Smart factory day! - Distec is partnering with Red Lion Controls to host a smart factory day on March 28, 2017. The event, which will be held at the De Vere Cranage Estate in Cheshire (GB), is designed to give plant managers an overview of the benefits of smart factory technology.

VA meters with HART! - The Krohne variable area flowmeter H250 M40 is now available with HART 7.4 communication.

Optoscribe has appointed Steve McMahon as its new Sales and Marketing Director.

Rotary coded switch. - The Elma C15 Rotary Coded Switch range is now available from Foremost Electronics. The C15 multifunction switch is intended for cost sensitive applications where space is critical and is particularly suitable for frequency and channel selection in two way radios, portable appliances, instrumentation and similar miniaturised mobile applications.

Closing the gap between automation & IT. - Softing Industrial announced that its dataFEED uaGate SI gateway now also supports the MQTT protocol in addition to OPC-UA, enabling easy and reliable integration of Siemens S7 data into cloud solutions.

Drives aid Dutch innovative fishing craft. - Control Techniques & Leroy-Somer have recently helped complete a landmark fishing industry project by contributing to the construction of a brand new type of marine vessel, the MDV-1 "Immanuel".

Ion Science has expanded KS Chari's role as Regional Manager for South Asia to include the Middle East .

TFT screen transform instrument panel. - The new andersDX letterbox display offers an outstanding IPS TFT screen in a unique form factor. It provides a high contrast image that can be easily viewed over a wide angle even in bright sunlight and unfavourable conditions.

For the cyclists among us! - For the safety of both cyclists and drivers, bicycle lights are essential. Yet technology in this area hasn't changed much for decades, and the simple bike lights that have been available do not catch enough attention from drivers. For the last two years, Brightspark, a new start-up company, has been developing a more innovative and adequate product, and has announced that it will be available this year.

Low-noise single axis accelerometer. - Silicon Designs has announced the added versatility of its Model 2210 Series, to include measurement capabilities on one, two, or three orthogonal axes.

Production monitoring seminar/workshop. - Kistler Instruments will be holding a free production monitoring seminar/workshop with hands on workstation sessions providing practical insight into the application of force, pressure, torque and surface strain sensors using their systems.

The AcSoft Group has promoted Emily Norman to Sales Director.

Approval for particulate monitors. - The TSI Environmental DustTrak™ Aerosol Monitors in Ashtead Technologies' fleet of particulate matter (PM) monitors have achieved MCERTS approval.

Rentings for NDT training. - TWI recently ran a Non Destructive Testing training course in Madrid at which, thanks to rented instruments from Ashtead Technology, each participant was able to use individual test instruments.

Cybersecurity Career Pathways for Protecting Critical Infrastructure. - As part of its mission to help develop a workforce capable of competing in advanced manufacturing, the Automation Federation will deliver a presentation on career pathways in industrial cybersecurity at this week’s 2017 Workforce Development Institute conference.

Acreditation recognises high-quality lifelong automation training expertise. - The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) has awarded accreditation status to Endress+Hauser.

Agreement on co-operation on automation opportunities. - Bedrock Automation has signed a memorandum of agreement with Jacobs Engineering Group, one of the world’s largest and most diverse providers of full-spectrum technical, professional and construction services.

Installing a power-off brake! - Thomson Industries, has released an educational video for design engineers, illustrating how to properly install its SB Series power-off brake.

Circuit protection in Britain & Ireland. - Anglia has significantly strengthened and enhanced its circuit protection portfolio with its appointment as Britain and Ireland distributor by Littelfuse.

Drive ranges purchased to continue availaibility. - Following the recent closure of SmartDrive Limited, Mclennan has purchased the design and manufacturing rights for the entire line of the former motion control provider's D- and DM-series full/half stepping and microstepping Eurocard drives.

Measuring stylus tracking force. - Demonstrating its continuing role as a technological innovator, Rega will soon be launching a new accessory – a weighing scale that precisely measures stylus tracking force. As an integral component for the scale, Rega chose the Zemic Q70 series miniature load cell, supplied and fully supported in the Britain by Variohm EuroSensor.

OPC Communication with Secure Link to IoT Clouds. - The new version of Softing's dataFEED OPC Suite now includes an MQTT connector. This makes transfer of data to IoT Clouds simple and secure.

Connectors to simplify panel building & system integration. - Cliff Electronics has introduced a 1U 19" rack mounting panel to aid system builders with integration of their very successful range of XLR-Format FeedThrough connectors.

Rounding out cloud IoT applications. - WebAccess 8.2 is a web based SCADA software package available later this year from Advantech, to round out the IoT applications from the end to the cloud.

New lab focusses on IIoT. - Nation Instruments (NI) has announced the opening of the new NI Industrial IoT Lab at its Austin headquarters (TX USA). The new lab focuses on intelligent systems that connect operational technology, information technology and the companies working on these systems.

Theodore Crandall, who has been appointed senior vice president, Control Products & Solutions (CP&S) at Rockwell Automation.

