Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

industrial internet

General Electric: An industrial giant learning to live in a small world

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After years of rebranding itself as a “digital” company, General Electric is returning to being a plain old $100-billion industrial giant that builds aircraft engines and equipment for the energy industry.

According to the New York Times, GE spent “several billion dollars” building its digital business, with former CEO Geoff Immelt telling the Harvard Business Review that the company “put about $4 billion into developing analytics software and machine learning capabilities”.

The idea seemed to have been, and still may be, to provide the equivalent of an operating system for machinery and equipment which are connected to the industrial internet of things, and, in the process, become one of the top 10 software companies in the world. [Read more…] about General Electric: An industrial giant learning to live in a small world

Opinion: The automated road to supercomputing and the quantum world

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This month’s issue of Sensor Readings magazine – which you can find soon on this website and on Issuu.com – features an article about the recent Automatica event, held every two years in Munich, Germany. 

It’s probably the largest exhibition in the world built around the industrial automation industry.

The main themes or trends Automatica is highlighting this year appear to be collaborative robots, industrial internet, digitalisation, and new telecommunications networks, such as 5G.  [Read more…] about Opinion: The automated road to supercomputing and the quantum world

Thailand and South Korea sign new trade and investment deals

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Thailand and South Korea have been working closely to increase bilateral trade and investment.

The two countries are among the largest manufacturers of advanced technological products in the world.

Overall, when all manufacturing is taken into account, South Korea is approximately the fifth-largest manufacturing nation in the world, while Thailand is within the top 20.  [Read more…] about Thailand and South Korea sign new trade and investment deals

Huawei woos industrial sector with new networking technologies

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Huawei has been trying to woo the industrial sector with new networking technologies and a significant presence at the recent Hannover Messe event

Huawei has been showcasing its solutions and best practices for digital industrial transformation under the theme of “Leading New ICT, Connecting Bits & Gears”.

Focusing on connectivity, Huawei and industry partners are jointly showcasing products and solutions based on new information and communications technology such as the internet of things, cloud computing, eLTE, and 5G, and demonstrating how they can be applied in a wide range of digital industrial scenarios such as:

  • internet of vehicles;
  • internet of elevators and escalators;
  • connected factories;
  • smart logistics; and
  • predictive maintenance.

Huawei is also announcing new collaborations with leading industry partners including Groupe PSA, Telefónica, Munich Airport, Alliance of Industrial Internet, Avnu Alliance, and Schneider Electric.  [Read more…] about Huawei woos industrial sector with new networking technologies

Hannover Messe: Siemens showcases its digital enterprise portfolio

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Siemens has been showcasing its digital enterprise portfolio at Hannover Messe. The company says it has been continuously enhancing its digital services for Industrie 4.0, also referred to as the fourth industrial revolution, wherein all machines are connected to the internet and everything is digitised, right down to individual components, which have what are called “digital twins”.

It’s a process also known as “digital transformation”.

Klaus Helmrich, member of the managing board of Siemens, at the press conference for Hannover Messe, said: “We created the technical prerequisites for this transformation with our range of consistent solutions. By implementing Digital Enterprise solutions, users and customers can now tap into the full potential of Industrie 4.0.” [Read more…] about Hannover Messe: Siemens showcases its digital enterprise portfolio

Digitalisation and the greatest industrial show on Earth

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Hannover Messe is probably the largest and most important industrial technology show on Earth. 

The venue for the event spans an area the size of a small town and it takes several days to visit all of the most important areas you might be interested in.

Covering an event of that magnitude from a journalistic point of view can be difficult if you’re interested in too many things.  [Read more…] about Digitalisation and the greatest industrial show on Earth

ABB partners with Hewlett Packard Enterprise to bring IoT intelligence to industrial plants

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Companies say the new partnership will provide “actionable insights across industrial plants, cloud and on-premises data centers for higher productivity and innovation” 

ABB and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have agreed a strategic global partnership that combines ABB’s digital offerings, through ABB Ability, with HPE’s hybrid information technology solutions.

The companies say the partnership will provide customers with solutions that “generate actionable insights from vast amounts of industrial data” to increase the efficiency and flexibility of their operations and create competitive advantage.

The companies say they will combined ABB’s “deep domain expertise” in operations technologies and HPE’s expertise in information technology to provide an integrated OT-IT solution to customers.  [Read more…] about ABB partners with Hewlett Packard Enterprise to bring IoT intelligence to industrial plants

SPS at the nexus of IT and OT convergence

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There seems to be more interest in the SPS IPC Drives event this year than there was last year. 

It’s noticeable to us here at the website because we have received many more press releases and articles talking about the event.

But there could also be another reason. It’s very likely that the trend of connecting machinery to the internet and computerising production processes is the real reason behind the growing interest in the event.  [Read more…] about SPS at the nexus of IT and OT convergence

Vietnam looks to achieve progress through the ‘massive potential’ of the industrial internet

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The “massive potential” of the internet of things will help Vietnam in its goal of becoming an industrial country by 2020, say industry organisations and leaders in the country.

Many of the industrial companies and leaders will be showcasing their solutions and discussing the future at an event and forum called the Asia IoT Business Platform.

The Asia IoT Business Platform will be returning to Vietnam for the 19th edition of its industrial internet of things conference in Ho Chi Minh City.  [Read more…] about Vietnam looks to achieve progress through the ‘massive potential’ of the industrial internet

70 per cent of Fortune 100 companies use the industrial internet, says report

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Seven out of 10 Fortune 100 companies now offer industrial internet products, services, or initiatives, according to new research published by InField Clipboard.

Although the Internet of Things is popular in consumer applications, most IoT developments are being made for major companies like General Electric, Rolls Royce, AT&T and Google.

The world of IoT is constantly growing. In 2006, there were only 2 billion objects connected to the Internet of Things.  [Read more…] about 70 per cent of Fortune 100 companies use the industrial internet, says report