Amcor, one of the world’s leading packaging companies, offers a broad range of plastic, fibre, metal and glass packaging products, along with packaging-related services. The company has annual sales of AU$10.9 billion and employs 22,000 people worldwide. In Australia, Amcor has four beverage can manufacturing plants — Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth — and an end-making facility in Ballarat, Victoria, as well as a can and end manufacturing plant in Auckland, New Zealand.

In Part 1 of this article we explained the initial system-wide settings that are required for DCOM to operate correctly on a PC that is to run an OPC server. In Part 2 we will discuss the server-specific settings which will need to be configured for your specific OPC application.

Industrial users have historically been a bit cautious about taking advantage of wireless technology. This caution is generally due to concerns related to critical infrastructure security and reliability. However, if the right wireless solution is chosen, adopters of industrial wireless technology can have the best of both worlds.

With global markets influencing Australian industry more each day, bulk materials handling systems need to be set up so as to be reinvented as required, much like the business itself.

For engineers who design motion control systems that operate in hostile environments, the biggest headache is finding hardware that will give them accurate position data on moving machine elements. Many new sensing devices simply cannot function reliably under rugged conditions. In this situation, the engineer’s best option is a tried-and-true feedback sensor that has been available since the 1940s — the resolver.

The SCADA system of the early 21st century is vastly different from the system it was in its earliest beginnings, just 50 or so years ago.

The most famous attack on a SCADA system took place in Australia in 2001. As reported by news.com.au and other sources, Vitek Boden, a disgruntled former employee of the contractor who installed a computer system for the Maroochy Shire Council, near Brisbane, later hacked into the system.

Manufacturers today operate in a highly complex, distributed and fragmented environment. On one hand, globalisation has created tremendous opportunities to develop new products, serve new customers and pursue new markets. On the other hand, competitive stakes are getting higher than ever. You face unprecedented pressures to cut operating costs, deliver on time, optimise use of available assets and adhere to regulatory and compliance edicts.

A recent multi-stage upgrade of the chicken processing facility at Adelaide Poultry, with the assistance of Champion Compressors, was able to reduce the power consumption of the plant’s compressors by 15%, while increasing throughput by 375%.

The world’s largest ‘smart’ pulping mill has been built by Celulosa Arauco at Nueva Aldea in central Chile. Digital automation by Emerson Process Management allows mill personnel to readily access more data, allowing for easier calibration and greater mill-wide visibility, efficiency and management.

A Perth resources company is using Panasonic Toughbooks to help repair essential mining equipment in the depths of some of the world’s largest underground mines.

OPC technology relies on Microsoft’s COM and DCOM to exchange data between automation hardware and software; however, it can be frustrating for new users to configure DCOM properly. If you have ever been unable to establish an OPC connection or transfer OPC data successfully, the underlying issue is likely DCOM-related.

Processes for creating products and services are being scrutinised carefully for any negative contribution to overall carbon footprints, and carbon accounting and management has fast become a part of the Australian business landscape.

Compressed air is often the highest energy cost for many businesses, but unfortunately this resource is often seen as unlimited. It is, therefore, important that this valuable energy source be utilised efficiently, in all processes, at all times.

System integrators and OEMs are faced with the challenge of designing machines that are more compact, less expensive and more reliable. This is a challenge that is greatly impacted by the components available to design into the machine.