Industry Insights

Static electricity that we experience in our daily lives is generally harmless, but did you know that static electricity in industrial settings can be dangerous and expensive? With these 10 steps you can neutralize static electricity to minimize costly repairs, downtime, and even injuries caused by the shock. Full story

With the increased demand on our industrial workforce, many facilities are expanding the “do more with less” approach when it comes to machine safety. This can lead to major OSHA violations, injuries in the workplace, and can effect your bottom-line. Following the five steps of the Machine Safety Lifecycle outlined below will help you mitigate risk associated with that task and document the process. Full story

No matter the size of your organization, number of facilities, or how established your safety program is, safety maturity should be assessed regularly to reduce cost, injuries, and even deaths. Here are the 5 key steps to improving your safety maturity to get the most out of your safety program. Full story

When Joseph and Mary Ann Huser took over as keepers of the historic Wind Point Lighthouse, built in 1880, energy consumption and maintenance costs were closely examined. Joseph understood the benefits of LED lighting and looked for a lighting solution that would work for this 108-feet tall structure. The challenge was finding lights that could illuminate the full width and height of the tower. Full story

The plant lighting at General Cable, Sedalia, was becoming outdated and costing more to maintain. They were experiencing more frequent maintenance orders and finding it a challenge to keep up with burnt out lamps while maintaining production equipment. Through SMC's LED Lighting Solution, General Cable was able to save on time, money, and energy. Full story

Temperature, humidity, light exposure, nearby contaminates, and proper preparation should be considered in the storage of any pneumatic components. Learn the most effective storage techniques for prolonging the life of your pneumatics. Full story

Using data analytics, the Rockwell Automation team found a solutions that would identify process improvements and get the most out of production. Learn how Kraft Heinz increased their production capacity, setting them up for long-term growth. Full story

As you change your clocks back and the days get shorter, poor lighting can affect the safety, security, and productivity of your company. Full story

Conveyors haven’t changed much since they were invented during the Industrial Revolution. They move items from one place to another and often run continuously, but how can they be made smart? Through new technologies and materials, conveyors are being made to improve efficiency and last longer. Full story

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

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