Control's 10 most-read articles from November 2018

Dec. 3, 2018
From the Top 50 Automation Companies of 2017 and coverage of Automation Fair 2018 to understanding good grounding practices and compressor surge control, these were the 10 most-read articles on ControlGlobal.com during the month of November 2018.

1. Top 50 Automation Companies of 2017: Digitalization takes over
The storm surge of digital transformation, driven by the IIoT, cloud computing, advanced analytics and the push to managed services, continues to transform how the Top 50 do business. Read more.

2. Compressor surge control: Deeper understanding, simulation can eliminate instabilities
We tend to rely on companies specializing in surge control to protect our plants, but what happens if something is not quite right in the middle of the night, causing a surging fright and piping to take flight? Read more.

3. Live from Automation Fair 2018
The editors of Control were on-site at Automation Fair 2018 to bring you the latest breaking news and trends from the event. Read more.

4. Good grounding practices - Part 1 & Part 2
Part 1 discusses what makes up a good instrument grounding system and why, while Part 2 explains why it’s necessary to connect instrumentation to the power ground system, and the theory and practice of shielding. Read Part 1. Read Part 2.

5. Alliance with PTC brings FactoryTalk Innovation Suite
“Our software strategy brought FactoryTalk Analytics, and Rockwell Automation is going through digital revolution along with our customers, seeing in our own plants, the great rewards in quality and on-time delivery," said John Genovesi, incoming senior vice president, enterprise accounts and software, Rockwell Automation, at the Rockwell Automation Process Solutions User Group conference. Read more.

6. Future engineers strut their stuff
"We are working to make sure the students have a base knowledge of math, so it’s not a barrier to them getting into a STEM or automation career in the future," said Jay Flores, global STEM ambassador at Rockwell Automation. Read more.

7. How to optimize pumping cost
In this Ask the Experts column, a reader asks whether a design concept to potentially upgrade a fuel delivery system would be valid. Read more.

8. Rockwell Automation leads through people, partnerships
"We're looking forward to 2019, and are looking at double-digit growth and continued inorganic investments in partnerships. We don't do it all, but we're able to harness the expertise and market access of our partners." Read more.

9. Is Fieldbus worth it?
Is Fieldbus better than 4-20 mA instrumentation? Yes. Is it harder to install and maintain than 4-20 ma instrumentation? Fieldbus is not hard, but it is different. Read more.

10. Evaluating FMEA, FMECA and FMEDA
From a methodology point of view, FMEA, FMECA and FMEDA are the same thing. Yet, they have a few critical differences. Read more.