Temperature Control Success: Film Tech, a company in Stanley, WI, purchased a used 3 layer blown film line from a company in Ohio. The machine was disassembled and brought to their facility in the spring of 2015. Film Tech requested that a complete controls upgrade be completed on the line due to l

  Ethernet – the Backbone of IoT You would have had to been living in a cave for the last two years if you haven’t heard the constant drumbeat of “Industry 4.0” and “The Internet of Things” (IoT).  Admittedly the lure of “easily connectable” and “smart” devices that can be implemented at low c

Best Ethernet Switch for Harsh Environments: Industrial IP67 Managed Gigabit Ethernet Switches with PoE+ New Models Offer Bypass Relay, PoE+ Support and Full Gigabit Performance Sure Controls is proud to offer Red Lion Controls, as  they are the global experts in communication, monitoring

By Jenni Hansen At Sure Controls, we strive to ensure our customers are smiling! The following are the Webster definitions of two very important, yet simple looking words that we strive to provide to our customers every day! Delivering: Bring and hand over (a letter, parcel, or ordered goods) to th

Industrial-Grade Ethernet Switches to the Rescue Real life Problem The news this summer has been dominated by the story of the boys soccer team from Thailand that was trapped in a cave. Happily, they were all rescued and are safe now. Now that we know there is is a happy ending, it’s fun to f

Pairing Gearheads with Servo Motors Machine designers are increasingly turning to gearheads to take advantage of the latest advances in servo motor technology. Essentially, a gearhead converts high-speed, low-torque energy into low-speed, high-torque output. A servo motor provides highly accurate p

By Brian Bobbe Although your current drives and PLC system maybe be working well, do you know for how long and what you’re plan is if you do go down? We completely understand the stress it causes you when you know that your current drive systems are obsolete not to mention it’s tricky to plan when

Line 5 at Film Tech Background Film Tech, a company in Stanley, WI, purchased a used 3 layer blown film line from a company in Ohio. The machine was disassembled and brought to their facility in the spring of 2015. Film Tech requested that a complete controls upgrade be completed on the line due to

Sawyer has been  designed to increase performance and adaptability What is a collaborative robot? If you look up collaborative robots on the internet, there are variations of what it is.  The literal definition of collaboration is The action of working with someone to produce or create something,

Collaborative Cartesian Robots Save Space Easy to set up It’s not uncommon for collaborative robots to use a programming environment with limited features that simplify setup for new users.The PP100’s simple Cartesian geometry is particularly easy for new users to teach, since any p

How Does Automated Robotic Machine Tending Work? Most machine tending is done by humans. Machine shops use their human workforce to load and unload machines and to restart the program once the finished part is out of the way. The tasks are often repetitive and as qualified workers are becoming har

Let us help teach you how to select a company for your stepper motor repair. What is a Stepper Motor? A stepper motor is an electromechanical device that achieves mechanical movements from conversion of electrical pulses. Rather than continuously applied voltage it is driven by digital pulses. In

What is calibration? Calibration is a comparison between a known measurement (the standard) and the measurement using your instrument. Typically, the accuracy of the standard should be ten times the accuracy of the measuring device being tested. However, an accuracy ratio of 3:1 is acceptable by

Industrial automation is the use of control systems, such as computers or robots, and information technologies for handling different processes and machineries in an industry to replace a human being. It is the second step beyond mechanization in the scope of industrialization. Increase Quality

By: Roger Mahler My first experience with robots was in High School; in the mid 1980s our Industrial arts teacher had purchased a 2 axis pneumatic robot kit. It was made of machined aluminum plate and was controlled by air solenoids fired by an Apple IIe computer.  The available actions were axis 0

By Ken Gifford Have you ever taken someone to Baskin-Robbins who really likes ice cream?  Invariably, whenever I take my wife there, she has a pretty good idea in her mind what she has a taste for.  However, when presented with the bewildering array of choices available, she has a hard time making

Who is NIST and what do they do? NIST traceable calibration is an assurance program that certifies that a laboratory or manufacturer is fully equipped to calibrate equipment to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards and that any products offered by that manufacturer wil

What is the difference between and a resistance temperature detector (RTD)  and a thermocouple?  Both RTDs and thermocouples are sensors used to measure heat in scales such as Fahrenheit and Kelvin. Such devices are used in a broad range of applications and settings, often presenting people with

The Problem: Your profits are off – costs must be lowered Your efforts miss the mark when they focus on areas that don’t deliver the needed return on the investment.  Initiatives are launched by guessing where the real problems are in your manufacturing process.  Data is costly to collect

A linear motion actuator is a device that creates motion in a straight line. It has applications ranging from industrial machineries to computer accessories. These linear motion actuators are classified on the basis of how it creates the linear motion. Types of Linear Motion Actuators Mechanical