Second generation industrial PC. - Phoenix Contact has introduced the 2nd generation of its successful Basicline industrial PC product line. The new, affordably priced BL2 family includes box PC’s and resistive touch panel PC in several display sizes, all powered by the latest 7th generation Intel Core processors.

Training in digital communications. - These free-to-attend seminars, organised by PI UK this Autumn, address the key practical issues arising from the use of digital communications technologies in automated manufacturing and process industry applications, with particular attention to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industrie 4.0.

Extending circular display range into a new technology. - A round AMOLED display has been added by andersDX to its range for wearable and instrumentation applications, complementing the circular PMOLED and touchscreen modules that it already offers.

Indicators, Controllers and Monitoring Systems for safe & hazardous areas. - The F-series product range from Fluidwell offers you an extensive selection of Indicators, Controllers and Monitoring Systems for liquid and gas flow applications, as well as for Level, Pressure and Temperature Measurement in safe and hazardous areas.

Racing in Clonmel! -

Software for Ignition SCADA system. - Seeq Corporation have announced the availability of a Seeq connection module for Inductive Automation's Ignition SCADA system. This new integration module simplifies integration of Seeq Workbench into Ignition displays and server gateways.

Progress at ISA section in Spain. - The International Society of Automation (ISA) Spain Section's annual Assembly and Conference 2017 was held earlier this month in Madrid (ES). The main subject was "Automation and Control in the SMART era".

Partnership delivers modular data center solutions. - Rittal is to partner with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to jointly deliver modular data center solutions for the global market. Rittal will bring to the joint market approach their broad portfolio of modular and scalable datacenter solutions from a micro data center to largely scalable container solutions.

Coping with high temperatures! - The latest range of C Series Strain Gauges (SG's) from HBM, is specifically developed to cope with modern temperatures (below 250°C) and minimise strain due to expansion.

Quality accrediditation for photonics leader. - Gooch & Housego Orlando (FL USA) has received ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation from international registration body NVLAP (National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program).

Online resource for lamp and luminaire afficianados! - Cortet™ by CEL has announced a new online resource for manufacturers, integrators, installers and reseller of lighting systems, luminaires, lamps and control/management systems for industrial and office facilities, warehouses, and other large facilities.

Motor offers precision valve control. - The new Limited Angle Torque (LAT) Motor, BEI Kimco model LAT22-18, for motorised valve control has been released by Sensata Technologies.

Lucy Ackland, Senior Development Engineer at Renishaw, has been selected as one of Britain's Top 50 Women in Engineering in 2017.

Quality with power! - Powerstax has been awarded ISO 9001 on its recently combined manufacturing facility in Wickford, Essex (GB).

Soft starters. - WEG has recently launched the SSW900 series of soft starters. These compact soft starters, which replace the current SSW06 soft starter series, are designed for industrial and commercial applications.

Methane gas detector. - Ashtead Technology has launched an advanced natural gas detection system that is able to differentiate between different gases and does not require a hydrogen source gas. Developed and manufactured by Inficon, the IRwin® is a portable, intrinsically safe methane specific gas detector with additional capability for LEL, oxygen and toxic gas measurements.

Heading for Data Centres event! - The utilities department of Hanley Controls Clonmel have signed up to exhibit at Data Centres Ireland Exhibition & Conference in November at the RDS in Dublin.

Wireless area gas monitor approved to INMETRO standards. - The BM25 & BM 25 Wireless area gas monitor, from Tyco Gas & Flame Detection, have been INMETRO (Brazil) approved as per governmental regulation n°179-2010 and has received certification N°15.0200 X.

Early-bird registration deadline for WWAC. - The deadline for early-bird registration for the 2017 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls (WWAC) Symposium has been extended to 1 July 2017. The original deadline was 15 June 2017.

Modular cable interface. - Harting has developed a new compressed air module to meet the increased demands on pneumatic interfaces in flexible production processes.

The Grandmother retires! - After almost 20 years of reliable service a Gasmet FTIR multigas analyser has finally been retired. The instrument, which is a Gasmet 9540 was purchased at the end of the last century by VTT, the Technical Research Centre of Finland.