Patrick Goris has been appointed senior vice president and chief financial officer with Rockwell Automation.

Water & Waste papers sought! - paper call for 2017 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium (WWAC) which is taking place 8-10 August 2017 in Orlando. (FL USA).

More options for custom cable assemblies. - Harting has expanded its har-flex® connector family with the addition of individual cable connectors for the self-assembly of custom cable assemblies.

Development site achieves cybersecurity certification. - The Honeywell Phoenix (AZ USA) product development site in the US has achieved the ISASecure® SDLA lifecycle certification. Honeywell received the conformance certificate from exida, LLC, an ISASecure ISO 17065 accredited certification body.

Subminiature load cells for delicate applications. - Burster's 8416 and 8417 series tension and compression load cells from Ixthus, are aimed at force measurement in space restricted assemblies or where discreet and minimal weight installation is important.

Gas detector approved to SIL2. - Tyco Gas & Flame Detection (Tyco GFD) is pleased to announce that the DG-TT7-S H2S gas detector with Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) sensor underwent stringent functional safety assessments by an external certification body and is now SIL 2 approved.

Join LotusWorks continued business success & be part of their instrumentation success story.

Transmitter wins safety award. - United Electric Controls, has won the 2016 exida safety award for its One Series Safety Transmitter — the first SIL 2-certified transmitter designed solely for safety system applications.

Power distribution in harsh environments. - Schneider Electrical has introduced Canalis KR, busbar trunking for high-power distribution in harsh environments and critical applications.

Flange management! - Atlas Copco Bolt Tightening Solutions has launched an innovative flange management system. The iFMS is a modular, software-based management system designed for planning, data capture, analysis and reporting of activities related to the inspection, maintenance and testing of bolted joints and pipework.

Display modules. - KOE have announced the introduction of Zero Dot Defect Rugged+ display modules. An improved cosmetic specification has been introduced which defines zero bright dot defects i.e. no dead pixels with a bright failure mode.

Ex position switches. - Position switches from Steute, with dimensions to DIN EN 50047, have been tested and approved according to ATEX and IECEx for use in gas Ex zones 1 and 2, as well as dust Ex zones 21 and 22.

EMC problems could lead to lost business - Keith Armstrong, global electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) expert at EMC Standards looks at a case where radio frequency interference (RFI) had a significant detrimental impact on a business.

Elbow plug connector. - A new elbow plug connector called Anglissimo has been launched by LEMO connectors. This patent pending connector offers the system integrator and manufacturer the possibility to orientate the connector in one of the eight possible positions during its assembly.

Overmoulding protection for sensors. - Variohm EuroSensor includes thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) overmoulding for many of its sensor products and is able to provide this service on a sub-contract basis for other manufacturers.

Multi-axis network motion controllers. - Elmo Motion's Platinum Maestro is a certified EtherCAT and CANopen network motion controller that offers exceptional levels of multi-axis machine performance.

Election results announced! - MCAA President Teresa Sebring has certified the election of officers and directors of the Measurement, Control & Automation Association for 2017. The elections were completed by letter ballot of the membership in November.

Coriolis and magnetic flowmeters. - The Proline 300/500, a family of industry optimised "smart" Coriolis mass and electromagnetic flow instruments has been released by Endress+Hauser. These instruments simplify installation, speed commissioning, and streamline both operation and maintenance activities.

Intelligent buildings! - The Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA), an association dedicated to the advancement of intelligent home and intelligent building technologies and a member organization of the Automation Federation, will conduct the 2017 CABA Intelligent Buildings & Digital Home Forum April 26-28 2017 in Santa Clara, (CA USA).

Call for papers for FPID17 - The 2016 FPID Conference was the first international ISA symposium held outside of North America. It was very well attended and the local section is extremely proud of its success. This year, ISA's Food and Pharmaceutical Industries Symposium, (FPID) returns to North America, to Boston, Massachusetts - 16–17 May 2017! Deadline for abstracts is 9th January!
Report on the 2016 Symposium in Cork (IRL)

Signal Quality Analyser. - Anritsu Corporation has launched the Signal Quality Analyser MP1800A Series 100G-EPON Test Solution.

Competence centre inmproves servicing German market! - Seica now offers its German customers, and prospective customers, a generously equipped new technology center, covering 375 square meters.

Safety encoder. - In the future, Hengstler will offer the Safety Communication Layer of BiSS Safety for its rotary encoder portfolio in order to meet the steady growth in safety applications.

Monitor the mini wave. - The smallest thermal profiling system designed specifically for miniature wave selective soldering processes has been announced by Fluke® Process Instruments. The DATAPAQ SelectivePaq uses four thermocouples to take measurements from the electronic assembly as it passes through the preheating and dip soldering phases. Sample intervals can be adjusted to up to 20 times per second.

Explosion proof. - Electrical Explosion Protection Equipment by Pepperl+Fuchs is exactly tailored to meet the multifarious requirements of process automation.