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Electrical Control Panel failure is one of the dreads of plant maintenance managers. Usually, the control panels in a manufacturing plant are not just electrical in nature; they usually incorporate programmed PLCs and motor drives that require industrial field service beyond the scope of most general electricians. Regardless of age, electrical control panel failure occurs...

Industrial drive repair is an important discussion point in most manufacturing facilities. Often, the discussion is whether it’s worth repairing a VFD. Or just buy a new one. VFDs (Variable Frequency Drives) have decreased in price over the years. And with standard VFDs, it’s often economical to replace rather than repair the VFD. A reputable...

When choosing an Ethernet communication platform for industrial machine control, it’s hard to ignore the virtues of EtherCAT. Its ability to mix and match between various components from different manufacturers makes EtherCAT a popular choice among integrators and design engineers. EtherCAT is the fastest industrial Ethernet technology and has unmatched bandwidth utilization. This makes it...

A group of 3rd through 5th graders from the Austin Elementary Robotics Team toured our HQ in Carrollton, Texas, yesterday. The team from nearby Coppell, Texas, completed their first year of robotics competition last Saturday, after having advanced in two tournaments to the Regional Championship. Innovative-IDM Engineering Manager, Adam Ring, led the tour, which ended...

If you want to back up Omron CJ PLCs, it’s not difficult if you follow the steps in this post. The issue I see often with saved PLC programs is they do not include all the necessary files to create a running copy of the PLC. If the PLC dies and you are responsible for...