Monterey AgResources, a Fresno, Calif.-based producer of crop protection and animal feed materials, had difficulty accommodating the wide range of stakeholders concerned with the various stages of product development, from research and development (R&D) and field trials through compliance, registration and packaging.

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Much has been written about the growing shortage of engineers and skilled automation professionals—
a problem compounded by the near-term retirement of the huge generation of baby boomers.

So when Automation World set out to cover automation staffing topics this month, we decided not to focus so much on the “sky-is-falling” issue of the shortage. Instead, we set out to look at the kinds of skills that will be needed by the next generation of automation professionals, along with some ways that industry and academia might go about producing an automation workforce that will possess the necessary skills.

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In spite of the economic crisis, the company guarantees its growth.

Be number one in industrial automation in the world by 2010. This continues to be the target pursued by Yokogawa Corp., the Japan-based process control automation supplier that today ranks second. However, the company’s Brazilian subsidiary has already reached this goal locally. Yokogawa has operated in Brazil since 1973, and is the leading supplier of process control instrumentation and test and measurement equipment in the country. It has a solid 40 percent share of the Distributed Control Systems (DCS) market.

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Automation Systems can be complex, with many solutions available to keep them running reliably.

Talk about reliability in manufacturing and the word that probably springs to mind is “motor.” Certainly, motors and other rotating equipment must be kept moving. No work is done unless a motor turns. Not surprisingly, suppliers have invested in technology to improve the reliability of these workhorses of manufacturing. Other parts of the automation system have gone under the reliability microscope, as well. As automation becomes more software intensive, it is imperative that engineers pay attention to reducing computer down-time. From sensors to software, engineers have used their ingenuity and technology to create a dependable automation system.

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MiMiC v3.1.0 includes major enhancements that provide greater simulation dynamics, performance and ease-of-use, including the release of MiMiC Server, enhanced Operator Training Manager and Component Studio instructor station, an enhanced OPC Server, and a new HIMA Simulated IO driver. MiMiC v3.1.0 also contains major enhancements to the Simulation Studio and Component Studio applications.
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The first book, titled “Real-Time Execution for IEC 61499,” is written by Dr. Alois Zoitl of ACIN at the Technical University of Vienna, and gives an analysis of dynamic reconfiguration and the execution behavior of IEC 61499.
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One hears so much about Enterprise HMI and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) that it’s easy to suppose these systems are everywhere. A visit to almost any manufacturing facility will show the contrary. A recent article in InTech magazine confirms this with a discussion about “the promise of tomorrow’s systems” as having “a global view of all processes within the plant via the corporate intranet/ portal …” Why is this a promise of tomorrow? Does the IT sector not have the tools and standards to accomplish this right now?

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