The International Society of Automation (ISA) has appointed automation industry veteran Mary Ramsey as its new Executive Director.

Flow assurance for oil & gas production. - Yokogawa has announced that it has introduced an on-demand hydrate risk management solution that helps offshore oil platform operators to maintain production levels, protect plant assets, and minimise operating expenses and downtime by optimising pipeline chemical injection.

HVAC air flow! - The EE650 air flow transmitter from E+E Elektronik is dedicated for building automation and process control. The highly accurate device allows for reliable control of the air velocity in ventilation ducts and air conditioning systems. Besides the version with analogue output, the transmitter offers now RS485 interface and Modbus or BACnet protocol.

120A AC power latching relays. - Omron Electronic Components Europe has expanded its range of high performance AC latching power relays with new connectivity options meeting a wider range of applications including EV charge stations, PV inverters and lighting control as well as smart metering.

Positioning with maximum reliability. - The PXV 2-D absolute positioning system from Pepperl+Fuchs sets new performance benchmarks when it comes to reliability and handling. With its large reading window, the system keeps a sufficient number of codes in view, even in relation to track switches and changes to the code tape. Precise positioning is guaranteed at all times.

Harit Pokharel is a Design Engineer with Powerstax.

Using predictive analytics technology. - Research by IndustryWeek shows that equipment failure is the cause of 42 per cent of unplanned downtime. This raises questions about why more manufacturers aren't using technology to improve machine and factory performance. In this article, Stefan Reuther of COPA-DATA explains how these manufacturers can use predictive analytics technology to reduce factory downtime and increase their business competitveness.

Food & Beverage Leak Detection System. - The Rosemount CT4215 is the first quantum cascade laser/tunable diode laser (QCL/TDL) continuous, inline detection system designed to help assure quality and safety, maximise production volume and decrease product waste for food and beverage products.

Emissions analyser. - Servomex has launched the SERVOPRO 4900 Multigas, a high-performance continuous emissions (CEMS) analyser. Designed for the measurement of criterion pollutants, greenhouse gases and reference oxygen, the 4900 Multigas uses a range of Servomex's digital sensing technologies for ultra-stable, reliable CEMS monitoring of flue gases.

High temperature strain gauges. - Through its collaboration with the Japanese manufacturer Kyowa Electronic Instruments, HBM – a market leader in the field of test and measurement – is pleased to announce the arrival of its new KFU series of strain gauges for high temperatures of up to 350°C.

Angelo Corsaro, Ph.D., ADLINK Technology’s chief technology officer, has been recognized as one of the world’s most influential leaders in Edge Computing by Data Economy Magazine.

Relief for optics facility. - Following the earlier site closure notice (June 2018), Gooch & Housego was approached by a number of parties interested in continuing the business at the Orlando (FL USA) site. It has accepted an offer in principle from Solar Light, which intends to inquire essentially all product lines and key staff members. It is the intention of Solar Light to continue operations in the Central Florida area under the Optronic Laboratories name.

Tops in Pharma 4.0. - Werum IT Solutions has been recognized for its technology advancements and for paving the way to Pharma 4.0. APAC CIO Outlook named Werum IT Solutions as only MES provider to win this prestigious award.

High Density Industrial and Medical PSU. - Gresham Power Electronics has introduced its latest micro-footprint, Ultra High Density (UHD) 550W output power supply the OF(M)550. The product range has been designed for use in applications including industrial and telecom systems, medical equipment and LED lighting.

Power needs for autonomous robots! - Jonathan Wilkins, marketing director at EU Automation, argues that the way we power six axis robots needs to be reassessed to meet the needs of new applications such as autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).

Hybrid stepper motor/lead screw actuator. - Thomson Industries has expanded its line of stepper motor linear actuators with models featuring built-in anti-rotational guidance. The new motorised lead screw actuator (MLA) product saves designers of high-precision, shorter-stroke applications the cost, time and maintenance worries related to designing and building externally guided systems themselves.

