Supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA) play a critical role in collecting process data from across distributed systems and making it available across an organization. But what if you need to share that data beyond your firewall? What are the keys to doing so efficiently and safely? In this episode of Control Amplified, editor in chief Len Vermillion talked with Chris Little, media relations director for VTScada by Trihedral, about new and not-so-new ways to share data on a mass...
Aug 13, 2025•10 min•Ep. 127
Control’s Keith Larson caught up with Rahul Negi, director of digital and autonomous operations for Honeywell Process Solutions, to discuss AI’s rapidly evolving capabilities: from assisting human-decision makers to manifesting aspects of true autonomy.
Aug 07, 2025•16 min•Ep. 126
It's hard to escape artificial intelligence (AI) these days - the industrial sector is both enamored and perplexed on how to best apply it to process control. While there's no shortage of questions that need answering, Curtis Thompson, DeltaV product marketing manager of AI at Emerson, spoke with editor in chief Len Vermillion to tackle some of them in this episode of Control Amplified.
Jul 30, 2025•18 min•Ep. 125
Control’s Keith Larson talks with ExxonMobil’s David Patin and Brian Reynolds and Alicia Kempf of Honeywell Process Solutions in this episode of Control Amplified.
Jul 09, 2025•17 min•Ep. 124
Most proprietary and closed automation systems are 20-30 years old and quickly becoming obsolete. However, by bridging information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT), open automation can help lead industry into a more secure future. A collaboration between Schneider Electric and Intel focuses on the integration of Intel Policy Engine technology with Schneider’s EcoStruxure Automation Expert. The collaboration is an example of how industry can move from proprietary systems to open au...
Jun 18, 2025•15 min•Ep. 123
SCADA applications are responsible for far more than facilitating real-time process monitoring and alarm management. The process history they compile over time is critical to providing the data-driven insights that industry relies on when optimizing their systems to control costs, maximize uptime and increase the life of infrastructure. Modern SCADA systems must ensure data is safe, relevant and easily shareable with a company’s own team or third-party reporting solutions, business systems and a...
Jun 11, 2025•14 min•Ep. 122
Every control system on the factory floor needs reliable monitors, touchscreens and related products to keep their operation running efficiently. For the last 25 years, Hope Industrial Systems (HIS), based in Atlanta, Ga., has been at the forefront of manufacturing monitors and supplying them quickly to customers all over the world. How did the company succeed, so it can celebrate its 25th anniversary? Mike McGraw, president of Hope Industrial Systems, talked with Control's editor-in-chief, Len ...
May 28, 2025•14 min•Ep. 121
Editor in chief Len Vermillion is chatting with the newest inductees for 2025's Process Automation Hall of Fame in this Control Amplified mini-series. In his final interview of the series, he and industry legend Sandy Vasser discuss a lifetime in process control.
May 07, 2025•39 min•Ep. 120
Editor in chief Len Vermillion speaks to Felix Dozzi, customer services supervisor for Pro-face America, Schneider Electric, about how coordinating HMI with other devices and customizing the applications in smart factories can create more effective workplace solutions.
Apr 23, 2025•27 min•Ep. 119
Editor in chief Len Vermillion is chatting with the newest inductees for 2025's Process Automation Hall of Fame in this Control Amplified mini-series. In this interview with John Hedenglen, they discuss how working with fellow Hall-of-Famer Thomas Edgar on process dynamics and controls kickstarted Hedenglen's career of academia, prestigious accolades and eventual induction into the Hall of Fame's class of 2025.
Apr 17, 2025•24 min•Ep. 118
Editor in chief Len Vermillion is chatting with the newest inductees for 2025's Process Automation Hall of Fame in this Control Amplified mini-series. First up: Duncan Schleiss. From pioneering Emerson's DeltaV technologies to teaching at Louisiana State University, Schleiss continually recognizes the help and support of his colleagues amid all his successes.
Apr 10, 2025•32 min•Ep. 117
It’s often said that good things come in small packages, and that adage seems especially apt in describing Rockwell Automation’s new M100 Electronic Motor Starter. In this special Solutions Spotlight episode of Control Amplified, group publisher Keith Larson speaks to Bill Meindl, Jr., business manager for industrial components at Rockwell on the M100 functionality and highlights.
Mar 31, 2025•22 min•Ep. 116
While uncertainty over tariffs and inflation confuses the industrial sector, we wondered how the industrial processing market is affected. To get answers, Control editor in chief Len Vermillion talked with Connor Lokar, senior forecaster for ITR Economics, to try to make heads or tails of the situation. While some processing business might be fretting over the escalating trade war the U.S. has engaged in with Canada, Mexico and China, others are may have reasons to be more hopeful. But many are ...
Mar 12, 2025•25 min•Ep. 115
The only constant in today's industrial landscape is the rapid evolution fueled by digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI). It is estimated that more than 90% of businesses engage in some form of digital activity. While innovation and adaptability are keys to staying ahead, the digital transformation journey for industrial organizations is by no means an easy one, particularly in water and wastewater. Control talked with Alejandro Trejo, Offer Manager for Digital Services, and Ja...
Mar 05, 2025•22 min•Ep. 114
Control Editor-in-Chief Len Vermillion recaps his thoughts from ARC Forum 2025 in Orlando. While winning with artificial intelligence (AI) dominated the conversation, the migration of Foundation Fieldbus to Ethernet APL is also on the minds of CEOs these days.
