Coordinate Convergence and Calm Complexity
HighByte partnered with Amazon Web Services to give Brazilian glassmaker Vivix Vidros Planos a scalable industrial data‑fabric built on the Intelligence Hub platform. The solution curates, normalizes and contextualizes OT data from PLCs, SQL servers and edge devices before publishing it to Amazon S3, Bedrock, Snowflake and Mendix. By layering generative‑AI agents on this foundation, Vivix can automate maintenance workflows, extend asset lifespans and cut unscheduled downtime. The low‑code approach also speeds the rollout of new data‑driven applications across the plant.
Audubon Buys Alliance Engineering
Audubon Companies LLC, a subsidiary of Nobel Energy, announced the acquisition of Alliance Engineering, a Mobile, Alabama‑based engineering and construction‑management firm. The deal folds Alliance’s mechanical, electrical, structural, piping and process engineering capabilities into Audubon’s integrated service platform, extending its...
Smart Device Manufacturers Move Towards FieldComm Group FDI Device Management Tools
Smart device manufacturers are turning to FieldComm Group’s Field Device Integration (FDI) as a protocol‑agnostic solution for managing the full lifecycle of field instruments. The updated FDI specification, built on the 2024 FDT Group merger, promises unified configuration, diagnostics and...
Powering a Smarter, Scalable Future for Bioprocessing
Yokogawa introduced Bio Pilot, a vendor‑agnostic platform that integrates equipment, data and workflows across both upstream and downstream bioprocessing. The solution replaces fragmented, manual operations with real‑time analytics, model‑predictive control and a no‑code workflow editor that automates SOPs. Early deployments...
Rolls-Royce and Yokogawa Collaborate on Small Nuclear Reactors
Rolls‑Royce SMR and Yokogawa Electric have signed a joint agreement to develop the data‑processing and control systems that will act as the "central nervous system" for the first generation of Rolls‑Royce small modular reactors. Yokogawa will design, validate, build and...
Yokogawa and ANYbotics to Integrate Robotics Software with Inspection Robots
Yokogawa Electric and ANYbotics are integrating Yokogawa’s OpreX Robot Management Core software with ANYbotics’ four‑legged ANYmal inspection robots, including the explosion‑proof ANYmal X. The unified platform will allow autonomous inspections of hazardous zones in oil & gas, power and metals facilities,...
Octave Launches Intelligence-at-Scale Brand
Octave announced its spin‑off from Hexagon AB on March 2, unveiling a new brand identity as an independent company. The new entity consolidates Hexagon’s Asset Lifecycle Intelligence, Safety, Infrastructure & Geospatial divisions along with Bricsys, ETQ and Projectmates under a single...
Enforcers Project Plans to Strengthen European Cybersecurity
The EU‑funded Enhanced Cooperation for Cybersecurity (Enforcers) project launched in February, bringing together manufacturers, security providers, and research institutes to build a unified platform for industrial automation protection. The system will interconnect private SOCs, trusted hardware anchors, automated mitigation playbooks,...
HIMA Expands Into Colombia and Peru
HIMA Group announced the opening of new facilities in Lima, Peru on March 3 and Bogotá, Colombia on March 5, expanding its Latin American footprint. The sites will deliver safety automation, engineering, commissioning and after‑sales services to oil, gas, chemical and petrochemical...
ISA Seeks Help on Distributed Workflows
The International Society of Automation (ISA) has opened a 30‑day call for experts to join the newly formed ISA113 committee, which will develop a vendor‑neutral standard for distributed workflow interoperability. The standard will decouple workflow logic from execution locations, enabling...
Mastering the Craft
Control engineering’s Hall of Fame inductees—Manfred Morari, S. Joe Qin, and Peter Morgan—exemplify Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000‑hour rule, having devoted decades to mastering process automation. Their combined experience far exceeds the typical 10‑year, three‑hour‑daily benchmark, reflecting over 40,000 practice hours each. Beyond...
Fluke Reliability Tackles Industry’s Silent Crises
Fluke Reliability highlighted the scale of unplanned downtime at its Xcelerate 26 conference, citing a Censuswide survey where 55% of U.S. manufacturers experienced outages costing up to $207 million weekly. The study revealed an average loss of $400 k per hour and as...
Energy, Chemicals Industries Race to Fully Automate
Schneider Electric’s Global Autonomous Maturity Report surveyed 400 energy and chemical executives across 12 nations, finding that 31.5% view advancing autonomy as a top priority for the next five years and 44% see it as critical over the next decade....
Control Strategies Improve Solar Plant Efficiency
A CIEMAT study of the TCP‑100 parabolic‑trough plant in Spain tested advanced control schemes to boost solar‑thermal efficiency. Researchers compared a basic PI controller with a nonlinear generic‑model‑control (GMC) cascade and a supervisory pump‑speed logic. The GMC‑based cascade kept the...
How to Successfully Migrate a Control System
Erik Cornelsen, a seasoned automation engineer, outlines a systematic approach to migrating control system code, emphasizing verification of auto‑migrated blocks and rigorous testing of rewritten logic. He stresses thorough PID review, including scaling, scan times, and dynamic simulation, while recommending industry‑standard...