Extensometer for vehicular safety applications. - The VPG Transducers brand of Vishay Precision has announced the global market introduction of its Model 182 extensometer, a specialty high-performance strain gage-based force sensor, expressly designed for industrial, EN15000 and EN280 compliant off-highway vehicle and equipment safety applications.

CompEx Competency Validation. - Martin Jones of JT Limited is to discuss the development of competency after the Piper Alpha Disaster in 1988 at a technical meeting of the Ireland Section of the International Society of Automation (ISA). The meeting is scheduled for Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork Wednesday 12th July 2017, 19:30pm.

DP Transmitter on very long train! - ADZ NAGANO develops and manufactures pressure sensors and transmitters that meet the highest industrial requirements for standard and specialist applications ranging from mobile machinery to aerospace equipment. Represented in Britain by Variohm EuroSensor, ADZ is especially active in technologically demanding projects such as the following railway braking application that call upon its considerable expertise to solve unusually challenging tasks.

Permission to change and develop in the Life Sciences! -

Living on the Edge! - This "On-demand" webinar has Craig Resnick of the ARC Advisory Group and Jason Andersen of Stratus Technologies discuss new techniques for protecting data in the Era of IIoT.

Ready for the floods? - Nigel Grimsley, Managing Director of OTT Hydrometry is urging those responsible for flood prevention and management to take action this summer to ensure they are protected before the arrival of severe weather.

New blog launched directed at the pharma sector. - Digital channel for experts to exchange ideas on current solutions and forward-looking topics affecting pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturing instituted by Werum.

Torque transducer. - The T22 torque transducer, from HBM, is now available with three new nominal (rated) torques of 0.5 Nm, 1 Nm and 2Nm, making it a cost-effective and flexible solution.

British manufacturers plan for transition from Europe. - The engineering equipment manufacturers' taskforce - EURIS* - believes that a 5 year transition period for the full implementation of Brexit is necessary to minimise economic disruption to British manufacturing companies as they adjust to life outside the EU.

During the period that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are working through their exit from the European Union (EU) we will endevour to bring items of particular interest and/or relevence to the automation sector in the process.

Wiring regulation updates! - Although nearly 15 month's away MCP reviews training, procedures, methods and safety overview in light of the 18th Edition Wiring Regulations.

Plastic push-pull connector for medical & other applications. - Esterline Connection Technologies – SOURIAU's JMX series is a plastic push-pull connector for use in the medical industry. It is designed for easy use by any medical professional.

Miniature sensor for very low force measurement applications. - In response to the increasing miniaturisation of consumer, industrial and business products Kistler Instruments developed a range of very small force sensors to meet the needs of both machine builders and manufacturers of small devices.

Leader in medical and safety technology joins wireless group. - Dräger, an international leader in the fields of medical and safety technology, has joined the ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute.

Safety shutdown & alarm control in field-based final elements. - The One Series ST models from United Electric Controls (UE), can now provide SIL 2-certified control for many types of final elements including pilot valves, actuators, motor controllers and other SIS elements, without involving a DCS or safety PLC.

Standardising quality at food safety company. - Neogen Corporation Ltd, the international food safety company, is to upgrade its quality system from Ideagen as it looks to standardise quality management across its operations in Great Britain.

Simple Conformance Test System for simple RF & Protocol conformance tests. - A Simple Conformance Test System, the ME7800L, which enables simple and cost-effective RF and Protocol conformance tests of 3GPP-compliant LTE mobile terminals in one simple package has been launched by Anritsu.

Operator interface solution advances. - Opto 22 has announced groov 3.4, an update to its mobile operator interface system. With this new version of groov, operators can trend a lot more data over a much longer period: up to 5 years. groov's built in trend gadget now offers an interactive type of trend that handles many more data points.

Outdoor connectors. - The Harting Han-Eco® A Outdoor connector is a new variant of the company's Han-Eco® family, which combines high-performance plastic construction with weatherproof seals for use outdoors.

