Mark Hoske, editor-in-chief

Automation Competency Model finalized

The Automation Federation has completed the Automation Competency Model, a formal federal document defining the skills and competencies needed in the automation field. The Automation Federation worked with industry experts and representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor to develop the model over the course of several meetings.

Siemens favors EDDL over DTM/FTD for automation

Siemens will provide Device Type Manager/Field Device Technology (DTM/FDT) technology if customers request it, but is advising against using DTM/FTD for automation, controls, and instrumentation because of lacking economic advantages and higher total lifecycle costs. Even so, the company says it supports the technology, and, like Profibus International, will use it for...

Opto 22 confirms settlement with Schneider Electric

Opto 22 confirmed Nov. 13 that it has settled the lawsuit brought against it more than two and a half years ago by Schneider Electric. Opto 22 stated that the U.S. patent process is broken, and that it chose not to continue spending millions of dollars defending itself against Schneider's litigation, which concerned using Web servers in industrial controllers.