Articles by Tommy Kim
37 articles- Control Panel Engineering · Sept 2026AS/NZS 61439 for Switchboards and Control Panels: A Designer's GuideAS/NZS 61439 from the designer's side: who is responsible for what, the ratings a specification must state, design and routine verification, and FAT evidence.11 min read
- Industrial Data & IIoT · Sept 2026CCP Monitoring and HACCP Records from Your Control SystemWhich critical control points a food plant's control system can monitor automatically, what a CCP monitoring record must show, and how deviations, verification and data integrity are handled.7 min read
- SCADA & HMI · Sept 2026Citect and Geo SCADA Migration in Australia: Plant SCADA, ClearSCADA and Moving to IgnitionA practical guide to Citect (AVEVA Plant SCADA) and Geo SCADA (ClearSCADA) migration on Australian sites: upgrade in place or move to Ignition, and how to cut over without losing visibility.8 min read
- Control Panel Engineering · Apr 2026Control Panel Engineering in Australia: Compliance, Design and HandoverControl panel engineering in Australia: AS/NZS 61439 and AS/NZS 3000, form of separation, short-circuit rating, thermal design, FAT and handover records.12 min read
- Process Control · Sept 2026DCS vs SCADA vs PLC for Australian Process PlantsDCS vs SCADA vs PLC for Australian process plants: what each architecture is, where the lines blur, and how to choose for a new plant, expansion or migration.10 min read
- Functional Safety · May 2026Functional Safety and SIL Assessment for Australian Industrial SitesFunctional safety and SIL assessment for Australian plant: IEC 61511 and 61508, SIL targets from LOPA or risk graph, the safety lifecycle and proof testing.10 min read
- Control Systems · May 2026Ignition SCADA in Australia: A Practical Guide for Food and Beverage ManufacturersWhen Ignition fits an Australian food and beverage site: Perspective vs Vision, architecture and redundancy, OT security, and buying Ignition locally.8 min read
- Industrial Data & IIoT · May 2026IIoT and Condition Monitoring for Australian Manufacturing SitesCondition monitoring for Australian manufacturers: ISO 17359 and 13374, the P-F curve, sensor selection, MQTT Sparkplug B and OPC UA, and the link to OEE.8 min read
- Industrial Data & IIoT · Sept 2026Industry 4.0 for Mid-Size Australian Food Plants: What to Do FirstWhat Industry 4.0 means for a mid-size Australian food plant, why most programs stall, and a practical first step: one line, one decision and the data your PLCs already produce.7 min read
- Industrial Data & IIoT · Sept 2026ISA-95 and the Purdue Model for Food Plants: The Levels, the Context and the Security BoundaryThe Purdue model and ISA-95 levels explained on a food line: what runs at each level, where SKU, order, shift and stop-reason context lives, and where the OT security boundary sits.8 min read
- PLC & Control Systems · Apr 2026Legacy PLC Migration in Australia: Planning an Upgrade Without Losing ProductionHow to plan a legacy PLC migration on a live Australian plant: when to start, how to scope the outage window, and how to stage the cutover.11 min read
- Functional Safety · May 2026Machine Safety Risk Assessment in Australian Manufacturing: What the Standard RequiresMachine safety risk assessment in Australia: ISO 12100 method, the hierarchy of risk reduction, Performance Levels to ISO 13849-1, IEC 62061 and AS/NZS 4024.10 min read
- Control Systems · May 2026MES and SCADA in Food Plants: How They Work Together and Where the Lines AreHow MES and SCADA divide work in Australian food plants: ISA-95 levels, the MESA model, B2MML, contextualisation and when a dedicated MES is justified.8 min read
- Industrial Data & IIoT · Sept 2026OEE for Australian Food and Beverage Lines: Meaning, Calculation and a Worked ExampleWhat OEE means under ISO 22400-2, how to calculate it on a multi-SKU food line, and the two booking decisions that can move the figure by ten points.10 min read
- Industrial Data & IIoT · May 2026OT Network Security for Australian Manufacturing SitesOT network security for Australian manufacturers: IEC 62443 zones and conduits, the Purdue model, segmentation, secure remote access and OT patching.11 min read
- Control Systems · June 2026From a P&ID to Control Logic: How an Experienced Team Programs a Process from the DrawingHow a controls engineer reads ISA-5.1 P&ID symbology and derives equipment modules, sequences, interlocks and loops from the drawing plus one conversation.9 min read
- PLC & Control Systems · Apr 2026PLC Programming Services in Melbourne: What to Expect and How to ChooseBuyer guide to PLC programming in Melbourne: process-first design, modular code, language choice, diagnostics, FAT discipline and operator support.9 min read
- Industrial Data & IIoT · Sept 2026PLC Remote Access in Australia: eWON, Tosibox, VPN and Cyber ExpectationsPLC remote access for Australian plants: how eWON, Tosibox and site VPNs work, what ACSC guidance expects, and how to control vendor access to running plant.10 min read
- Industrial Data & IIoT · Sept 2026Power BI for Manufacturing: Getting PLC and SCADA Data In CleanlyHow to get PLC and SCADA data into Power BI for manufacturing dashboards: the SQL layer between the line and the report, where context and calculations belong, and the refresh and time-zone limits to design around.6 min read
