July 2024 industry news: certifications, leaders and obituaries

 

 

1. Millwood, a pallet and packaging machine manufacturer, has partnered with Pasadena Skid & Pallet in Texas to operate at that location as a Millwood company. This partnership will expand Millwood's presence in Texas and enhance customer service in the region. Pasadena Skid & Pallet is a manufacturer and wholesaler of new and specialty pallets, packaging and material handling products and will retain its name and brand.

 

2. Coesia, a provider of industrial and packaging products, has acquired a minority share in Packaging With Robots (PWR), a company that specializes in automated robotic packaging systems for the food industry. This partnership aims to leverage technological and geographical synergies, expanding Coesia’s portfolio with robotics and vision systems. PWR will join Coesia’s companies, ACMA, Volpak, R.A Jones and FlexLink in the fields of automatic machines, packaging materials, industrial processes and precision gears.

 

 

Flexicon, which specializes in bulk handling equipment and systems, is commemorating its 50th anniversary. Founded by William S. Gill, Flexicon introduced "flexible screw conveyors" and eventually expanded its offerings to include pneumatic conveying systems and tubular cable conveyors, as well as upstream and downstream equipment including bulk bag dischargers, bulk bag fillers, bulk bag conditioners, bag dump stations, drum/box/container dumpers and weigh batching systems. The company offers quick-ship delivery on popular models and its project engineering division manages large-scale bulk handling projects across the chemical, mineral, food, dairy and pharmaceutical industries worldwide.

 

 

1. PI North America has appointed Darrell Halterman, Victor Wolowec, and Bernd Raithel to its board of directors. Halterman is the director of PACSystems Controls and Compute for Emerson’s Controls & Software business unit. Wolovec is national distribution channel sales manager at Hilscher North America. Raithel is the director of product management & marketing at Siemens. These new members bring extensive experience in industrial networks and systems, which will be pivotal in shaping the organization’s long-term strategy. As a member-supported organization, PI North America provides services like marketing projects, training, product certification and webinars to its diverse membership, which includes hardware and software vendors, end-users, universities and system integrators.

 

2. PLCopen held its annual general meeting, re-electing Carsten Weber of Phoenix Contact Electronics and Dr. Efrossini Tsouchnika of Siemens to its board of management. Dieter Hess of CoDeSys was elected as a new member and treasurer. PLCopen was founded in 1992 as an independent worldwide association for industrial suppliers and users. It creates concepts to reduce the costs of industrial automation.

 

3. The EtherCAT Technology Group’s Semiconductor Working Group held its 25th meeting in Silicon Valley. The group of equipment suppliers and manufacturers has developed more than 75 profiles for the semiconductor industry since its inception in 2011. The meeting emphasized the practical applications and future requirements of EtherCAT technology in semiconductor production. Florian Essler, who plays a leading role in the working group on behalf of the ETG, said the semiconductor work group was founded “to support all system and tool manufacturers and suppliers of semiconductor production components that use EtherCAT or offer products with EtherCAT. The focus of our work is on the development of semiconductor-specific device profiles, installation guidelines and device tests to meet the special requirements of the semiconductor industry.”

 

 

1. Pepperl+Fuchs is building a new 25,000-square-foot office in Twinsburg, Ohio, designed to focus on collaboration between colleagues and support innovation, featuring spaces for focused work, communication and recreation. The new building’s open workspace will facilitate access to coworkers from different departments and encourage activity-based working over function-based working. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new building took place in May 2024 and the project is expected to be completed in late 2025.

 

2. Fanuc America has opened a new facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan, as part of a $110 million expansion to support industrial automation in North America. This expansion, part of a five-year growth strategy, increases the company’s Michigan footprint to more than 2 million square feet and creates more than 400 jobs. The 650,000-square-foot West Campus provides advanced product manufacturing and customized automation systems and includes warehouse space for more than 6,000 quick delivery robots and tens of thousands of parts. Since 2019, Fanuc has invested more than $187 million, including a 461,000-square-foot North Campus facility in 2019, and new headquarters facilities in Mexico and Canada in 2023.

