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James R. Koelsch

Jim Koelsch Since Jim Koelsch graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, he has spent more than 35 years reporting on various kinds of manufacturing technology. His publishing experience includes stints as a staff editor on Production Engineering (later called Automation) at Penton Publishing and as editor of Manufacturing Engineering at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. After moving to freelance writing in 1997, Jim has contributed to many other media sites, foremost among them has been Automation World, which has been benefiting from his insights since 2004.

Decentralized motion, driven by intelligence

Power conversion and control/communication issues drive the choice for distributed motion control. But is this popular approach right for all machine builders and every application?

August 16, 2013

Distributed motion in action, courtesy of Siemens

Motion: how to decide when to distribute control

Although automation vendors tend to urge users to consider decentralizing drives and distributing as much intelligence as possible throughout their machinery, most readily admit that it’s not for every application. The centralized approach is still valid for many applications.

August 16, 2013

Just what is distributed motion?

With the proliferation of networking technology, many automation vendors are devising ways to deploy it to distribute motion control architecture throughout machinery. A set of three schemes for doing this exploits intelligence in drives to offload some of the computing burden from the equipment’s controller.

August 16, 2013

OEE: A Controversial Figure

This performance metric takes center stage as a growing number of users turn to it both to boost the efficiency of their equipment and to compare the performance of machines and production lines. But is this increasingly popular metric really this versatile?

October 7, 2012

OEE facts

OEE is a measure of the utilization of an asset’s productive capacity in terms of three factors—availability, performance (throughput), and quality—expressed as percentages of their ideal values.

October 7, 2012

How replacing pneumatics with servos can improve motion control

Automated soup packaging challenges machine makers, who turn to electric cylinders that mimic pneumatics.

August 24, 2012

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Bosch Rexroth Corporation

Machine builders: Don’t let the latest hybrid drives and controls take you by surprise. They’re breathing new life into pneumatics and hydraulics, boosting the efficiency of equipment and saving users lots of money.

August 24, 2012

Pw 43452 Fluidpic

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Traceability via RFID at K-C

Both Kimberly-Clark and Wal-Mart know which Huggies pallets contain a particular case of the product, which has huge ramifications.

August 31, 2005

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Saccharin warning labels removed

The food industry has long argued that warning labels on products containing saccharin are unnecessary. Apparently its argument resonated with powerful forces in Congress because in a somewhat unusual move, the 2001 appropriations bill for Health and Human Services contained a provision eliminating the warning label for saccharin.

January 31, 2001

Water, water everywhere

In another of Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman's 11th hour regulations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a new requirement. Meat processors must list clearly on labels the percentage of retained water or the maximum percentage of absorbed water of meat and poultry products.

January 31, 2001

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A bar or restaurant that serves a sufficient quantity of a certain spirit—say Smirnoff as a house vodka, or Bacardi Superior as a house rum—can simply swap out these large glass bottles into a dispensing device behind the bar, akin to a watercooler or beer tap.

Diageo & Bacardi's Circular Spirits Format Emerges by Land, Sea, & Casino

The big spirits brands and their channel partners seek to eliminate tons of single-use packaging waste in bars, casinos, and even cruise ships with the disruptive ecoTOTE and SmartPour reusable packaging format.

2023 Packaging And Automation In The Warehouses Of The Future Executive Summary

PMMI Report Reveals CPGs Investing in Automated Warehouses

Dimitri Daniels, vice president Chemical Recycling and Upgrading for GreenDot

The Future of Plastic Recycling: Mechanical and Chemical Pathways

Superfresh Growers' new PCR fruit bags are sourced from U.S. recycling centers and FDA food-contact approved.

Superfresh Growers, Mont Blanc, and Tönissteiner Introduce Recyclable Packaging Innovations

Meet the Women Leading the Industry.

Meet the Women Leading the Industry.