Consolidating component buying. - The Essentra Components online guide to consolidating a company's component buying is a valuable discussion document available on their Knowledge Centre.

Top four things you need to conquer cybersecurity - Cyber attackers who evade perimeter security may spy, spread, and steal, unhindered by the insufficient internal access controls. Here are four tips for proactive companies looking to step up to the challenge and create a cybersecurity program. (Lisa Richter).

Automated calculation of the optimal packaging. - CoreTechnologie GmbH (CT) has added another innovation to the 3D_Evolution Simplifier software: As the first software on the market, the latest version of the Simplifier now allows for a fully automatic calculation of the smallest sphere diameter that surrounds a part or an assembly.

Programmable power supply. - Intepro Systems' Model PSB 10000 30 KW programmable digital power supply/load has been announced. The PSB 10000 Series is a microprocessor controlled bi-directional supply that features two devices in one: an electronic DC load with energy recovery and an auto-ranging DC power supply.

Silo weighing system. - The recently launched S-series by VPG Transducers and available in Britain through Variohm EuroSensor is a flexible and configurable load-cell based silo weighing system with optional temperature measurement.

Broadband vector network analyser. - The VectorStar™ ME7838G broadband vector network analyzer (VNA) from Anritsu is the industry’s first VNA capable of making measurements from 70 kHz to 220 GHz in a single sweep.

Layer 3 Ethernet switch. - Red Lion Controls released their innovative new NT328G Layer 3 Ethernet switch recently. Offering 28 high-speed ports (24-Gigabit, 4-10 Gigabit) and reliable wire-speed switching performance, the NT328G offers exceptional performance and reliability to meet the current and future needs of the Oil & Gas, Water & Wastewater, Energy, Transportation, and video and security sectors, as well as other bandwidth-intensive industrial applications.

The role of monitoring in Natural Flood Management. - Flooding is a natural process, but it endangers lives and causes heavy economic loss. Furthermore, flood risk is expected to increase with climate change and increased urbanisation, so a heavy responsibility lies with those that allocate funding and formulate flood management strategy. In the attached article, Nigel Grimsley from OTT Hydromet explains how the success of such plans (both the design and implementation) depend on the accuracy and reliability of the monitoring data upon which they rely.

Compact servo drive. - Festo has expanded its range of servo drives with the introduction of the CMMT-ST. Complementing the existing CMMT-AS, this new servo drive is equally reliable but much more compact and economical. These characteristics make it ideal for point-to-point and interpolating motion in demanding applications in assembly and handling technology, packaging machines or in the electronics industry.

Digital transformation remains a top priority of most industrial companies. - But it can be difficult to know whether your organization is keeping up with the changes and transformations that are taking place throughout the industrial sector. This Digital Transformation Council and ARC Advisory Group research is designed to give manufacturers/producers a feel for how their organization compares to other companies as we all navigate our individual digital transformation journey.

Keynote speaker for vision conf. - The Keynote address at the 2020 UKIVA Machine Vision Conference & Exhibition will be given by Richard Love from NVIDIA. Richard is EMEA Marketing Manager for the NVIDIA's Jetson™ Embedded Processor Family.

Incremental encoder. - ELMA Electronic's new E18 mechanical incremental encoder is now available from Foremost Electronics.

London hotspots are smart. - The Breathe London project has been announced as the winner of a SMART 50 Award by Smart Cities Connect, within the Digital Transformation category. Created to better understand Londoners’ exposure to air pollution, Breathe London combines state-of-the-art technology with new data analytics, delivering real-time air quality data at a hyperlocal level in the city.

LIMS Distributor in Malaysia. - Autoscribe Informatics has announced the appointment of Nano Life Quest SDN BHD as distributor in Malaysia for the Matrix family of Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) products.

Can you trust your control systems? - Industrial managers place a lot of trust in the proper operation of their control systems. Failed or compromised industrial devices can lead to safety and environmental incidents. Costly equipment could also be damaged and lead to extended operational disruptions. These risks can’t be eliminated, but companies can do things to mitigate them. Use of reliable suppliers, redundancy, and safety systems are common ways to reduce the risks of a control system problem.

Trouble shooting thermal imaging camera. - Fluke has introduced the new TiS60+ thermal imaging camera, the ideal troubleshooting and preventive maintenance tool for industrial maintenance technicians and engineers. The new Fluke TiS60+ features IR-Fusion™ technology, which blends visible and infrared images to varying degrees to help pinpoint exactly the location of a problem.

Co-operation in Industrie 4.0 - Dunkermotoren becomes part of the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance. The digitalisation of factories and plants as well as the Internet of Things promise ever new possibilities for the automation industry. In this development, a wide variety of technologies from the field level to the cloud and also across different stages of the value chain must be combined across manufacturers to create tangible added value for our customers

Linear position sensors. - The TM1 series linear position sensors, recently launched by Novotechnik and available from Variohm EuroSensor, are designed for simple and direct integration within hydraulic/pneumatic cylinders or harsh-environment machinery.

Michael Rademacher-Dubbick (left) takes over from Prof. Dr. Rolf Theenhaus at Khrone. Krohne's new board,(LtoR): Ingo Wald (CFO), Ansgar Hoffmann (CSO), Dr. Attila Bilgic (CEO and speaker) and Stephan Neuburger (CBDO).

Multipoint analogue alarm. - The NET Concentrator System® (NCS) from Moore Industries now has a new versatile Multipoint Analog Alarm (–MAA) option that allows users to quickly set up simple or dynamic alarming schemes. The -MAA option utilizes a built-in ISaGRAF program providing a flexible alarm configuration that is accessed via easy to use web pages through the on-board web server.

