Industry Insights

Harness strength and construction can affect how they hold up when put to the test which can make a big difference in the safety of your employees. Here are 5 tips to consider when choosing what harness equipment is right for your workers! Full story

As an Authorized Rockwell Distributor SMC offers a modernized approach to ensuring you are not only compliant with OSHA regulations, but that you have a comprehensive plan, state-of-the-art implementation and equipment as well as proper lockout/tagout technical training available to you! Full story

The precise identification of fluid line connectors is critical before selecting and installing the correct fittings. This thread ID & measurement guide, will cover some of the most common hydraulic fluid transfer, piping and instrumentation systems and how to measure them in the field. Here's how to measure threads in three easy steps. Full story

Stopping a pneumatic cylinder in emergency situations or during regular operations is essential to machine safety. Although there are many ways to solve this challenging application, stopping the flow of compressed air using an air circuit combined with a mechanical locking cylinder will be the most enhanced level of safety. Full story

Companies that want to succeed in today’s crowded market need to manage risk, maintain quality, drive out costs and reduce inefficiencies in their operations. This is especially true for large and small brewing companies looking for the ideal solution. The new FactoryTalk Brew solution from Rockwell Automation, helps breweries manage these challenges and gain a competitive edge. Full story

RE/MAX’s LEED Certified world headquarters in Denver, CO, was selected as “Office Project of the Year." Building on that success, they upgraded the entire building to Cree ZR Series LED troffers featuring Cree SmartCast technology. The Cree LED intelligent lighting solution, available from SMC delivers a reduced heat load and overall energy savings, using daylight harvesting, and occupancy sensing. This upgrade resulted in more than 60% reductions in kilowatt-hours as well as total maintenance savings estimated at $77,410! Full story

Looking ahead to the next 20 years the Logix platform and other digital technologies offer even more trans-formative potential to entirely change how you design, manage and staff operations. With this in mind, here are three concrete and achievable examples of how operations will change in a smart factory within 20 years. Full story

Light regularly guides the way in life, but when it comes to business, it can literally mean the difference between life or death. That might sound a bit dramatic, but we’re of course referring to emergency lighting, which is so easily overlooked as a vital business asset. Full story

We’re experiencing the largest wave of industrial disruptions the world has ever seen: artificial intelligence (AI), the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and augmented reality (AR) are just a few of the technologies changing the way we do business. From big data to bitcoin and blockchain, the decisions you make right now will influence your business trajectory (and success) for the next decade and beyond. Full story

One of the foremost causes of costly downtime and emergency maintenance is not oil or contaminants, which are easily removed with proper filtration, but water vapor and the resulting condensed water that is trapped in factory compressed air. Water in facility airlines can cause corrosion, rust and pipe scale which can break loose to block or adhere to air passageways that can lead to increased pressure drop and loss in machine performance. Full story

Although the camera technology world hasn’t quite crossed over in the path of the IBM Watson arena we are seeing an incredible boom in regards to the use of creative algorithms which mimic user-defined rules and learning. Full story

Water is a chemical contaminant in oils and at 100% relative humidity will exist as bubbles in hydraulic systems. Where water is present in a system, the effects can be dangerous if not monitored and controlled properly. When free water exists in an oil, the bubbles it forms can interfere with particle counts, and therefore affect the desired outputs. Typically excess water will give a dirtier reading than actual system cleanliness. Full story

Safety and security have traditionally been viewed as separate entities, but in industrial production, your safety and security programs are inextricably linked. Full story

Safety and security have traditionally been viewed as separate entities, but in industrial production, your safety and security programs are inextricably linked. Full story

Safety and security have traditionally been viewed as separate entities, but in industrial production, your safety and security programs are inextricably linked. Full story

When deciding to repair your industrial automation equipment, there are key things to consider, and it starts with being clear about your priorities. Full story

In order to compete in the increasingly competitive job market or to accelerate within your current role, you will need to add to your automation skills with validated and certificate training programs. Full story

Prior to NFPA 70E 2018, the process electrical workers would use to verify the absence of voltage in a panel or other electrical equipment required the use of an “…adequately rated test instrument…” Full story

Organizations attempting to do comprehensive evaluations in-house often spend a year or longer just to collect hardware data from a single facility. SMC can help with an Installed Base Evaluation. Full story