In view of the great interest aroused by the initiative, Automa will again offer the presentation of “XP/E and the embedded systems” on Thursday 30th November, dedicated to all those who want to learn more about the new technologies which give you the possibility of making compact, reliable and economically competitive HMI applications based on PCs. The aim of the event is to give information about XP/E, a truly exceptional operating system, which is still, however, little known to industrial automation operators. Getting to know its characteristics and potentials can really give you a competitive advantage to be exploited in selecting more efficacious and efficient technological solutions for your own applications, whilst keeping the benefits of openness and compatibility offered by the market standards. The presentation, which is completely free of charge and lasts for half a day, will be held at the Automa’s head office (Bergamo) where a demo room will be set up. The programme is divided into two parts: during the first one the characteristics and opportunities of XP/E will be analysed; in the second part the embedded systems will be seen in operation, made up of new compact industrial PCs by various manufacturers where different configurations of XP/E are installed as well as Super-Flash, which we consider to be the ideal completion for these solutions thanks to its extreme compactness and high level of reliability and flexibility. Since the number of places is limited, please contact our sales staff as soon as possible, either via e-mail (sales@automa.it) or by telephoning directly on 035.32.33.911, to receive all the information you require and to enroll.

For those who want to learn rapidly how to make even complex supervision applications with our Development System, Automa proposes the “Basic course + assistance” promotion, which, at a special price,provides a basic course on Super-Flash for 2 people lasting 4 hours, to be carried out at our head offices, and also two months of telephone assistance to be given every day, from Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to midday and from 3 to 6 p.m. (from 9 a.m. to midday and from 2.30 to 5.30 p.m. starting from January 2007). The promotion, which started last January, is aimed at all new users who do not know the product and who want to start to use it, and is particularly recommended for those who develop, or have developed applications using old releases of the product. In fact, compared, for example, with Super-Flash 3.2, the last DOS version of the product, the Development System is now completely new and it could be a lengthy task to learn all the new possibilities offered by teaching yourself. Automa’s objective is to make its customers independent in developing supervision systems, focusing not only on training, but also on support: in fact, our assistance team is particularly well-prepared on the subject since it is made up of the developers of Super-Flash themselves. The promotion will still be valid until the end of the year. Take part now! You can also fix the date for the course and the one for starting assistance in the first few months of next year!! For further information, visit the Promotions page on our site or contact our sales staff directly via e-mail at sales@automa.it or by telephoning on 035.32.33.911.

The arrival of the new Wireless technologies is bringing about a revolution in the world of industrial communication. In fact, “wireless” products will eliminate the connection problems caused by architectural barriers and long distances at their roots. This change will also and above all involve those operating in the field of industrial automation, who will not be able to get by without getting to know the new technologies. Automa has been studying the Wireless technologies for some time and wants to make its competence gained in this sector available to its customers, along with its twenty-year experience in communication. The aim is to provide all-round support for complete solutions, to offer assistance not only on the software, but also on the hardware parts. We think that being able to turn to a single interlocutor is a great advantage for our customers. And to provide all-round support, we have drawn up a partnership agreement with ESCO Italiana, which, like Automa, focuses on an efficacious and efficient service to give added valued to their users. The company (www.escoitaliana.it) has been distributing semi-conductors and components for the electronics market for more than 30 years (exclusive distributors for Maxim/Dallas, Wavecom, etc) and intends to become a benchmark for Wireless technologies. To get a preview of the ESCO products proposed by Automa, please contact our sales staff via e-mail at sales@automa.it or by telephoning on 035.32.33.911.

After a year of hard work, always at the disposal of our customers, the technical assistance and staff of Automa will take a bit of a rest for the Christmas period. Our offices will be closed from Wednesday 27th December 2006 to Friday 5th January 2007. Starting from Monday 8th January, we will be back to all our activities again, more on form and a little plumper than ever. We should like to remind you that our technicians are available free of charge every Tuesday and Thursday morning, from 9.30 a.m. to midday. On the other hand, if you want to be able to consult them every day from Monday to Friday , from 9 a.m. to midday and from 3 to 6 p.m. (from 9 a.m. to midday and from 2.30 to 5.30 p.m. starting from January 2007), it is possible to sign a contract, which lasts between 2 and 12 months. In fact, we realise that assistance can be more necessary at some times and less at others. For example, when you are learning to use the supervisor, when you are making a particular application or something is rather urgent, or when the application made must be installed on the plant, many customers feel the need to have our technicians’ support available at all times, whereas in other “quieter” moments, the free assistance service can be of sufficient help to continue working effectively. The assistance contract can be activated at any time and starting from any date. But that’s not all - if you require assistance for a period other than those foreseen in our Price List, there’s no problem! Simply contact our sales@automa.it and you will receive a personalised offer!

To try to meet the requests of our customers’, from January 2007 the telephone assistance service will change its times. Our technicians will be at the disposal of those customers who have signed a contract from Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to midday and from 2.30 to 5.30 p.m.. We should like to remind you that free assistance is always available every Tuesday and Thursday from 9.30 a.m. to midday.

