Generic Programming Rules
I have covered a lot of material on ladder logic on this site, but not all programming is for PLCs. This is an excerpt from Industrial Automation: Hands On that applies to all programs, not just ladder ( 6.1.1 – …
Author: Frank
Electrical Engineer and business owner from the Nashville, Tennessee area. I also play music, Chess and Go.
Ladder Logic 103: More on Program Organization
Today’s post covers a bit more on program organization and layout. A reader posted a question on a previous post “Ladder Logic 204: Auto Sequences”: “I’m still really new to the field and have yet to create my own program …
ATS Automation
When I was at Wright Industries, one of the companies that we often competed against for projects was ATS Automation. Though Doerfer and Wright are very large as far as custom machine-building companies go, ATS is a much larger organization. …
Automation Consulting
In several previous posts I have mentioned that my company is undergoing a radical shift in focus. I had hoped to have my business website completed by the beginning of September so that I could have a kind of “grand …
Munitions Disassembly Application
Munitions Disassembly As I mentioned a few weeks ago, sometimes I get to work on stuff I can’t talk about. If you click on the “Munitions Disassembly” link above, you will see a video of a project I was involved …
Databases
Before I get into today’s topic I’d like to mention a software project I am working on. For those of you who have subscribed to my blog via Mastering The Machine or otherwise, I have already sent you an e-mail. …
Raytheon Missile Material Handling Application
In my previous life as a project engineer at Wright Industries (a Doerfer company), I worked on some projects that I couldn’t talk much about, being either government-related or potentially breaching confidentiality agreements. The project discussed in this post was …
Excel – Automate your Automation
Probably the most useful tool I have in my arsenal when doing preliminary design is Microsoft Excel. In many of the projects I have worked on over the last couple of years since I left Wright, the company I was …
CAD and Wire Numbers
Today’s topic concerns an area that affects engineers, technicians and sometimes even office personnel and yes, management. A major part of building anything involves accurately designing and describing the thing that is to be built. If all of the required …
Genba
Have you ever been to Genba? Let me take you to a mystical, wonderful land that far too many people overlook in their travels. Genba is a Japanese word that means “the actual (or the real) place”. To understand a …