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In CFE Media’s December 2014 issue of Control Engineering, DMC Project Director Matt Puskala talked with Bob Vavra about trends in system integration. DMC ranked in Control Engineering’s System Integration Giants of 2014 along with companies such as Matrix Technologies, Concept Systems, Inc. and Mustang Automation & Control who also nominated representatives to weigh in on the topic.

As noted in “Trends in System Integration” not only is “manufacturing…in the midst of a healthy turnaround,” but “the role of a system integrator is vital to sustaining that growth curve.” Matt agreed that in recent years DMC has “seen more expansions of manufacturing into developing markets.” Matt noted that another trend in the industry has been “integration into one central controller” and the conversion of legacy systems that don’t work as optimally as more modern solutions.

Perhaps the most important innovation in the industry that Matt pointed out is the collection of data in order to analyze which systems are working well as opposed to those that are working less efficiently. The “move toward agile manufacturing – configurable lines, programmed to be incredibly modular” is also pronounced and has inspired the creation of highly complex vision systems. 

Other highlights included increased “confidence in Ethernet I/O systems and Ethernet drive systems” as well as “robotics-based technology” and “functional safety.” Read the full article to learn more.

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