Did we really once think leather-padded wine-barrel furniture was the height of luxury, a prize to be coveted? Or gold- or silver-plated tea services, enormous brass beds and even more enormous home appliances with outsized analog controls? And Johnny Olson describes “A new car!” with fabulous options like an AM/FM radio, tinted windows and power brakes on every episode.

Where will technology take consumers in the next 10 years? More importantly, how will technology advances shape industrial manufacturing and, more specifically, combustion controls and process heating? 

An OEM in California wanted to rethink its machine design. The company, which builds ovens for industrial applications, sought to differentiate its ovens from those of its competitors. 

As manufacturing facilities increasingly move to automation and advanced manufacturing practices, there is less slack in the system for failures and unplanned downtime. Factories must be ready to operate whenever production requires.

Energy improvement offers enormous potential for variable cost reduction and improved environmental performance. These types of improvements can be fast tracked and amplified via internet-based collaboration, but there is a risk that outsourced services can lead to a hollowing out of site expertise. 

Babies not yet able to read, to seniors, and all ages in between, are using a ubiquitous technology that perhaps 30 years ago, hadn’t even pierced one’s consciousness. That technology is, of course, the internet, and all of the myriad ways we rely on it: communication, social networking, commerce and education, to name a few.

Fluke Condition Monitoring provides a system of temperature, voltage, current and power sensors that can be moved from asset to asset or left in place for continuous monitoring. 

Computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) can integrate IoT sensors to measure temperature and vibration levels of equipment such as motors, gearboxes and generators. 

Synergy 1000 Cloud application includes features to ensure access to real-time data collection, charting, monitoring, analysis, communication and reporting.