- November 4, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the November/December 2019 issue of electroindustry.
Unless a washing machine is zapped or an overhead light fizzles out, most people don’t notice the electrical infrastructure at home or work that powers and enables their modern lives. Like an audience for a Broadway production, we’re dazzled by the actors in front of us, paying little attention to the stage crew that keeps the show moving behind the scenes.
Like Broadway stagehands, most of the electrical infrastructure in
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- November 1, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the November/December 2019 issue of electroindustry.
Daniel Abbate, Industry Director, Building Infrastructure Division, NEMA
Recent years have seen a significant increase in the number of do-it-yourself projects that homeowners will undertake. Home products and construction materials are easily accessible, and there are online tutorial videos for every installation imaginable. This includes the ground-fault circuit-interrupter (GFCI), which is designed to protect people from electric shock. It is important for all homeowners to understand that this type of
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- October 30, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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“One thing about which fish know exactly nothing is water, since they have no anti-environment which would enable them to perceive the element they live in.” ― Marshall McLuhan, War & Peace in the Global Village (1968)
Joel Solis, Conformity Assessment Manager, NEMA
Today, there are two predominate types of power transmission and distribution systems that serve as the foundation of systems used throughout the developed world, i.e. the North American and European system. Visually distinguishing between the two is difficult since
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- October 30, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
At NEMA, our primary function is to develop Standards that help manufacturers and their customers readily adopt technologies while assuring safety, efficiency, reliability, and usability and anticipating future technology evolution.
For instance, the Industrial Internet of Things contains many different forms of technology that touch every manufacturer and nearly all of their products. Not only can producers better oversee factory processes, but they can gain valuable insights through data collection
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- October 28, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
Fred Ashton, Economic Analyst, NEMA
The United States is among the top global suppliers of industrial automation equipment, with nearly $13.4 billion worth of exported equipment in 2018. In 2016, the United States was the third-largest global exporter of such equipment after China and Germany, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration (ITA).
The U.S. ITA defines industrial automation equipment as “the hardware and components used to automate factory floors across
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- October 25, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
Ricardo Vazquez, Mexico Manager, NEMA and Craig Updyke, Director, Trade and Commercial Affairs, NEMA
As part of the new trade agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada, federal agencies will seek to harmonize their energy conservation Standards and test procedures for regulated products. With the goals of increasing energy efficiency and facilitating market access, the three national regulators are to endeavor to harmonize mandatory regulations over the first nine
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- October 23, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
Craig Updyke, Director, Trade and Commercial Affairs, NEMA
As you read this, Congress should be moving forward with approval of legislation to implement the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), negotiated by the Administration with our neighbors and partners in 2018 to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Building on NAFTA, the USMCA contains a series of market access and cost-savings benefits for the U.S. electroindustry. (See related article on USMCA-driven
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- October 21, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
Craig Updyke, Director, Trade and Commercial Affairs, NEMA
As U.S. and Chinese trade officials resumed negotiations in July over tariffs, technology, and protection of intellectual property, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Office of Standards and Investment Policy brought to light a paper by a unit of the Standardization Administration of China (SAC) on SAC’s engagement in and plans for international Standardization. Elements of the strategy include adoption and mutual recognition of
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- October 18, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
Ann Brandstadter, Manager, Standards Publications and Marketing, NEMA
ANSI/NEMA MW 1000-2018, Magnet Wire, Magnet Wire contains specifications for round, rectangular, and square film-insulated and/or fibrous-covered copper and aluminum magnet wire generally used in the winding of coils for electrical apparatus. It includes definitions, type designations, dimensions, constructions, performance, and test methods for magnet wire.
This revised Standard includes updated specifications, test procedures, and requirements, as well as new definitions of terms
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- October 9, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
Peter Weems, Senior Director of Policy & Strategy, MITA
Medical imaging devices allow healthcare providers to observe and analyze the anatomy and physiological functioning of patients without invasive surgery. MITA Member companies are responsible for the innovation, original design, manufacture, packaging, labeling, assembling, and upgrading of medical devices. Original equipment manufacturers also often provide servicing activities for installed devices— both their own and those initially manufactured by other companies.
