Next time you are strolling across a manufacturing plant, check out the hardware on the ground. Shop floors are nothing but cables plugged into machines, cables plugged into computers, cables plugged into other cables...

The latest in motors technology from leading manufacturers.

Q&A with Harald Poesch, product marketing manager for servomotors at Siemens Drive Technologies.

While safety functions have been integrated into drives packages for some years now, the current trends are very exciting, from many angles. Today, a full complement of safety functions can be implemented at the front-end of a system design on all types of production machines, including printing, packaging, converting, materials handling and other equipment used throughout American industry.

While it is valid to state that energy efficiency is defined as the same level of production being achieved at an overall lower energy cost, it is equally important for today’s machine builders and automation engineers alike to remember that an energy-efficient system can actually translate into higher productivity. This is achievable through a comprehensive approach to energy management.

The complete Product News section from the December 2009 issue of Power Transmission Engineering.