Top 5 Control Engineering articles, November 17-23: Automation and beer making, ladder logic, manufacturing visibility, more

Articles about reasons why automation improves beer making, ladder logic, manufacturing visibility beyond the cables, industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things, and tuning PID loops for level control were Control Engineering’s five most clicked articles from last week, November 17-23. Were you out last week? Miss something? Catch up here.

By Chris Vavra November 24, 2014

Control Engineering Top 5 most read articles online, for Nov. 17-23, covered reasons why automation improves beer making, ladder logic, manufacturing visibility beyond the cables, industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things, and tuning PID loops for level control. Link to each article below.

1. 6 reasons why automation improves beer making

Application Update: A beer equipment manufacturer uses off-the-shelf automation components to build affordable equipment and systems for craft brewers. 

2. Ladder Logic 101: Where do I start?

For those who are just getting into writing ladder logic and have maybe taken a few classes or seen some examples, it is quite simple to write your own template. 

3. Finding manufacturing visibility beyond the cables

Case study: General Cable saves in raw material use by decreasing inconsistencies in process variation across sites with a statistical process control (SPC) analysis engine; return on investment (ROI) is less than six months. 

4. Industry 4.0 and industrial Internet of Things are automation investment opportunities

There is big money backing industrial Internet of Things, big data, and Industrie 4.0. Ensure you use what’s needed, and maybe more, to update your intelligent manufacturing efforts. 

5. Tuning PID loops for level control

One-in-four control loops are regulating level, but techniques for tuning PID controllers in these integrating processes are not widely understood. 

The list was developed using CFE Media’s web analytics for stories viewed on controleng.com, November 17-23, for articles published within the last two months.

– Chris Vavra, production editor, CFE Media, cvavra@cfemedia.com.


Author Bio: Chris Vavra is web content manager for CFE Media and Technology.