Version 2.0 has just been released for the Siemens Open Library. This includes a Portal V14 SP1 release, including WinCC Pro and WinCC OA support. Explore and download the Siemens Open Library at openplclibrary.com.   V2 contains the following updates: Added SiVArc properties to all WinCC Comfort/Advanced faceplates Added SiVArc screen rules and master screen copies to the “Master Copies” Updated example project to have SiVarc functionality and added a ...

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Systems Engineer Steven Dusing is based in the DMC Chicago office as a member of the Test and Measurement Automation team. In addition to working on UI design in LabVIEW, Steven enjoys playing volleyball and skiing. He's an active contributor to our DMC Cares initiative. Currently, Steven is heading up another DMC Thanksgiving Food Drive. Learn more about Steven in the video below! Read blogs by Steven. Learn more about DMC's company culture.

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One of the most common complaints regarding the capabilities of Power BI and other reporting platforms at large is the ability, or lack thereof, to easily roll up data by month. Power BI, by default, has some capability to do this in the form of date hierarchies.  When you select a DateTime field as a dimension in a Power BI visualization, Power BI utilizes date hierarchies by default. This rolls up the measures to the year level and then enables drill downs into each quarter, month,...

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Visitors to DMC may notice our ever-changing "Quote Board," documenting the best engineering jokes and employee one-liners of the moment.

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DMC recently rang in fall with an Oktoberfest party at our Chicago office. Oktoberfest parties are somewhat of a tradition at DMC Chicago. DMC Boston took over a few years ago, and last year DMC Denver hosted with lots of brats and mountain views.  Oktoberfest is a great event for visiting with our clients, partners, and their friends in a casual setting at our office. At this year's event, we treated around 200 guests to delicious German-style food and beer and live polka ...

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Following our acceptance into the Power BI Red Carpet Program in 2016, DMC has now earned membership as a Microsoft Showcase Partner, a premium partner group for Power BI. By participating in this program, DMC receives access to training opportunities that are reserved exclusively for Microsoft Power BI Showcase Partners. Program Requirements To be eligible for the Partner program, companies must be a Microsoft Partner with the Data Analytics competency, which requires that multiple indivi...

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DMC New York recently gathered DMC employees from around the country for a weekend of fun in the Big Apple. We hosted our first Yearly Office Event (YOE), which is an annual event where each DMC office hosts from visitors from our other branches. It's a great opportunity to have fun together and hang out with co-workers who live in other cities. As we expand, it's also a great chance to get to know cities that we may not have been to before. Thursday - Relaxi Taxi The fun began ...

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In this section, we'll discuss data acquisition using the multiple FPGA chassis architecture outlined in the previous section, NI LabVIEW Part 1: Building Distributed and Synchronized FPGA Applications with Multiple C Series Chassis. If you haven’t already, refer to Part 1 of 3 for Distributed FPGA Chassis Time synchronization. We use LabVIEW DMA FIFOs for typical FPGA applications that acquire data to be sent to an RT target(Host). There are a lot of ways to use FIFOs for...

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DMC Cares is an initiative that started at one of our All Day Company Meetings, or ADCMs. For this ADCM, we split into teams and given an envelope, contents unknown. I’ll never forget opening it to find $500 and instructions to make an impact in Chicago by "paying it forward." My team thought a lot about causes that were important to us and went all over the city to distribute the money to each cause. Hello Healthy Start In my personal life, I’ve volunteered w...

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DMC is proud to be recognized as an inaugural member of the Beckhoff Integrator Network. This designation recognizes our proficiency in implementing Beckhoff automation solutions and our close relationship with Beckhoff. In October, DMC joined Beckhoff and a select group of integrators at Pack Expo in Las Vegas to kick off Beckhoff’s new official integrator network program. About Beckhoff Beckhoff Automation is a global provider of open automation systems based on adva...

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Azure Virtual Machines are a powerful Infrastructure-as-a-Service product that offers a quick path to the cloud and a flexible solution to a number of scenarios. One nice thing about Azure VMs is that you can easily scale them up or down as needed. So, as your needs change, you can ensure you have sufficient resources without paying for computing power you’re not using. There is one important thing, however, to be aware of when choosing a VM size. Scaling a VM to another size within...

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This blog is an instruction guide to installing the necessary Comfort Panel HMI software for interfacing with a Siemens RFID card reader. Additionally, the guide will demonstrate the necessary setup elements in the PLC project, as well as instructions for getting started with user administration and auto-login. Definitions UID - Unique Identifier, tied to an individual card SOAP - Simple Object Access Protocol, Protocol specification for exchanging structured information in...

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With most modern PLCs, all you need to start programming or troubleshooting is to plug in your laptop with a plain old ethernet cable. Older PLCs, however, tend to use a myriad of different cables and protocols. With a large number of legacy systems, the original programming cables and software are often long lost by the time you want to make updates or need to troubleshoot an issue. One of the most popular series of PLCs from the 1990s to mid-2000s is the Allen-Bradly SLC 500 series: SLC 5/0...

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DMC will participate in National Instruments' upcoming event on Implementing the Industrial IoT as a featured partner. The event takes place on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at the Grand Hyatt Seattle from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Event Info The free, one-day event is hosted by NI, in partnership with IIoT industry leaders, to see how companies are coming together to implement IIoT solutions with an open ecosystem of IT-friendly, interconnected technologies. The event aims to help att...

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It's been a busy summer at DMC Boston. With a slew of fantastic new hires to bolster our forces, we've tried to live up to our reputation as DMC's most ridiculous office. From the exciting Yearly Office Event (YOE) where Boston hosted 30 DMCers in the White Mountains to the screening of the highly rated “Sharknado,” our office has had quite an adventurous summer. Camping (Indoor and Out) We headed to New Hampshire on an adventure in the great outdoors. We were ex...

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One of DMC's favorite traditions involves taking a "day off" from our regular tasks. DMC Chicago recently held another ADCM, or All Day Company Meeting. This event allows us to spend time team building, having fun, and sharing knowledge through an ever-changing agenda of fun, learning, or volunteering. We've tried out everything from WhirlyBall to ice skating to boating in Lake Michigan. A few years ago, our ADCM was Ferris Bueller-themed for DMC's Day Off. We decid...

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Visitors to DMC may notice our ever-changing "Quote Board," documenting the best engineering jokes and employee one-liners of the moment.

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DMC has many traditions, and one is that every new employee gets their own welcome party. With eight people in my new hire group, we decided to combine some of our parties into a mega welcome party. John, Kirsten, and I thought the best way to see Chicago was on the Wendella Lake & River Tour, an architectural adventure which wraps around the Chicago River and then takes you through the lock onto Lake Michigan near Navy Pier for views of every part of downtown.  Delicious Eats ...

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When you work for an ever-growing company, it can be hard to find time to get to know everyone you work with. In an effort to bring employees closer together (and to have fun), DMC supports employee-planned activities with a monthly activity fund for each of our six offices. Chicago is a great city for planning these events. After DMC saw Cirque du Soleil's KURIOS: Cabinet of Curiosities several years ago, we decided to go back to the cirque. Each show is unique a...

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Houston was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey last month. Thousands of homes were flooded and families are struggling to clean up before they can even begin to think about rebuilding. From headline stories about Mattress Mack, JJ Watt, and the Cajun Navy, to the smaller news stories that may go unnoticed, it's been amazing to see the city band together and come to each other's aid. In my neighborhood, we received 41.25" of rain in just over three days. While I was fortu...

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