 

3. Fraba, an international supplier of sensors for industrial motion control and safety systems, has opened a new business unit in China. The Fraba Industrial Automation (Shanghai) Company will serve the expanding Chinese industrial automation market, focusing on enabling domestic sales transactions and reducing delivery times. Future plans include developing warehouse facilities and local manufacturing. Christian Leeser, FRABA’s CEO and majority shareholder said, “Fraba has been actively involved in Asia since 2001, when we first established a relationship with a Shanghai-based distributor. Since then, we have expanded our presence by establishing a regional headquarters in Singapore in 2009 and by steadily growing our team and distribution network in China.”

 

 

1. Nicholas Cumins is the new CEO of Bentley Systems, marking the first time company leadership has moved outside the Bentley family. Cumins, who succeeds Greg Bentley, has been with Bentley since 2020 and has a strong background in product management and strategy. Cumins said, “Infrastructure is at a watershed moment. Despite the massive capital investment in infrastructure projects and jobs post pandemic, so much more remains to be done to make infrastructure more resilient. Our ability to bridge that gap will literally determine the quality of life for generations to come. Fortunately, a paradigm shift in software is reshaping the landscape. AI-powered digital twin solutions are unlocking the value of data across the infrastructure lifecycle.” Bentley Systems provides infrastructure engineering software, with its infrastructure digital twin solutions used to design, build and operate critical infrastructure around the world.

 

2. Rebeca Obregon was appointed as the new president of Newark, an electronics components distributor with a comprehensive portfolio of products, also an Avnet company. Obregon brings more than 30 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. She previously held the position of senior vice president of strategic business engagements and supplier management, where she led Avnet’s United, Velocity and Integrated business units, IP&E (interconnect, passive and electromechanical) supplier management and strategy, mergers and acquisitions.

 

 

1. DigiKey, a distributor of automation components and equipment, was awarded the 2023 Global High Service Distributor of the Year award from Littelfuse, an industrial technology manufacturing company. Littelfuse presented DigiKey the award for its customer count and revenue performance. Littelfuse selects the winner of the High Service Distributor of the Year award based on various distributor performance metrics, including overall sales growth, focus product sales, increase in the number of customers served and the number and quality of creative marketing campaigns that reach customers.

 

2. ABB has been ranked a leader in the 2024 Verdantix Green Quadrant for the Asset Performance Management (APM) Solutions report. ABB’s advancement is attributed to its first-principles models, combined with artificial intelligence functionality for asset health and failure prediction. ABB was also recognized for interoperability and its expertise and capabilities for third-party system integration. Stacey Jones, portfolio manager for APM at ABB Energy Industries said, “With asset-intensive industries facing multiple pressures, the evolution towards predictive maintenance solutions is a welcome and necessary one, with Verdantix citing it as the strongest growth area in the run up to 2030.”

 

 

1. ABB’s VortexMaster FSV400 and SwirlMaster FSS400 flowmeters have received Ethernet-APL certification from FieldComm Group, approving physical layer conformity and ensuring compliance with the IEEE 802.3cg standard. Ethernet-APL provides robust Ethernet and TCP/IP connectivity in hazardous environments, supporting advanced field instruments. Tilo Merlin, platform manager for instrumentation and head of APL development program, ABB Measurement & Analytics said, “For ABB, this certificate is an important milestone on our journey toward a fully digitalized instrumentation and network-centric architecture. Getting this certificate means we can be quick in rolling out APL technology to other instruments based on the same platform. More specifically, pressure and temperature instrumentation is expected in 2025.”

 

2. Presto Engineering, a European provider of application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design and production services, has achieved EN ISO 13485 certification, which ensures Presto’s Denmark hub meets the quality standards for medical-device manufacturers. Cedric Mayor, CEO of Presto Engineering said, “This certification is the paramount of a long journey for our MedTech ASIC roadmap and recognizes Presto’s breadth of experience in designing ASICs for applications such as in vitro diagnostics, patient monitoring, medical wearable devices, imaging and more.”

