Expansions and contractions in the process automation industry

Aug. 16, 2016
Microsoft teams with OPC Foundation to support IIoT; Emerson updates SCADA system, RTUs.

Microsoft Corp. is working with the OPC Foundation to enable almost any IIoT scenario using interoperability between the millions of OPC UA-compliant applications and equipment. Microsoft will enable IIoT users to connect manufacturing equipment and software with extended support of OPC UA's open-source software stack. Microsoft’s extended support for OPC UA spans its IoT offerings from local connectivity with Windows devices to cloud connectivity via Microsoft Azure. Integration with Azure IoT allows customers to easily send OPC UA data to the Azure cloud, as well as command and control OPC UA devices remotely from the Azure cloud.

Pepperl+Fuchs broke ground June 2 on its new U.S. distribution and engineering center in Katy, Texas, near Houston. The $25-million, 100,000-square-foot center is fives times bigger than the firm's present facility, will bring about 100 jobs to the area, and is will enable Pepperl+Fuchs to deliver stock and custom solutions more quickly and efficiently to clients worldwide.

Emerson Process Management is replacing an outdated SCADA system and remote terminal units (RTUs) throughout the Hampton Roads Sanitation District's vast wastewater collection system, which serves about 1.7 million residents in 17 southeast Virginia cities and counties spread over more than 2,800 square miles. Emerson’s Ovation control and SCADA systems with ControlWave RTUs technologies will help HRSD manage its remote assets and accommodate future expansion as its service area grows.

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Hilscher has formed a partnership with SAP that allows seamless integration of information technology (IT) with operational technology (OT). They've agreed provide bidirectional access of the sensor/actuator level via Hilscher's netIoT Edge gateway and SAP's Hana cloud platform and the Asset Intelligence Network. Integration into the Asset Intelligence Network is carried out without the need for added configuration, and lets device manufacturers access their own devices regardless of PLC and production network.

Endress+Hauser and CompuCal Calibration Solutions have teamed up to provide a comprehensive calibration management solution with access via a scalable architecture. Customers can implement CompuCal on their server or as a secure cloud service. CompuCal can interface with mobile platforms and integrate seamlessly into IT infrastructures such as SAP. It can also integrate calibration data with Endress+Hauser's Web Asset Management (W@M) architecture.

Robroy Enclosures Inc., a subsidiary of Robroy Industries Inc. has acquired the assets of Attabox Industrial Enclosures, which designs and manufactures polycarbonate, NEMA-rated enclosures. This acquisition will complement Robroy's Stahlin non-metallic enclosures division, which has produced fiberglass electrical enclosures for more than 60 years.