Emergency switches for Ex zones. - With these two series, steute has once again expanded its range of robust "Extreme" switchgear for explosive zones. Typical applications for these devices include international mining, as well as the production of chemicals and construction materials.

Training neural networks! - IDS NXT ocean is an all-in-one solution that makes it particularly easy for users to get started with AI-based image processing. From camera hardware including a self-developed AI core to intuitive training software for creating individual artificial neural networks and support, everything comes from a single source. This is unique in the image processing market.

Comprehensive & practical automation. - There are a few publications which can be relied upon as "Bibles" of the automation sector and this is one of them. It is always important that the knowledge contained in them reflects the current state of industry and technology. As one of the editors said, "the book is particularly valuable to automation professionals early in their careers "

Force sensing. - The new piezoelectric 6-component force/moment link, Type 9306A, from Kistler Instruments is equally suited to measuring the forces acting on electric hand tools, rocket engine test benches or robotics.

Interconnectors with no minimum order. - Anglia has significantly expanded its inventory profile on HIROSE interconnect products and is offering all parts with no minimum order quantity (MOQ) in order to further support designers and SME manufacturers in Great Britain.

Wireless connectivity test set. - The Wireless Connectivity Test Set MT8862A from Anritsu is a WLAN tester supporting the IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax standards. With built-in Network and Direct test modes, it supports diverse measurement of WLAN products, including RF TRx characteristics (Tx power, modulation accuracy, Rx sensitivity, etc.).

Dew point transmitters. - The new SF82 Dew-Point Transmitter for Compressed Air Dryers from Michell Instruments features an ultra-fast response to moisture changes to increase the efficiency of energy use in dew-point dependent switching (DDS) dryer control systems.

Servitization Adoption and Maturity Model - Overview The Internet of Things (IoT) has enabled new business models for original equipment manufacturers (OEM). Servitization replaces the single transaction for delivery of a product with continuous service while improving the customer experience throughout the lifecycle of an asset. The OEM benefits with a stable sales volume, new revenue sources, higher-margin repeat sales, and increased profits. Users obtain higher equipment reliability, improved operating performance, and less dreaded unplanned downtime. (ARC Advisory)

Low heat 100A relay. - Omron Electronics Components Europe is moving into the high power relay market with the launch of a new 100A device featuring exceptionally low heat generation due to an ultra-low contact resistance. The new Omron G7EB is aimed at distribution power conditioning systems (PCS) as well as test equipment such as semiconductor testers.

Oil & gas flow industry studies! - Flow Research is working on two new gasflow studies. This is the 4th edition of their gasflow series of studies. The last gasflow study was published in 2016. They are now taking another look at this market, which has undergone significant changes in the past several years.

It hasn't gone away you know! - Parking meters, cash registers and a professional wrestling video game have fallen foul of a computer glitch related to the Y2K bug. The Y2020 bug, which has taken many payment and computer systems offline, is a long-lingering side effect of attempts to fix the Y2K, or millennium bug. (New Scientist)

PLC starter kits for machine and motion control. - RS Components, has introduced two programmable logic controller (PLC) starter packs from industrial automation specialist Allen-Bradley, part of the Rockwell Automation group.

LED Eco Lights has announced the appointment of Andy Edwards as Business Development Director.

Leaders in Industrial IoT. - Emerson has been named the 'Industrial IoT Company of the Year' by IoT Breakthrough for an unprecedented third consecutive year. The honour recognises Emerson's commitment to helping customers in industries such as chemical, life sciences, power, and oil and gas define and execute a practical and successful path to digital transformation.

ISA95 In the IoT & Digitalization Era - The ANSI/ISA95 standard, generally referred to as ISA95, is an important tool for digitalization. It provides the framework, modeling, and vendor independent common information models which can be applied in any manufacturing or process industry production architecture. (Bill Lydon, ISA)

Interferometers for fibre! - DataPixel has expanded its product range by three low-cost fiber and connector interferometers, the new DAFFI series. The three instruments in this series are so robust that they provide fast, reliable measurements in all installation and laboratory environments. Each model is designed to meet the requirements of a specific connector family.

Enhanced QC LIMS functionality. - The latest version of the Matrix Gemini LIMS software from Autoscribe Informatics provides significant enhancements which keep Matrix Gemini amongst the most innovative LIMS solutions currently available. Key new features are now included in the runsheet, graphical configuration tools and substance management functionality.

Distributor of year. - Panasonic Industry Europe named Anglia Components as its Regional Distributor of the Year at the recent distribution conference in Garmisch, (D) in recognition of its strong sales growth and design in activity. This is the second occasion Anglia has been presented with the award, an exceptional achievement amongst Panasonic’s network of regional distributors in Europe.

Lynx Software Technologies has named Ian Ferguson (top) as Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Alliances and Pavan Singh as Vice President of Product Management.

Key Technology Trends for 2020 - End users today are demonstrating an improved grasp on how disruptive technologies and approaches can be implemented effectively in their operations and across their enterprises to gain business value. This is critical for any organization to not only survive, but to thrive long-term in a world where the only certainty is change. (ARC Advisory)

Connecting in smart agriculture. - "Intelligent" and connected equipment is becoming available on the market, answers to agricultural needs are now within reach, while at the same time addressing environmental concerns. Souriau has been active in the agricultural sector for more than 20 years by providing its customers around the world with complete interconnection systems for harsh environments, continuously adapted to market evolutions.

New board take office! - The Executive Board is the senior governing body of the International Society of Automation (ISA). It is composed of the President, President-elect Secretary, Past President, Treasurer, 12 members with geographic, technical, and operational experience, the Parliamentarian (non-voting), and up to three at-large, competency-based members.