Predictive maintenance is changing the way industries manage their equipment. Unlike traditional maintenance methods, which rely on fixed schedules, predictive maintenance uses real-time monitoring to detect potential issues early. This proactive approach reduces the likelihood of unexpected downtime and ensures that maintenance activities are performed only when necessary, optimizing resource allocation and reducing costs.
An insider’s guide to maintaining the consistent temperatures in electrical enclosures that are necessary to protect heat-sensitive electronic components—improving operating efficiency and extending lifespan. Heat is both a by-product and one of the greatest enemies of electrical and electronic components. If not dissipated, this heat has the potential to cause early failures and malfunctions. Components commonly packaged in electrical enclosures, computer server racks, and other product compartments are the vital controls for drives and displays used in many industries.
Panel building on machine tools is no longer as simple as wiring a few components and calling it a day. Now, there are more deadlines, cost pressures, standards, new directives, plus an increasing pressure to innovate. Besides commonly encountered problems related to time, cost, compliance and quality, there is also an increased degree of automation in the pre-fabrication of cables and the automated production of sheet metal parts.
The food and beverage industry is evolving faster than ever, and if you’re managing a production line, you’ve probably felt the pressure: more regulations, tighter margins, and shifting consumer demands. What if Artificial Intelligence (AI) could help your plant run smoother, faster, and more predictably? Implementing AI can feel like an uphill battle, from figuring out where to start, to justifying the investment. That’s exactly why Omron is here. This article breaks down the practical steps to plan, deploy, and manage AI solutions tailored to food and beverage operations.
Torsion is a particular type of load for cables and wires that requires cables to possess special characteristics. Otherwise, users could be faced with damaged cables and operational disruptions. This article will show you what effects torsion can have on electrical connections and what to pay attention to when selecting torsion-resistant cables.
Harsh environmental conditions are just part of the picture when specifying industrial enclosures for outdoor applications. Wind, moisture, and cold are fairly common weather elements designers need to account for, but combatting the potential for corrosion — from natural weather conditions or chemical agents used in production — is also key in designing a durable, reliable automation infrastructure that is built to last. Choosing an enclosure designed for corrosive environments compared to one that is not can help manufacturers increase productivity and revenue, and it can also help reduce maintenance intervals and repair costs.
February 28, 2025 By Robert Cox, Vice President of Marketing, ROLEC Enclosures, Inc. When Customization Comes As ‘Standard’ Today’s new standard HMI enclosures are now more customizable than ever because the modifications start on day one – not at the end of the process. Customization is effectively built in as standard, so specifying bespoke panel…
As the industrial landscape diversifies and becomes more complex, companies are looking for industrial enclosure and cooling solutions that can make processes simpler, more automated, and more efficient. Smart automation solutions remove inefficient manual processes that lack visibility and transparency — particularly in the enclosure climate control space — now that integrated enclosure cooling has emerged as a flexible and versatile configuration of enclosure cooling.
What is the future of data centers? It’s an interesting question in large part because, on the surface, it doesn’t seem like there’s much room for change with how data centers are built. At the end of the day, data centers house IT racks that generate heat which must be dissipated in order to create efficient computing. The future of data centers is not necessarily about changing the core components of IT infrastructure — it’s more about thinking of these components in a more flexible way that allows for greater adaptability and scalability, especially given the rapid increase in AI data centers.
The biggest priorities for designing power generation and storage facilities are scalability and flexibility. The rapid increase in the number of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and solar and wind power facilities demonstrates the need for flexible automation solutions that can be scaled to meet demand without compromising productivity. Whereas more traditional block-and-cable power distribution solutions create some significant roadblocks in terms of accelerated configuration to meet increases in demand, busbar power distribution combines superior configuration and deployment flexibility with the ability to handle the kind of elevated amperage loads today’s energy & power applications require.
The number of data centers across the globe is increasing. While this is good news for data center engineers, it does pose a significant operational challenge when it comes to the amount of energy required to power these IT facilities. This, in turn, will require new regulations to be put in place. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that data centers account for about 1% of global energy demand. But by 2030 it’s estimated that the demand for data center energy will increase by more than 160%. In the U.S. alone, data center workloads are expected to increase by 10% annually through 2030, and this means more energy necessary to power this kind of advanced computing.
If only watertightness were a simple matter of ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Unfortunately, it is not. An electronic enclosure that survives some wet conditions may leak in other instances. Pressure is a crucial factor – hence the wide range of ingress protection ratings. IP ratings define how much protection an enclosure offers against solid particles and liquids. The first digit relates to dust/solids; the second concerns liquids. Significantly, a higher IP rating does not always mean ‘better’ – merely ‘different’.
In today’s manufacturing landscape, the speed and reliability of daily operations translate directly into enhanced productivity. Miles of wires underpin nearly every industrial operation, and those wires come together in control panels filled with tray after tray of connection terminals. Due to the high number of conductor termination points, there can be a higher susceptibility of signal loss or intermittence as a result of bad terminations. Any of these interruptions can reduce the ability to meet production goals, as downtime will be necessary until faults are corrected.
In this blog article, you will learn why UPS systems are indispensable for ensuring a reliable and stable power supply in critical infrastructures, which components are needed for this, and which standards they must meet. In the past 100 years, electricity has always flowed in one direction – from the producer to the consumer. However, new technologies, innovative ways of energy procurement and generation, as well as comprehensive digitalisation, are fundamentally changing the market.
For nearly four decades, the Allen‑Bradley PLC-5 and its programming software RSLogix 5 have been the cornerstone for industrial automation. While paving the way for future PLC and software development that we see today, the longevity speaks to its reliability and robustness of the platform. However, as technology evolves, companies must continue to evolve along with it to achieve modern business and expectations. RSLogix 5 reached its final lifecycle phase (discontinuation) on December 31, 2025.
Companies are more concerned with leveraging digital technology to help increase performance and resilience to market fluctuations than ever before. Companies that digitalize their processes can more easily overcome labor shortages while simplifying the manufacturing of custom industrial automation infrastructure. Digitalizing the industrial enclosure design and modification process can help companies accelerate their speed-to-market and respond to sudden changes in production or design specs without incurring costly downtime.