Our Blog
What is Cross-Correlation?
Do you remember when school kids simply lined up according to height before heading to the library or to gym class? Shortest in the front. Tallest in the back. A quick glance forward and backward is all anyone needed to do to more or less confirm his or her place in the queue. Any outlier (generally the class clown) could be identified and adjusted quickly by the teacher. Wouldn’t it be nice if the process for isolating and correcting controller issues was that simple?
Read MoreWhat Training is Available for Process Control and PID Controller Tuning?
The latest report published by the Manufacturing Institute underscores the growing shortage of skilled labor here in the United States. Their 2014 study of skills and training Out of Inventory simply affirms what manufacturers knew coming out of the Great Recession. Years of trimming staff during the downturn would come at a cost during the upturn. Apparently the bell has sounded it’s time to go to class.
Read MoreHow Do I Isolate the Root-Cause of Control Loop Performance Issues?
Finding controller performance issues in a typical production facility is not hard, but isolating and correcting their root-cause can present real challenges. Ask around stories abound of production staff who tune a PID control loop or re-pack a valve but ultimately fail to correct their problem. What may seem like the source of a performance problem is often little more than a symptom.
Read MoreWhat is the Value of Monitoring a Plant’s Control Loop Performance?
As might be expected there’s growing interest in plant-wide loop monitoring capabilities. So much so that products in the category even have their own acronym now CLPM. In spite of what the acronym suggests in terms of CLPM being an established technology, questions about its value persist.
Read MoreHow Do I Perform an Effective Bump Test?
Bumping a process is a standard requirement when tuning a PID controller – whether you tune manually or with the help of software. And, either way, applying industry best-practices will save you significant time and money.
Read MoreWhat Are My Options for Tuning a PID Controller?
Not all approaches to PID controller tuning are equal. Regardless of your approach a key to successfully tuning a controller is modeling the process dynamics accurately.
Read MoreWhat is Non-Steady State Modeling or NSS Modeling?
Non-Steady State (NSS) Modeling is the ability to calculate an accurate process model when the associated data is oscillatory, is noisy, or has extensive Dead-Time. It’s a highly valuable capability when tuning difficult PID loops, and it was pioneered by Control Station.
Read MoreHow Do I Tune a PID Controller?
Techniques for modelling a process’ dynamics and calculating tuning parameters are widely available. These approaches enable practitioners to tune controllers consistently and with reasonable results. At Control Station we know a little about this topic as we’ve been sharing these techniques for decades and innovating software-based solutions that deliver even better results.
Read MoreMaking Our Mark on Automation
Control Station is evolving. Over the years our company and the way we communicate has changed. This blog is our latest initiative to improve our communication with practitioners. As with most things we thought it would be best to begin by answering some basic questions like “Who we are?” and “What we do?”
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