Voices: Rick Rice
Rick Rice is a controls engineer at Crest Foods, a dry-foods manufacturing and packaging company in Ashton, Illinois. With nearly 30 years’ experience in the field of automation, Rice has designed and programmed everything from automotive assembly, robots, palletizing and depalletizing equipment, conveyors and forming machines for the plastics industry but most of his career has focused on OEM in the packaging machinery industry with a focus on R&D for custom applications.
Breathe life into your design
Plan well, ask lots of questions and include extra room for the late-term changes that always come with an automation project
Aug 30, 2019
When sitting down to write this, the subject matter drew me back to one of my earlier projects, an e-book describing the whole path from inspiration to commissioned automation project. It is interesting to realize how much has changed in my designs over the short eight years that I have been with my current employer but the fundamentals remain unchanged to this day.
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Controllers and drives set the pace of change
Aug 2, 2019System design from as little as 8 years ago seems antiquatedCollaborative plus
Jul 10, 2019Collaboration isn’t just about the interaction between mankind and a machine—it’s about vendors taking away the mystery and making it easier for a design to come to fruitionIs wireless safety an oxymoron?
Mar 19, 2019Is it possible to extend the safety ring around equipment or a process without using wires?Reusable software is ever-developing
Mar 13, 2019Software development platforms and the controllers that run the software have taken many steps forward over the years, and sometimes they take a step backA proportional valve by any other application
Jan 24, 2019Stop to smell the roses and you might learn some new things about hydraulics and pneumaticsAs control platforms expire
Jan 9, 2019Regardless of your choice on PLC vs. PC-based control, all things have a shelf life; and it's nasty at the endA little collaboration goes a long way
Dec 6, 2018Robots will get along fine with their fellow workers, so you should introduce them to each other soonTo PLC or not PLC? That is the question
Oct 31, 2018The programmable logic controller fights back and continues to go the distanceHow to develop the skilled trades
Aug 22, 2018Manufacturing and education work together to deliver the people and skills neededNew approaches come in unexpected visits
Jul 25, 2018Take the time to meet with your vendors to discuss your troubled machines and processesGet to the data point
Jun 28, 2018Collecting the data is easy; getting paid for it is notReap the benefits of designing for mass production
May 3, 2018Economies of scale can lead to discounts and savings that you might not have consideredHow to put new legs on legacy
Apr 18, 2018Old equipment can breathe new life with some creativity and a controls upgradeHow duplicating designs can build obsolescence and cost in to control systems
Apr 2, 2018It's the little things that add upMake time for innovation
Feb 28, 2018The next big thing could be right in front of your noseSo long, Remote I/O, and thanks for all the connections
Jan 15, 2018Retirement of Remote I/O prompts a look at what’s on the networkWhen is the right time to upgrade?
Jan 15, 2018Replace components when you want to, not when you have toHow to bridge the automation generation gap
Oct 18, 2017Sometimes the best solution requires mixing old and new technologyOld technology still works in 21st-century machines
Aug 28, 2017New generation of workers needs skill sets that include automation from decades pastDesign for intuitive troubleshooting
Aug 16, 2017Design systems that make sense and provide an interface that is intuitive, so the right people, get the right information, where they expect to find itThe future of packaging machinery design
Jul 18, 2017Grocers' focus on what is good for you drives OEM equipment design and the need for big data and technical skills all the way to the outside of the storeCan machines benefit from software-configurable I/O?
May 11, 2017Forget about assigned local and remote addresses; in the future, software will help to define types of I/O pointsHow do you solve a problem like cybersecurity?
Mar 17, 2017In data collection’s new frontier, is air gap passé?See what’s new with photoelectric sensors
Mar 6, 2017Twice the distance and improved color detection result from CMOS laser.How control designers should use search engines
Feb 28, 2017The search for knowledge, combining search engines with other information resources.Mini-PLCs—more than just a smart relay
Jan 10, 2017Hardware, software and functionality make the mini-PLC an option for small automation projects and collecting data from existing equipment.A new twist on thermal printers enables labeling and marking possibilities
Jan 3, 2017New technology enables extensive labeling and marking to be added to control systems.Discovery of the missing IO-Link
Dec 8, 2016Open-standard protocol with legacy in mind.The Machine-Building Circle of Life
Mar 10, 2015Food-company engineer understands the value of knowledge capture and modular design.