- Industrial Data & IIoT · Sept 2026Preventive Maintenance from Machine Data: Runtime, Cycles and ConditionHow runtime hours, cycle counts, fault events and condition data from the PLC can set preventive maintenance intervals, raise work orders and give early warning, and how to introduce them without flooding the CMMS.6 min read
- Control Systems · June 2026SCADA Platform Comparison for Australian Manufacturers: Ignition, FactoryTalk and AVEVAIgnition, FactoryTalk and AVEVA compared for Australian sites: licensing, architecture, clients, IIoT, redundancy and where each platform fits.9 min read
- PLC & Control Systems · Sept 2026SLC 500 and PLC-5 End of Life: Upgrading to CompactLogix and ControlLogix in AustraliaHow to plan an SLC 500 or PLC-5 upgrade to CompactLogix or ControlLogix on a live Australian plant, with a real SLC 500 churn migration as the worked example.9 min read
- Automation Upgrades · Sept 2026VSD Upgrade Guide for Pumps and Fans: Energy Case and Drive ReplacementA variable speed drive (VSD) guide for Australian plants: when a VSD saves energy on pumps and fans, how to build the case and how to replace old drives.10 min read
- Process Control · June 2026Beverage Automation in Australia: Recipe Control, Work Orders and a Single Source of TruthHow beverage automation reduces variability: recipe and batch control, versioned recipes you can trace back in time, work orders as a single live source of truth, and a historian that records exactly how every batch was made.8 min read
- Industrial Automation · Apr 2026Industrial Automation in Melbourne: A Practical Guide for Australian ManufacturersPractitioner guide to scoping industrial automation for Melbourne manufacturers: control stack scope, greenfield versus brownfield, and choosing an integrator.10 min read
- PLC Programming · June 2026PLC Platform Comparison for Australian Manufacturers: How to Choose the Right FitChoosing a PLC platform for an Australian plant comes down to a few practical considerations: native communications protocols, local spares, the right model in the range, local integrator support, and what your own team is comfortable using.6 min read
- Control Systems · May 2026Batch Control and ISA-88 for Australian Food and Beverage ManufacturersA practical ISA-88 guide for Australian food and beverage plants: when batch control pays off, the three models, phase states, FSANZ traceability and migration.9 min read
- Control Systems · May 2026CIP Automation: Where the Investment Actually Pays BackHow CIP automation cuts trade waste and chemical cost with endpoint-driven phases, protects chemical tanks, verifies coverage and records audit evidence.10 min read
- Control Systems · May 2026Automation for Australian Dairy Processing PlantsGuide to automation for Australian dairy plants: HTST pasteurisation and divert control, CIP, ISA-88 batch control, 3-A hygienic design and FSANZ traceability.11 min read
- Industrial Automation · Apr 2026Food and Beverage Automation in Australia: What Manufacturers Need to KnowPractical guide to food and beverage automation in Australia: ISA-88 batch control, CIP, pasteurisation, hygienic design, traceability and OEE.11 min read
- Industrial Data & IIoT · May 2026Where OEE Misleads: The Limits of the Metric on Australian Food and Beverage LinesWhat OEE excludes by design, how it distorts on multi-SKU food and beverage lines, and why the signal layer is the one limitation engineering can fix.8 min read
- Control Systems · May 2026PackML on Australian Packaging Lines: What It Does and Why It MattersPackML on Australian packaging lines: the ISA-TR88.00.02 state model, modes and PackTags, line coordination, and how machine states feed accurate OEE.12 min read
- Process Control · June 2026Pet Food Automation in Australia: Batch, Extrusion and Process ControlPet food automation in Australia: ISA-88 recipe and batch control, extrusion and rendering control, CCP interlocks, AS 5812 and recall-grade traceability.9 min read
- Control Systems · June 2026PID Loop Tuning for Food and Dairy Processes: Temperature, Flow, Level and PressurePID tuning for food and dairy plant: why flow, pressure and level loops run PI, when thermal loops justify full PID, and lambda tuning over trial and error.9 min read
- Industrial Data & IIoT · May 2026Why Most Plants Collect Data but Can't Use ItWhere plant data silos form and how a unified namespace over MQTT Sparkplug B and OPC UA, structured to ISA-95, gives a site one usable source of truth.8 min read
- SCADA & HMI · Apr 2026SCADA System Design for Australian Food and Beverage PlantsEngineer's guide to SCADA for Australian food and beverage plants: ISA-95 architecture, ISA-101 HMI, ISA-18.2 alarms, historians and FSANZ recall records.11 min read
- PLC Programming · June 2026Siemens TIA Portal Automation in Australia: A Practical Guide for ManufacturersSiemens TIA Portal for Australian food and dairy plants: S7-1500 and S7-1200, WinCC tiers, PROFINET and PROFIsafe, and migrating S5 and S7-300.12 min read
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