Medical imaging
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- October 4, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
Mike Stone, West Coast Field Representative, NEMA
The National Electrical Code® is revised every three years and the newest edition, the 2020 NEC, is scheduled to be published in September. The 2020 NEC will reflect the latest advances in electrical safety for both the public and electrical workers, as well as new technologies in the electroindustry.
NEMA and its Member companies are an integral part of this code development process. There
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- October 2, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
Zach Tinkler, U.S. Key Accounts Channel Manager, Schneider Electric
Experiment, Test, and Grow
Don’t look at modernization as a huge undertaking. Break it into smaller steps addressing one piece of the facility at a time. Start by connecting one machine, then monitor the productivity and really look at the process insights that you gain from that connectivity. Now, connect another piece and grow from there. In our facility, we did exactly
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- October 1, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing rapidly. By 2020 there will be nearly 30 billion IoT devices around the world1. The proliferation of these devices could pose a threat to the internet at large if companies have not taken appropriate cybersecurity measures to protect these devices. NEMA Members that manufacture connected products take their role in strengthening the cybersecurity of the products they manufacture very seriously. They are
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- September 30, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
RIght: John Caskey, Former NEMA VP of operations, presents Mark Gliebe with the EIC Golden Omega Award for his contributions to the electroindustry.
For 60 years, NEMA and the IEEE Electrical Insulation Conference have celebrated people who have contributed significantly to the field of science and technology. This year, NEMA had the honor of presenting the Golden Omega Award to NEMA Board of Governors Chair Mark Gliebe.
Gliebe has spent nearly
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- September 28, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.The Society for Standards Professionals (SES) presented its Emerging Professional Award to Muhammad Ali, AStd, Technical Program Manager for the NEMA Building Infrastructure Division. SES honored Ali for his distinguished contributions to the Standards
profession and for demonstrating leadership qualities among colleagues in the field.“This is a much-deserved award for Ali, recognizing the hard work and dedication he has put forth to advance Standards on behalf
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- September 27, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
Dirk Schulz ABB Corporate Research, Ladenburg, Germany dirk.schulz@de.abb.com and Lars Simora Busch-Jaeger Elektro, Lüdenscheid, Germany lars.simora@de.abb.com
From automotive to commodity goods, mass customization has become state of the art in discrete manufacturing. In Industry 4.0 (the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies), one of the drivers of mass customization is to manufacture highly customized consumer goods in small batch sizes while also cutting costs. We’re literally
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- September 25, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
Kirk Anderson, Industry Director, NEMA Industrial Products & Systems Division, will give the keynote address Sept. 17 on changes to the U.S. Department of Energy process rule and how this could be a model for other economies to use as a template at EEMODS 2019 in Tokyo. Learn more at eemods19.org.
NEMA Field Representative Bryan Holland will participate in a panel discussion about 2020 NEC changes on October 7 in
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- September 23, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
NEMA Industry Director Steve Griffith was recently appointed as a U.S. Member of the IEC Certification Management Committee Working Group 31 “Cyber Security” and Working Group 32 “Functional Safety” for the IEC System of Conformity Assessment Schemes for Electrotechnical Equipment and Components.
Working Group 31 focuses on developing a unique approach for conformity assessment to the IEC 62443 series of international Standards while Working Group 32 defines market-relevant solutions and
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- September 21, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
Manufacturers compete. Manufacturers innovate. And, generally speaking, manufacturers are constrained in these efforts by Standards, rules, and regulations.
The enactment in 2005 of the European Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (the RoHS Directive) was a watershed event in terms of one particular area of conformance—that of eco-design.
Accounting for the environmental impacts of materials, resources, and end-of-life scenarios at the
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- September 20, 2019
- NEMA Communications
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This piece was originally published in the September/October 2019 issue of electroindustry.
NEMA Field Representative Bryan Holland speaks at the National Fire Protection Association’s 2019 Conference & Expo in San Antonio, where he gave a presentation on NEMA GD 1-2016 Evaluating Water- Damaged Electrical Equipment to about 300 attendees. ei
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