Automation promises to radically transform the landscape in which industrial processes are performed. Businesses are constantly searching for ways to achieve a competitive advantage, and the use of automation technologies has been widely adopted across many market sectors. Automated processes can be found in a diverse range of workplaces. A… Read More
“The Internet of Things is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction,” or thus says Wikipedia. The question is simple—how… Read More
Programmable logic controllers are one of the wizards behind the curtain of industrial automation. Until recently, these digital mainstays were almost exclusively in the domain of people working directly in the service and manufacturing industries. That, however; has changed as the maker movement, an offshoot of the DIY trend, has… Read More
In the PLCnext Factory, the production facility of Phoenix Contact Electronics in Germany, products for automation, safety applications and network security are produced. Digitization in production requires above all a change in thinking. This concerns not only the use of digitization in production processes and in the products themselves, but… Read More
In the IT sector, especially in software development, containerization is a major trend. It is a lightweight alternative or companion to virtualization. Developers can speed up their processes without the need to keep an eye on the application’s target environment. This is done by encapsulation of the software and all… Read More
The trend towards digitization involves both opportunities and risks for the industry because digitization requires large computing power and storage capacities. Industrial cloud computing enables companies to process and evaluate the growing volumes of data in order to optimize the entire value chain. When talking about cloud computing, it is… Read More
Some of you avid users will have taken notice of the 2021.0 LTS update for the PLCnext firmware that had been released in December 2020.The 2021.0 LTS is wrapping up all the changes made in the 2020 feature releases and adding a bunch of improvements, such as: the Global Data… Read More
Safety plays a central role in automation. In the past, the areas of safety and security could be considered separately. However, digitalization and the networked automation systems of Industry 4.0 are creating mutual dependencies that require a holistic concept. In the following article, you will learn more about what happens… Read More
Watch the unboxing of the new PLCnext Technology starterkit. The first video of a whole series is online right now. The Youtube video is created by RealPars, an online platform for industry learning. In this video, they are going to identify all the PLCnext Technology starterkit bits and pieces in… Read More
Augmented reality (AR) can make many processes in manufacturing even more efficient. Especially in complicated changeover processes or maintenance work, the technology offers high savings potential. The cost of implementation is usually still high, but the solutions are improving constantly. For an efficient rollout a flexible, powerful and open control… Read More
