Top five presentations at The Automation Conference

Plant security, Industrial Ethernet Protocol speeds, rapid robotic changeover in food plants and SCADA migration projects were just some of the topics covered at The Automation Conference held in Chicago last May.

Aug 22nd, 2012

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My favorite presentation was Joel Langill’s presentation on how a system can get hacked and what you shouldn’t do if your plant gets hacked (Must Watch Automation!).

The Industrial Ethernet Protocol roundtable discussion did not disappoint, either. Each protocol representative gave a brief presentation on the unique features and, then, Gary Mintchell, Co-founder and Editor in Chief, presided over an unexpected discussion about speed claims from Joey Stubbs at Beckhoff Automation, representing EtherCAT. Another excellent presentation came from Ken Bengtsson, senior project manager at DC Water. DC Water is a mid-sized water plant but operates the largest advanced wastewater treatment facility in the world. See how their public/private partnership allowed for a transformative change of this venerable water plant.

To view these presentations, click on the bit.ly address shown below with the accompanying image on this page. It’s a great resource and be sure to visit bit.ly/tac2012news for all videos and articles on the process and discrete automation event.

1. Cyber Security for Industrial Control Systems: Joel Langill, Chief Security Officer and Control System Cyber Security Specialist for SCADAHacker, explains how easy it is to hack into most PLCs and provides you with steps to take now to protect your operations. bit.ly/tacvid001

2. Video: Inaugural Industrial Ethernet Roundtable Discusses Speed: Automation World’s Co-Founder & Editor in Chief Gary Mintchell got what he has long wanted: a discussion with representatives from each of the major Ethernet-based networking protocols sitting side by side and answering questions. bit.ly/tacvid002

3. Rapid, Robotic Changeover in Packaging: Winston Strachan of Caribbean Foods and Rick Lidington of FMS Packaging Systems explain the quick changeover robotic packaging line developed for Caribbean Foods. bit.ly/tacvid003

4. Coca-Cola's Remote Diagnostics and Workflow Strategy: Kailash Mariappan, a plant controls specialist at Coca-Cola North America in Eagan, MN, has designed a system that enables remote access into the plant's operations to ease resolution of production issues. bit.ly/tacvid004

5. SCADA and Business Integration: Kenn Bengtsson, senior project manager at DC Water, explains how the utility uses SCADA as part of a cost-efficient system implementation with a high return on investment and customer satisfaction. bit.ly/awvid089

>> Click here for complete coverage of the 2012 Automation Conference

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Burger King® Rolls Out Green Packaging Pilot Program

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Start your journey to sustainable packaging now and join Syntegon’s webinar

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Nestlé, Unilever, and Mars Wrigley pioneer technologies—such as advanced recycling, recycled-content plastic, reusable packaging, and a switch from plastic to paper—to reduce their use of virgin plastic materials. This Take Five video has the full story.

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Masstige Hair Care Brand Moves to Aluminum for Full Line

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New Hand Soap and Sanitizer Clean Up with Aluminum Bottle

Hand soap company Hand in Hand packs its ‘sustainable suds’ in colorful, modern aluminum bottles, a move it says helped propel a growth in sales of 1,000% YOY.

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Nature Valley is First in Snack Bar Category with 100% Recyclable Film

General Mills’ new polyethylene-based film wrap for Nature Valley Crunchy granola bars is certified to carry the How2Recycle label for Store Drop-Off systems.

Packs of bottles needed to be palletized at a rate of 14 packs per minute.

Video: Robotic Palletizers Boost Production Efficiencies at Soda Producer Radnor Hills

Award-winning UK soft drinks producer Radnor Hills installed three ABB end-of-line robotic palletizers from robotics integrator RMGroup. The move has enabled the manufacturer to benefit from process efficiencies throughout their production.

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Nestlé Achieves ‘Paperization’ of Confectionery Packaging

Transitioning from plastic to paper for 419 SKUs of its Smarties brand chocolate candies requires extensive R&D in new materials, new package designs, equipment compatibility, and recycling potential for Nestlé.

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