New industrial automation products are always interesting and remain important for manufacturing. Yet it is external trends as well as innovative technologies that are often the drivers behind continued investment in automation. Omron predicts…
Automation News & Insights
Stabilising Machine Performance using Hidden Data
Do you think have a machine with no problems? If so, you may already be collecting production and machine data but not using it for stabilising machine performance. A quick scan of it can…
Omron CP2E Controller Upgrade: Now is the time
Now is the time for users of the obsolescent Omron CP1E to upgrade to the newer CP2E controller. Aside from backward compatibility, the new model offers improved programming functions and new communications options as…
Sustainability: Doing nothing is no longer enough
Supply shortages across the world on the back of COVID-19, combined with a surging economic recovery in some regions, have resulted in extreme volatility in power and commodity markets. These, along with major shifts…
Biomass Automation Doubles Returns for Roana Farm
Maximising the use of agricultural by-products reduces waste and improves sustainability. Other advantages include reducing a businesses environmental impact and maximising an important profit opportunity. Thus, farm Roana invested in a biomass automation plant…
Skilled assembly worker shortages & how to overcome them
Not for the first time, manufacturers are under threat from a wide range of make-or-break challenges to remain competitive or even survive. They range from skilled assembly worker shortages to demands for reduced cycle…
Important lessons you can learn from Post-Pandemic Manufacturing
The pandemic has shown that businesses like online retailers who have already embraced sophisticated automation technologies have coped well with the sudden changes presented by Covid-19. By the same token, office automation allowed many…
Schneider Electric Alliance Master Industrial Automation Distributor
- Today we celebrate the news that BPX have been appointed as the UK Schneider Electric Alliance Master Partner in Industrial Automation Distribution. This partnership will drive greater value for customers, with digitalisation at…
What can we expect from AI in Automation and Control?
The term artificial intelligence covers the science of intelligence generated by machines attempting to mimic the cognitive functions of humans. It is already widely used in our everyday lives and has enormous potential to…
How to slice delicate foods on an industrial scale
To slice delicate foods on a production line brings many challenges: to achieve this on the fly brings even more. Working with Mitsubishi Electric, a mechanical handling company in the based in the…
Mitsubishi Releases FX5U Micro PLC for Smart Machines
Describing its new FX5UC controller a micro PLC risks its dismissal by users of so called proper PLCs. However, in doing so, they seriously risks undervaluing this new generation micro PLC from Mitsubishi Electric….
TeSys Island delivers Smart Motor Management for OEMs
Smart machines involve many electrical, mechanical and maintenance challenges for end-users, designers and equipment manufacturers requiring smart motor management. They integrate the programmable machine control with both upstream plant and downstream switching for motor…
Technology Transfer from Autonomous Cars
Across the world we are spending billions of dollars a year developing technology for self-driving or autonomous cars. The attractions of fully automatic vehicles are clear. Most road accidents (maybe as high as 90%)…
Self Driving Robots collaborate in Life Sciences
Automation lends itself to the manufacture of mass produced disposable medical devices and the bulk processing of samples. The main reasons for this are speed and repeatability, and removing contamination risks in a clean…
Automation upgrade boosts traditional craft productivity
Installing a Mitsubishi Electric automation upgrade has halved Denby Pottery’s clay manufacturing times and cut lost production.
The automation upgrda has empowered the artisans with greater control over skilled manufacturing processes to improve product quality….
Cybersecurity in UK Manufacturing: IT and OT Convergence
Cybersecurity in UK manufacturing is already an issue. Cyber attacks are becoming more prevalent and increasingly sophisticated. Attackers may find a backdoor into your system months before anyone realises-if they ever do. Identification may…
Manufacturing Automation: Key to Improved Efficiency & Performance
When thinking about advanced factory automation the first places that come to mind are invariably car plants. Images are of robot assembly lines, relatively few people and widespread use of AGVs. However, achieving this…
EcoStruxure for Industry: A New Offering
EcoStruxure is a Schneider Electric’s open IoT system that helps industry compete in the modern digital economy. It offers customised architectures across multiple industries where they have expertise and experience. Markedly, EcoStruxure for Industry…
What is EcoStruxure from Schneider Electric?
Commercial, political and environmental pressures are driving organisations to make more with less. This means they need to increase productivity with fewer resources, and using less energy. Thus, connectivity offered by the Internet of…
Industry 4 -automated heaven or an engineers’ hell?
Whether Industry 4 represents automated heaven or an engineers’ hell rather depends on your viewpoint. From a management perspective, the challenge for manufacturers is knowing how best to improve productivity. This is important for…