AUTOMATION UPDATE:

* Global growth in automation market * ISA 88 Part 5 discussion * Schneider opens automation and controls center * Invensys, Integralis focus on system security * ClickMobile gets an upgrade

By Plant Engineering Staff December 20, 2007

ARC sees global growth in automation market

Discrete industry automation continues to experience solid worldwide growth as manufacturing plants and OEM machine builders continue to invest in automation to improve agility and flexibility of operations to meet market demands. ARC Advisory Group study.

Automation is a ticket to be a participant in this flat world.portunities, and increasing pressure to improve financial performance,” according to Senior Analyst Himanshu Shah (hshah@arcweb.com), the principal author of ARC’s “Automation Systems for Discrete Industries Worldwide Outlook” ( www.arcweb.com/res/tadww ).

Developing economies all over the world are increasing the demand for industrial machinery at high rates.ular niche their customers operate in and are able to build machines which are more suitable to the regional issues.

Countries like China and India have been traditionally viewed as a location for outsourcing low valued production from countries in North America and Europe.e increasing vertical specialization that is expanding in industrial machinery.

ISA 88 Part 5 discussion

A new Podcast features Dennis Brandl, ISA88 chairman, and David Chappell, Make2Pack ISA88 Part 5 chairman, talking with Control Engineering managing editor Mark Hoske about who’s involved and why the standard is important. The Podcast is about 7 minutes in length. For more on the topic, Standard profits: Make2Pack and ISA88.

Schneider opens automation and controls center

Schneider Electric has opened its Automation and Control Innovation Center in Raleigh, N.C.

The Automation and Control Innovation Center was the first of three Schneider Electric innovation centers that will open throughout the country. The center in Raleigh is unique, said company officials, in that it will be the only one focused entirely on automation and control solutions.

“We are able to provide everyone with first-hand experience of our entire breadth of customized automation and control solutions for OEM and end user customers,” said Andy Gravitt, vice president, industrial automation and control, Schneider Electric North American Operating Division.

Invensys, Integralis focus on system security

Invensys Process Systems , a leading provider of process control network security, will offer 24/7 global network security monitoring and management through a Integralis , a leading global provider of managed security services. This unique collaboration between a major process control vendor and a major IT services provider demonstrates the growing importance of combining process engineering and IT expertise in warding off cyber threats to refineries, public utilities, pharmaceutical plants and other process industries.

ClickMobile gets an upgrade
ClickSoftware Technologies has introduced an enhanced version of its ClickMobile product, which helps companies make smart decisions in real-time, improving service efficiency and revenues. New, easy-to-use features, which support just about every step of handling the work order, provide the technician of the future with a portable office to work more productively. Simultaneously, dispatchers and managers are equipped with a set of real-time monitoring tools, increasing their ability to make informed decisions in real-time.

Using the ClickSchedule automated workforce scheduling software, ClickMobile enables those organizations to graduate to real-time automated, optimized mobile workforce management that drives higher efficiencies and service responsiveness, thus taking mobility solutions to a whole new level.

“We recognized that having an integrated solution for optimized scheduling and mobility would result in many benefits for our organization both now and in the future,”solutions.”