Depth-sensing cameras. - Mouser Electronics now stocks the Intel®RealSense™ D400 product family. Built specifically to help embedded systems sense, understand, interact and learn from real-world environments, the Intel RealSense D400 product family offers designers a comprehensive platform of ready-to-use cameras, depth modules and vision processors that deliver embedded depth-sensing technology, real-time processing, and high-speed 3D imaging that is versatile and robust for a variety of indoor and outdoor applications.

Detecting cyber threats. - SolutionsPT has become a premier partner in Britain and Ireland for leading industrial cyber security specialist Claroty’s OT Cyber Security platform.

Capturing time-critical data using GPS - Camille Bauer Metrawatt now equips its highly-accurate measurement devices in the SINEAX AM, SINEAX DM5000, LINAX PQ and CENTRAX CU series with GPS modules.

Time-Of-Flight 3D cameras. - Stemmer Imaging has signed an agreement with Odos Imaging for the distribution of Time-Of-Flight (TOF) 3D cameras. The cameras will be available through Stemmer's entire distribution network of 19 different countries in Europe. Odos Imaging is part of Rockwell Automation.

Excellence in engineering! -

Force economically. - HBM offers a flexible solution for economical acquisition of large compressive forces with their new C6B force transducer,. The sensor is cost-effective and specially designed for rugged and dynamic applications.

Interoperable, standardized and vendor-neutral drive interface for time-sensitive networking - Drive profiles free the user program from device-specific details. The more versatilely and comprehensively a drive profile can be used, the greater the benefit. With six application classes for PROFIBUS and PROFINET topologies, PROFIdrive covers a very wide range of applications.

Monitoring CO2 Concentrations in Pig and Poultry Processing - Over recent years, there has been increasing concern for raising animal welfare standards in pig and poultry processing and the meat processing industry as a whole. This covers not just the animal’s environment and diet but also the procedures used in the slaughtering process. Edinburgh Instruments have recently published this article on this topic.

Calibration service. - Laser Components is offering a comprehensive calibration service for fibre optic light sources, optical power meters and OTDRs from AFL, Greenlee, OptoTest and Viavi – and also, upon request, for devices from other manufacturers.

Is your business prepared for Brexit? -

Crawling to safer pipelines! - Ashtead Technology’s recent move to new larger, modern facilities has enabled the development of a dedicated service/repair centre for the iPEK range of pipeline inspection equipment.

British Pharma industry expresses real concern - According to the British pharma trade body, a "no deal" scenario is still very much on the cards as negotiations drag on and the Brexit deadline next March draws ever closer. There are still unanswered questions as to how medicines regulation will operate during Brexit.

Standing the heat! - Harting's new Han® High Temp range of connectors now supports the flexibility of applied connectorisation in the harshest environmental plant conditions. As a result, reduced wiring complexity means that such an installation can be optimised and maintenance costs reduced.

Tiny sensors. - Laser Components can now provide custom ball lens profiles on the end faces of silica fibres. The plasma-based CMS process with ring-of-fire technology supports fibre diameters of 200, 365, 400, 550 and 600 μm, including other diameters within the limits of the equipment.

Power take-off torque monitoring. - Applied Measurements has supplied a DTD-P 100Nm parallel shaft torque sensor fitted with an ICA4H miniature load cell amplifier, calibrated to UKAS traceable standards and sealed to IP68 to allow complete submersion for use on a SeaPower Platform. This extracts energy from deep water ocean waves by reacting to long prevailing wavelengths in high resource sites.

Predictive maintenance service. - Alpha Drives Ltd is offering a new service in Ireland with their gearbox partner Flender. The new DX500 smart sensor, part of the Diagnostex product series, is a plug & play solution for measurement of vibrations and temperatures on the gear unit and notifies the system operator of irregularities by app immediately via smartphone or tablet

Communications buyout to benefit IIoT. - HMS Industrial Networks has acquired all shares in the German company Beck IPC GmbH located in Wetzlar (D). Beck IPC is a leading provider of technology and solutions for embedded control and industrial M2M communication, including solutions for the Industrial Internet of Things, IIoT.

Legacy PSUs. - Replacements and alternatives for legacy Kingshill linear power supplies are available from Powerstax. For many years Kingshill made a very large number of a wide variety of their very popular linear power supplies commonly used in high reliability industrial, test and measurement, instrumentation systems and offshore platforms.