Milan, Italy— Perhaps picking up new ideas about extending communications technology from the factory to the enterprise, Schneider Automation, for example, chose BIAS '98 for the European launch its new Transparent Factory product. Transparent Factory is a set of tools to help users take advantage of the wealth of information buried on the factory floor in devices such as programmable controllers, installed I/O, and workstations. The product makes use of embedded servers to push information, including real-time data, into various departments where it is needed, and web browsers and search engines to access and read the data. Sensors and actuators that connect with one fieldbus or another were plentiful at BIAS '98, as were personal computers running the latest Windows-based programs for configuration, operator interface, and control. Software based on Internet technologies was also much in evidence, as manufacturers put the web browsers to work supplying a rich set of data to operators and engineers. The next BIAS for industrial control is scheduled three years away, in October, 2001.