 

 

1. Emerson is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its Crosby line of pressure relief valves (PRVs). Crosby technologies cover various applications in air, gas, steam, vapor, liquid and two-phase media. It also has a line designed for overpressure protection in power industry steam safety applications, including economizers, steam drums, superheaters and reheaters. Emerson’s recent innovations include PRV monitoring, RFID technologies and advanced safety certifications.

 

2. ABB will provide a Borderline CC750 compact converter and other materials to develop the propulsion system for EuroTube Foundation’s hyperloop test track in Switzerland. Once installed, the unit will convert electricity into propulsion power for the linear induction motor, accelerating and braking the test vehicles inside the 120-m vacuum transport track, supporting the development of scalable hyperloop technology. ABB has been supporting the EuroTube Foundation in its mission to develop an advanced electrical drive system for the DemoTube project since 2023. The propulsion system will be installed at the test site once the DemoTube linear structure has been built. The first part of the facility was inaugurated on July 19.

 

3. A new report from Molex explores the increasing role of ruggedized and miniaturized interconnect products in industrial automation and smart manufacturing. Carrieanne Piccard, vice president and general manager of Transportation Innovative Solutions at Molex said, “Increasing demand for electronics in new vehicle platforms has intensified the need for smaller and rugged interconnects designed to withstand the harshest environments.” The report highlights how blending miniaturization and ruggedization enhances space efficiency, reliability and design flexibility, particularly in harsh environments. Key trends include the use of advanced materials like aluminum alloys and high-strength steel, as well as high-precision manufacturing techniques. On the design side, the report also explores the best practices for clearing major roadblocks to facilitate the design of smaller, lighter connectors.

 

4. Siemens Machine Tool Business announced the death of Randy Pearson, a respected CNC expert and former dealer support manager, who passed away at 70 after a long battle with lung cancer. Pearson, with more than 20 years at Siemens, was known for his passion for education and mentorship in the machine tool industry. His colleagues remember him for his deep technical knowledge, infectious energy and dedication to helping others. Throughout his career, Pearson contributed significantly to the industry at many companies, and through his educational columns in machine tool magazines.

 

 

1. FieldComm Group completed the acquisition of FDT Group, integrating FDT/DTM technology standards. This move aims to streamline device integration and improve interoperability in industrial automation, and a new Strategic Integration Committee will advance integration standards. FieldComm Group's offerings now encompass a full spectrum of device integration from simple sensors to complex instruments. Ted Masters, president and CEO of FieldComm Group, said, “As digitalization transforms the automation industry by breaking down barriers between operation technology and information technology, the integration of factory and process automation devices becomes both more important and more difficult. Our aim as a standards organization is to add intelligence to the device integration process, with an ultimate goal of making it simpler.”

 

2. In other FieldComm news, the group has joined the PACTware Consortium, enhancing support for FDT/DTM (field device technology/device type manager) and FDI (or field device integration) technologies. Paul Sereiko, director of marketing and product strategy at FieldComm Group said, “PACTware has been used for years by engineers to configure individual devices that support FDT/DTM technology. We wanted to provide this same level of support for devices using FDI Device Packages. With PACTware 6.1 support of FDI technology, this desire is now realized.”

 

3. RoboDK and Keba Industrial Automation have partnered to integrate Keba's Robotik KeMotion into RoboDK's simulation environment, streamlining the entire lifecycle of robotic cell applications. This collaboration allows OEMs to design, test and implement robot cells virtually, which can enhance efficiency and reduce commissioning times. The integration leverages Keba's Kemro X platform and RoboDK's extensive robot library, enabling functionalities like CAD to path features, collision checking and digital twin capabilities. Overall, the partnership aims to improve flexibility and control in robotic automation.

 

4. ASMPT and IBM have renewed their collaboration to advance thermocompression and hybrid bonding technology for chiplet packages. Chiplets deconstruct the system on a chip (SOC) into its composite parts, creating smaller chips that can then be packaged together to operate as a single system. The potential benefits include improved energy efficiency, faster system development cycle time and reduced costs. However, packaging advances are needed, which is the focus of this partnership. Thermocompression and hybrid bonding technology for chiplet packages, using ASMPT’s next generation of Firebird TCB and Lithobolt hybrid bonding tools, hope to move chiplets from research to mass production.