Compact, portable combination measuring instrument. - The Yokogawa DL350 ScopeCorder is the most comprehensive fully portable measuring instrument available for capturing, displaying, recording and analysing a wide variety of electrical and physical parameters in industry sectors including automotive, electronics, energy, transport and mechatronics.

PI and Automation in North America - report - The Measurement, Control & Automation Association (MCAA) has published its Annual Market Forecast for 2017. The report, prepared by the analysts at Global Automation Research, focuses on the Process Instrumentation and Automation (PI&A) markets in both the United States and Canada.

Specialist motion components. - Phytron GmbH has appointed Mclennan as its exclusive sales partner in Ireland and Britain. Mclennan will handle enquiries and provide technical and sales support for the specialist and extreme environment stepper motor, drive and motion systems manufacturer.

Signal Analyser Solution for 5G and Wideband. - The high-performance Signal Analyzer MS2850A from Anritsu Corporation, targets development and commercial production of 5G mobile communications systems.

Automation discipline well served in Ireland. - The AGM of the Ireland Section of the International Society of Instrumentation (ISA) was held recently. It will continue to foster new advances in automation systems and technologies through technical seminars, events and training.

Quality, risk and safety to be examined! - Ideagen is to hold a two-day event for its US customer base in Orlando (FL USA), later this year. The 'Ideagen Horizons' seminar 2017 will take place in Orlando, 2-3 August 2017.

Upgrade for LIMS. - The latest software release for the Matrix Gemini Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) from Autoscribe Informatics provides greater bulk sample registration flexibility and enhanced features for visualisation and communications for users.

Loadcell Indicator. - The INT4-L 6-digit LED display from Applied Measurements, is the latest version of the INT2-L featuring improved load cell and process filtering. It is compatible with any strain gauge based transducer.

Dr Maurice Wilkins FInstMC has been appointed as engineering director of the InstMC.

Industry 4.0 quality management system. - Salzgitter Flachstahl has appointed the QuinLogic to fit out a state-of-the-art QES quality management system for all relevant production processes. The order comprises a central QES database solution.

Supporting high data rate requirements. - Anritsu Corporation has introduced the Universal Fixture Extraction (UFX) option for its VectorStar® vector network analyzers (VNAs) to provide signal integrity and on-wafer engineers with an increased range of on-wafer and fixture calibration choices, even when a full set of calibration standards is not available.

Water cooling in #food industry. - he new Hygienic Design air/water heat exchangers from Rittal are ideally suited to the food industry, where hygiene requirements are exceptionally stringent.

Use of video in data collecting. - A recent survey, conducted by HBM – a leader in the field of test and measurement – shows that video use is accelerating in data collection.

Alarm with Dual Relays and Process Transmitter Output in a Single Unit. - Acromag has added new limit alarm and transmitter solutions for their line of microBlox® signal conditioners. The microBlox signal conditioning modules, available for a wide range of sensor inputs, plug into the new uBTA Transmitter Alarm Carriers to provide threshold value switch and process signal output capabilities.

MEMS Capacitive Accelerometers - Silicon Designs, Inc. has introduced six new series of low-cost, high-performance MEMS capacitive accelerometers, in both traditional and smaller footprints.

New range of radar level transmitters. - Six 24 and 80 GHz FMCW radar level transmitters for liquids and solids have been added by Krohne to their OPTIWAVE series. They aim at liquid and solid applications in a wide range of industries. Based on over 28 years of experience with FMCW technology, each device has a particular target area of application, for example agitated and corrosive liquids, narrow tanks with internal obstructions, or powders and dusty atmospheres.

Marty Edwards is the new Managing Director of the Automation Federation.

Partnership increases test coverage. - XJTAG and Flying Test Systems, a leading provider of electronic test solutions in Britain and Ireland, have announced the signing of a joint Technology Partner Agreement.

Have you a Percy Spencer in your operation? - Jonathan Wilkins, marketing director at obsolete equipment supplier EU Automation, discusses how manufacturers can use their dark data for commercial benefit.

