Industrial Technology

Photoelectric sensors come to aid of hand-wash manufacturer

The past couple of years have seen an explosion in the popularity of non-contact hand-washing units. The manufacturers of these soap and water dispensers need robust, reliable and affordable sensors to detect the presence of the user’s hands. Traditionally these systems have used two sensors for accurate triggering, but a single Contrinex M18PA reflex background suppression photoelectric sensor can work reliably and save space and cut costs. The customer wanted a small dual-output sensor capable of withstanding mechanical shocks and resisting fluid ingress while offering an attractive price/performance profile.

14th January 2022

Smart sensors proven to prevent failures at South Wales aggregate works

Aggregate producer Tarmac has significantly reduced the likelihood of failures to its motor-driven equipment on two granulation plants at its Port Talbot facility. By installing ABB Ability Smart Sensors on five of the facility’s motors, Tarmac has been able to shift to an entirely predictive maintenance schedule. This has almost completely eliminated unplanned downtime by enabling maintenance teams to detect and remedy potential faults during scheduled planned maintenance periods, long before they risk developing into system failures.

14th January 2022

Emerson Named "Industrial IoT Company of the Year" in 2022 IoT Breakthrough Awards

Emerson has been named the ‘Industrial IoT Company of the Year’ by IoT Breakthrough – an honour awarded to the company in four of the past five years. IoT Breakthrough, which received nearly 4,000 nominations for the 2022 competition, recognises Emerson’s technology and software innovation that is helping customers in essential industries realise safer, more efficient and sustainable operations.

14th January 2022

New PC software exploits full potential of IO-Link devices

The IO-Link standard continues to be a significant driver in exploiting the potential for automated and robotic systems across many manufacturing applications and control software is a crucial part of this process, especially at sensor level. Sensing and Instrumentation specialist Baumer recognises these opportunities and the development of new PC software for the evaluation, selection and parameterisation of IO-Link devices is an important step forward.

13th January 2022

New online shop combines user convenience with international weighing know-how

Minebea Intec is taking an important step with its online shop for single point load cells, with the online presence not only offering customers the opportunity to access the company’s single point portfolio quickly and easily, but also providing further specialist information on applications and areas of use.

13th January 2022

Schaeffler launches new generation of rolling bearing housings

Schaeffler has launched its new generation of FAG plummer block housings. The new SES series offers enhanced efficiency in a cost-effective solution. The range replaces Schaeffler’s SNV and SNG portfolio.

13th January 2022

ADZ Nagano"s new pressure transmitters have USB plug and play connection

Recently announced by ADZ Nagano, its new line of pressure transmitters feature USB powered plug-and-play interfaces. Available in the UK from ADZ’s distribution partner Variohm EuroSensor, the new USB series covers user-selectable pressure measurement ranges between vacuum and 5000 bar.

13th January 2022

Position sensors from Siko used for special effects in blockbuster movies

Siko draw-wire encoders are used by the British company Absolute MoCo, which develops and builds hydraulic studio environments for special effects in movie productions. Together with his partner David Watkins, special effects supervisor at Absolute Effects, Andy Ryan wanted to be able to create movements for special effects in the movie industry that are more accurate and more authentic. For him, the technical effects available in the UK for this purpose were outdated.

13th January 2022

Yokogawa enhances cybersecurity and safety for the OpreX control and safety system lineup

Yokogawa has obtained ISASecure CSA Level 1 certification from the ISA Security Compliance Institute (ISCI) for its CENTUM VP integrated production control system, a product in the OpreX control and safety system family. With this certification, Yokogawa’s CENTUM VP integrated production control system and ProSafe-RS safety instrumented system now both conform to the latest international security standards.

13th January 2022

New tech, new capacity and new capabilities at William Hughes

Advanced assembly, forming and fabrication assets from Sertec’s recently closed springs and wire forms division have been given a new lease of life at Dorset-based William Hughes. When the assets became available, engineering director at William Hughes, Emma Burgon, spotted an opportunity to not only bolster her company’s existing capabilities, but also introduce new ones.

13th January 2022