Turning data into actionable information is vital to the success of any Industry 4.0 project. Suzanne Gill finds out what data analytic solutions are available today for both process and factory applications and gathers advice about successful integration of these solutions.

Dr Chris Mills looks at the challenges of testing and calibrating flowmeters used in high pressure and high temperature applications.

To get the most out of data that already exists in the production environment requires cooperation between data scientists and production experts.

Lee Sullivan explains how food and beverage manufacturers can use predictive analytics to reduce product waste and downtime.

With more advanced predictive maintenance tools at their disposal, today’s maintenance and operations teams can improve efficiencies and minimise unplanned downtime, says Phil Burge.

Any unscheduled downtime will cause a major headache for engineers in the food and beverage manufacturing sector. John Rowley believes that predictive maintenance can offer a solution.

Find out how Hydro Extrusions Hungary has been able to reduce quality problems in the finished profile of its extruded aluminium products.

Jos Martin examines the key barriers to the implementation of predictive maintenance technologies, and how these can be alleviated.

Following the Fukushima incident the nuclear industry has a renewed focus on risk mitigation from extraordinary events caused by nature. Control Engineering Europe looks at the trends in seismic monitoring and protection systems, technologies adopted and current best practice driven by these enhanced risk management demands.

While the IoT is increasing device complexity and, in turn, increasing test complexity, it can also greatly enhance automated test workflows says Mike Santori.

To make an assessment about the best thermal imaging camera for an application several factors need to be considered, including resolution, instantaneous field of view (IFOV), lenses, the size of the object and more, says Andrew Baker.

Stainless-steel piping and tanks have a passive layer that protects them from corrosion. If this layer is incompletely formed or damaged, it can pose problems. Dr Helga Leonhard and Jens Lehmann discuss a rapid test that can be used to check the condition of the passive layer.

Clive Davis talks about a new portable test instrument which combines features of a general-purpose oscilloscope and those of a data acquisition recorder.

Michael Risse gives advice on evaluating advanced analytical solutions to help ensure you have a tool that meets the very particular requirements of the process industry.

Mark Howard looks at the merits of shaft encoders and bearingless encoders and where design engineers might deploy each type.

In order to meet the exceptionally tight tolerances required of spindles and shafts inside its miniature power transmission systems and motor gearboxes, Rotalink needed to find an accurate and repeatable measurement solution.

A number of important factors need to be considered when selecting an in-process system for measuring the thickness of film, plate or sheet materials, says Chris Jones.

To improve the filtering stage of a mineral processing plant in Peru Compañía Minera Poderosa S.A. needed to find a solution to measure and control the slurry density in the discharge pipe line of a tailings thickener.

Control Engineering Europe finds out how radar level sensor is offering a safe solution for chemical storage for a UK-based waste-to-energy plant.