10/17/2012 By Agnes Shanley From: PharmaManufacturing.com So far, 75 people have responded to our latest mini-survey on manufacturing excellence and goals for the year.  Of these respondents, 45 answered every question in the brief survey.  The results, while not statistically important, still suggest some trends…. When asked whether manufacturing operations were becoming more complex. 22% […]

PAS authors honored by ISA

by Bill Fester on October 2, 2012

in DCS, Industries, People, Systems

From ControlGlobal.com   HOUSTON, Texas—PAS authors Eddie Habibi and Bill Hollifield have been recognized as the recipients of the Raymond D. Molloy Award presented by ISA Publications Department as authors of the best-selling ISA book of 2011, Alarm Management: A Comprehensive Guide, Second Edition. The annual award is presented to the book that addresses the […]

AkzoNobel expands La Porte facility

by Bill Fester on September 28, 2012

in Chemical, Industries, Jobs, People

Molly Ryan Reporter- Houston Business Journal Email  | Twitter AkzoNobel NV, a Netherlands-based paints and specialty chemicals giant, said Friday that it is investing millions of dollars expanding capacity at its La Porte facility. In order to meet increased demand from the semiconductor industry, especially for the production of LEDs, AkzoNobel will extend its tri-methyl-aluminum (TMAL) […]

Continuous Data Analytics

by Bill Fester on September 28, 2012

in Chemical, DCS, Emerson DeltaV, Industries, People, Systems

by Terry Blevins From: Modeling And Control   One of the areas addressed by the DeltaV future architecture team over the last two years has been the research and development of on-line continuous data analytics for fault detection quality parameter prediction. This year a prototype of this capability is being tested at two plants in […]

Fines are not enough to reform drug industry, warn lawyers The global pharmaceutical industry has racked up fines of more than $11bn in the past three years for criminal wrongdoing, including withholding safety data and promoting drugs for use beyond their licensed conditions. From: Jeremy Laurance The Independent

From Caleb Melby Forbes   Writing for Forbes yesterday, Caleb Melby profiled the Hershey company‘s most recent investment in American manufacturing — a brand new, $300 million facility. While the cutting edge technology used at the plant may not lead to new-hires, according to Forbes, “the company estimates that it will still produce $1 billion […]

DeltaV Supplies Back on Track

by Bill Fester on September 27, 2012

in DCS, Emerson DeltaV, Systems

From: ControlGlobal.com   As you may know, supplies of DeltaV systems from Emerson Process Management were badly disrupted by the severe flooding in Thailand last year. There were reports of up to 1 year’s wait for certain DeltaV parts sourced in that area. Now there’s some good news. The following was posted by David Imming, […]

FERC Takes the Reigns on Cyber Security

by Bill Fester on September 27, 2012

in Industries, Power

By: Charlene Wright From: Pipeline Law Blog   Earlier this month, FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff commented on cyber security being among his chief concerns.  No surprise, as we’ve been hearing  alerts and warnings from PHMSA and Homeland Security in response to recent threats to U.S. natural gas companies.  While there are multiple agencies that are […]

By Felicity Carus July 2 was not supposed to be an ordinary day for Bill Johnson, the former chief executive of Progress Energy. But it ended in an extraordinary way that even he hadn’t expected…..   Read the rest of the story at: AOL Energy

A company whose software and services are used to remotely administer and monitor large sections of the energy industry began warning customers last week that it is investigating a sophisticated hacker attack spanning its operations in the United States, Canada and Spain. Experts say digital fingerprints left behind by attackers point to a Chinese hacking […]