Automation operations nervecentres extended in Europe & USA. - Two new ABB Ability™Collaborative Operations Centres near Miami, (FL USA) and Genoa (I), are extending the company's network.The centres function as the central nervous system for assets and systems fitted with ABB technology. Countless sensors transmit data on the health and performance of machines and essential systems to the centres, where sophisticated software performs advanced data analytics 24/7.

Versatile load cell. - The innovative PW15iA load cell from HBM is fully adaptable and features a range of integrated functions - which include a wide range of algorithms for check weighing, filling and batching – which eliminates the need to undertake these functions separately.

Tiger has a g'day down under! - Australian environmental consultancy, JBS&G has purchased another well-proven Tiger handheld volatile organic compound (VOC) monitor from Ion Science. This latest handheld photoionisation detector (PID) is being used on a major new project and was chosen for a number of performance benefits as well as the free extended five year warranty.

Angle seat valves. - A highly adaptable angle seat valve, the VZXA has been introduced by Festo. Featuring a patented interface and award-winning modular product architecture, its wide variety of valve bodies and actuators can be freely combined for maximum configuration flexibility.

Don Schriek has been appointed as European Sales Manager with Excelsys Technologies.

US and British collaboration in combating industrial cyberattack. - Industrial cybersecurity experts of the International Society of Automation (ISA), the Automation Federation (ISA's umbrella organization), and the US and British governments, and global business leaders gathered in London 18 May 2017 to share common experiences and consider strategies to combat common threats.

US production capabilities expanded. - Endress+Hauser has further expanded its production facilities in the United States. The Raman analyzer manufacturing plant in Ann Arbor, Michigan was extended at a cost of 9 million US dollars. In Greenwood, Indiana, the company built a new 8 million dollar plant for temperature measurement production.

Leading in customer relationships. - Yokogawa has received the Frost & Sullivan Global Customer Value Leadership Award in the automation solutions and services category. This Award recognizes the company's contributions in building strong relationships with its customers by providing premium solutions that deliver an exceptional return on investment.

Developments in US flowmeters. - Flow Research has taken a fresh look at this dynamic market. The ultrasonic flowmeter market has been one of the best performers in terms of growth over the years, and it is important therefore to gauge its performance in 2016 and beyond. Their new study is called The World Market for Ultrasonic Flowmeters, 5th Edition, and it has a base year of 2016.

Power Distribution for the digital age. -

PC connectivity for control, data collection and analysis. - Yokogawa's new WTViewerE software provides PC connectivity for the company's industry-leading power analysers - including the WT3000E, WT1800E, WT500 and WT300E models - via Ethernet, USB, GPIB or RS232 interfaces. This connectivity allows users to easily control, monitor, collect and analyse measurement data, and save measurements remotely.

Servo drives for DC-powered applications. - The Applied Motion Products (AMP) SV2Dx series servo drives are available from Mclennan in a comprehensive choice of control modes to suit use across a wide range of demanding motion control applications.

Keeping your swimming pool clear! - Langley Leisure Centre in Berkshire (GB) is the first leisure centre in that country to use an optimised low energy UV system to treat water for its 25-metre indoor heated pool. The Hanovia SwimLine Ultraviolet Energy Optimised (UVEO) system is helping to provide high quality water that reduces corrosion and creates a healthier environment for bathers, whilst reducing overall energy consumption.

Non-contact radar transmitter. - Magnetrol International has launched the PULSAR Model R86 Non-Contact Radar transmitter, an advanced level control solution that offers radar technology with improved performance for a wide range of level measurement applications.

Ensuring right-first-time production. - Enhancements to Syncade MES Workflow v4.9 application provide operators with an action-oriented, efficient, and secure environment for faster and more precise manufacturing recipe execution.

Standard approval for power supply unit. - The market leading CoolX600 Series of 600W convection-cooled modular power supplies from Excelsys Technologies, is now approved to IEC 62368-1 – Part 1, the new safety standard for audio, video, information and communication technology equipment.