Looking back over the last three years of implementing SharePoint solutions for a wide variety of clients (large and small), I would say this is the number one question clients ask me when looking to get started on their first SharePoint portal solut...
On a recent project in Guangzhou, China, I had an opportunity to join a soccer outing with guys from our client's factory. Ok, so maybe it wasn't a FIFA World Cup caliber match, but we had a great time pitting the engineering department ve...
Encapsulating your data into custom Data Structures will allow you to Dominate (maybe not the world, but at least your PLC) I'm going to conclude my series on the IEC 61131-3 standard by examining the benefits of Data Structures. (If you misse...
For a recent DMC project I had the pleasure of working with Pickering Interfaces, a well-known international PXI hardware vendor, to supply an off-the-shelf PXI card which can simulate 6 chemical battery cells. Since such a product did not exist at t...
Sometimes copying and pasting from Windows Explorer just isn't good enough. It's fine for every-day file handling, but if you have to migrate all the files on a drive, but can't use a program like Ghost to carbon copy the volume, Windows ...
Ever wanted to use those very nice looking Siemens touchpad HMIs with a third party controller Siemens doesn't officially support? On a recent project I was presented with the following scenario: a customer already had several Siemens touch-scree...
If you are a programmer, an OEM, or end user that utilizes IEC 61131-3 compliant PLCs, you should MUST read this article. In the 3rd part of my series on the IEC61131-3 programming standard (you can check out the previous part 1 and part 2), I wil...
Employees at DMC receive a fairly top of the line laptop when they start. However, computer manufacturers often update their product offerings, so we don't all end up with the same model. Our two most recent employees both received the same lapto...
Recently, we created a help forum at DMC to share information between all of our engineers. Our goal was to create a standard place for people to ask questions and leverage our company’s collective experience and knowledge. It was also desirabl...
A small contingency of DMC runners competed in the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum Go Go Green 5K on October 24th. Below are Nick & Kristie right before the race: The results are in and I can now say that I, Frank B. Riordan, am The Faste...