect of having a short holiday while the upgrade is completed.
Top 3 trends in smart city power
The race is on to develop smart cities of the future that are cleaner, greener, easier to navigate and better to live in. The prospect of living in a place where utilities, roads and even buildings work in harmony to make life easier, all while reducing environmental impact, may still seem farfetched, but it's quickly becoming a reality. Here Steve Hughes, managing director of REO UK considers the top three trends in power quality that are the ke...
A CO2 tax could unleash renewable energy revolution
A CO2 tax for companies should be the foundation of the imperative renewable energy revolution. The fact that the recently completed COP21 climate agreement does not mention this political measure with respect to reducing global emissions, is a major missed opportunity, according to Wouter Last, President, plant IT, and engineering specialist, Hint.
Beyond IoT: pervasive sensing
In manufacturing facilities, unplanned outages force continuously operating processes to go through shutdown and start-up procedures. It's under these conditions that serious incidents are most likely to occur. Ideally, manufacturers should to be able to anticipate equipment failures to prevent these outages.
Microsoft to end support for Windows XP in UK ATM machines
Last month, Microsoft ended support for embedded Windows XP in ATMs. This Windows XP operating system is still used in the majority of ATMs that deliver cash to customers around the world. So, does this mean ATM customers will now be more vulnerable to cybercrime? By Paul Wilson, Product Manager, Easy Solutions.
The rise of ubiquitous computing
The concept of ubiquitous computing dates back to 1991, only two years after Marty McFly supposedly travelled to 2015 in Back to the Future Part II. The concept was first described by scientist, Mark Weiser who said: "The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it."
Do Androids dream of industrial sheep?
When Google bought a small mobile software company in 2005, there was no way of knowing how prosperous the acquisition would be. Although the mammoth technology company has a habit of hoovering up exciting start-ups that tend to go on to become prestigious success, there have been a few not so awe-inspiring purchases - namely Motorola and dMarc Broadcasting.
Top 10 tips for mitigating harmful harmonics
The rise of non-linear loads in industrial environments over the last two decades has resulted in the growing problem of harmonic currents and utility-level voltage distortion. Facing a lack of awareness, the industry has struggled to implement effective mitigation techniques. Here, global business development manager of CP Automation, John Mitchell, discusses offers useful tips for mitigating harmonics.
Protecting your production line
Back in June 2010, malware computer programme Stuxnet hit the headlines as the first computer worm to target modern supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and programmable logic controller (PLC) systems. Industrial Control System (ICS) users became aware of how software hackers and malware could affect operation. Back then, you'd be forgiven for thinking that as a regular ICS or SCADA user, you had nothing to worry about. Five years on,...