Feb 26, 2025•17 min•Ep. 113
In this episode of Control Amplified, Editor in Chief Len Vermillion looks at the journey of artificial intelligence (AI) in industrial operations. He gets help from the words of Dustin Johnson, chief technology officer at Seeq; Tathagata Basu, global head and general of sustainable fuels and chemicals at Honeywell; and John Rezabek, process controls specialist, Ashland Inc. Among the topics: Strategic planning for generative AI (GenAI) Efficient data analytics Human-AI interaction Technical tra...
Feb 05, 2025•14 min•Ep. 112
Control editor in chief Len Vermillion and Joe Weiss - managing partner of Applied Control Solutions Inc., ISA99 ICS cybersecurity pioneer, 2024 Process Automation Hall of Fame honoree and Unfettered blog author - sit down for a discussion on cybersecurity. What should everyone know about cybersecurity? And what can we do to represent cybersecurity appropriately?
Jan 23, 2025•34 min•Ep. 111
In the first Control Amplified podcast of 2025, wireless technology expert Ian Verhappen joins Len Vermillion for a discussion on the past, present and future of wireless technology for industrial operations. Among their topics are the fast advances and usage of wireless in industrial plants, why Wi-Fi advancement enables more efficient operations, the growing influence of Bluetooth Low Energy on the plant floor, and the need for cybersecurity to advance in lock step with these technologies. In ...
Jan 08, 2025•21 min•Ep. 110
In this final episode of 2024, Control’s editor in chief, Len Vermillion and Jesse Yoder discuss the future of flowmeters in renewable energy application. Climate change is almost universally recognized by governments worldwide, and many large corporations make combating climate change a priority. Reducing reliance on fossil fuels and substituting renewable energy in their place is chief among these efforts, and flowmeters are in the middle of growing those technologies.
Dec 18, 2024•10 min•Ep. 109
Editor in chief Len Vermillion calls upon executive editor Jim Montague, who wrote a very informative cover story for the November issue of Control on cybersecurity with a series featuring seven systems integrators, now on Control Global. Len will read the first of that series to get a taste for where Jim’s reporting is going and what engineers can learn about the ever-important topic of OT cybersecurity in process control. One of those stories is a tale of system integrator Eosys Group, which h...
Dec 11, 2024•10 min•Ep. 108
In this episode of Control Amplified, editor in chief Len Vermillion runs down highlights from the Safety and Risk Conference at the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center at Texas A&M University and Aveva World 2024 in Paris.
Nov 20, 2024•10 min•Ep. 107
Len Vermillion and the rest of the Control team was in Houston for Yokogawa’s YNOW users’ conference during the week of Oct. 28. He came away with five key points that were made throughout the conference, topics that found their way into several sessions that were on the tops of people’s minds.
Nov 06, 2024•12 min•Ep. 106
It’s already been three years since Emerson unveiled the concept of Boundless Automation as its future vision of operational technology architecture at Emerson Exchange 2021 in Nashville. How has the automation landscape evolved since then? Joining Control publisher Keith Larson for a wide-ranging discussion on AI, sustainability, Boundless Automation and a bit of a preview of next spring’s Emerson Exchange Americas event in San Antonio, is Peter Zornio, chief technology officer for Emerson....
Oct 24, 2024•31 min•Ep. 105
Resilience, the ability to carry on in the face of adversity, is a hot topic among those who manage industrial systems. Automatic server failover is an important building block for making automation systems resilient. Not long ago, this was a luxury only large systems could afford. With increased accountability and advances in technology, industrial users of every size are now obliged to consider how redundancy can increase system resilience. Chris Little, media relations director at Trihedral E...
Oct 09, 2024•13 min•Ep. 104
In this episode of Control Amplified, written by Ajinomoto's Meg Lashier and Control Station's Ziair DeLeon, editor in chief Len Vermillion shares how Ajinomoto amped up production with technology investments.
Sep 25, 2024•16 min•Ep. 103
Len Vermillion talks about something that’s been on the tongues of many for a couple of years now, but it seems to really be heating up again now that digitalization and remote operations are in the forefront of everyone’s minds, and that is Ethernet-APL.
Sep 11, 2024•15 min•Ep. 102
In this episode of Control Amplified, editor-in-chief Len Vermillion discusses flow measurement in the second half of a two-part series.
Aug 28, 2024•16 min•Ep. 101
In this episode of Control Amplified, editor-in-chief Len Vermillion discusses flow measurement in the first half of a two-part series.
Aug 21, 2024•8 min•Ep. 100
In this episode of the Control Amplified podcast, publisher Keith Larson talks with Shalab “Shalli” Kumar, founder and chairman of EZAutomation.
Jul 31, 2024•22 min•Ep. 99
The classic economic definition of the total cost of ownership (TCO) is the purchase price of an asset plus its operating costs over the asset’s lifespan. While this may be relatively easy to calculate for hard goods like a piece of machinery, the cost factors for soft goods, such as SCADA software, are more complicated to ascertain due to their wide range of features and licensing models. Control talked with Barry Baker, vice president of Trihedral Engineering Limited, to gain some insights fro...
Jul 24, 2024•11 min•Ep. 98