In 2004 we created the “Super-Flash Solution Providers”, a group of particularly qualified customers who Automa recommends to those who want to develop a supervision system. The list of these companies can be found on the Super-Flash Solution Providers page of our site. And just think ... in little less than two years more than 11,000 users have visited the sites of these companies starting from the page of Automa’s site dedicated to them! Those who are interested in becoming part of the “Super-Flash Solution Providers” team can contact our sales staff on 035.32.33.911 or via e-mail at sales@automa.it.

Shortly version 4.0 of Super-Flash will be available which, according to the foreseen development plan, will aim at providing numerous tools to facilitate making “Windows like” applications. To know about all the novelties of this version, keep an eye on the Automa site and the forthcoming AutomaNews.

In the Download section on the Automa site, you can download the complete Operating Manual of SmartDB, the product which allows Super-Flash applications to access databases to read and write data. The Manual is a valid aid, both for those who do not know the product and for those who are already using it. In fact, the document is divided into two parts: in the first of these, dedicated to those who are just starting to use the product, the characteristics and functionalities are explained; in the second, dedicated to those who want to increase their knowledge or who need to look for special solutions, the individual functions of the software are illustrated in detail. SmartDB solves the first important aspect of communication with the EPS/MES level – that of connection. But Automa has alsothought of the synchronisation aspects, making the Event Management module integrated in Super-Flash available, and data structuring, proposing both products such as WAM (for displaying historical and real time alarms on the web) and their own experience with integration. Remember that SmartDB is available in the Royalty-Free and Runtime commercial formulas. After purchasing the package, those who choose the Royalty-Free formula can use it for an unlimited number of applications, whereas if you prefer the Runtime formula, you buy the licence for a single application. Thanks to this sales proposal, our customers do not take any investment risks since they can purchase just the number of licences needed at any one time.

The FDA 21 CFR part 11 regulations establish that in pharmaceutical companies the laboratory and production data must follow precise authenticity standards. These companies must be equipped with procedures and instruments (among which software) in order to have full control over their electronic records so as to avoid any occasional and/or unforeseen modifications to these. The software applications, which collect and manage these records, should therefore guarantee that the data they contain have not been manipulated or that this occurred in a controlled way. Implementation of the regulation involves all the American companies operating in the pharmaceutical sector (and in part the food sector), but also those which, although they do not have their head office in the United States, export their products and services to that country. In Europe, the FDA regulations were the reference for drawing up the guidelines explaining how to make 21 CFR part 11 certifiable software systems. These indications should be applied in all the sectors where it is important to have reliable data which cannot be manipulated. It is therefore essential for companies dealing in automation for the pharmaceutical sector to know the FDA regulations and the European guidelines, and is very important in all the other cases to give your systems a high added value. But watch out because no hardware or software architecture can be validated presumptively. Validation always refers to the installed system at the final user, in relation to their plant, operators, products and procedures. Automa knows the FDA regulations and the problems connected with them because it has already had some direct experience in the pharmaceutical field. Spylog, the software for continuous monitoring, has been certified as conforming to 21 CFR part 11 in several installations. Automa makes its own competence available in order to help its customers in making certifiable systems, offering consultation and products, such as Super-Flash, which facilitate realisation of applications conforming to the regulations.

In the field of industrial automation, and even more so in that of data collection and processing, the SCADA HMI packages are sometimes not sufficient to fully satisfy user requirements and it is necessary to call on expert programmers to develop ad hoc applications in Visual Basic and in Visual C++. This choice means having to face numerous problems, among which a meticulous time-consuming testing activity, in order to make the software perfectly functional. The advantages of making supervision applications using HMI development environments, such as Super-Flash, are obvious: guaranteed reliability, simplicity and rapidity of development are just some of its strong points, to say nothing of the availability of a graphic editor rich in functionalities and with numerous “ready-to-use” drivers to communicate with the field and with the higher levels of information systems. Even a highly flexible Development System, like Automa’s, does not always manage to satisfy all requirements and, in some cases, the Super-Flash solution providers have to realise “customised” applications using traditional procedural programming languages. Automa has thought of making some products for these users which help them to develop reliable Widows applications. The first line of products we propose is Communication Tools, which make the company’s twenty-year experience in developing communication drivers available. In fact, communication is often a critical point in making a system: an HMI or supervision application which does not communicate is not much use. While implementing the basic functions of a protocol may be demanding, realisation of a really secure driver can be a true challenge. The drivers in the Communication Tools line allow Windows applications to communicate effectively both with Super-Flash and directly with the field.

Technological evolution now provides a great opportunity: at last there is the possibility of making compact, reliable and economical PC-based HMI interfaces. In fact, the market offers innovative products both at hardware level (new diskless and fanless architectures) and software level (Windows XP/E operating system) which make it possible to combine the reliability of operator panels with the flexibility of PCs. To give everyone the possibility of getting to know more about these new technologies and their potential, Automa is organising some free presentations lasting half a day for the month of November. These will make it possible to understand the characteristics and opportunities offered by XP/E and to see different embedded systems at work, made up of the new compact industrial PCs on which XP/E is installed in various configurations, together with Super-Flash, which we consider to be the ideal complement for these solutions thanks to its extreme compactness and high flexibility. To obtain information about the events (dates and programme) and for pre-enrolments, please contact our commercial staff via e-mail at sales@automa.it or telephone on 035.32.33.911 directly.

In less than 4 years a very large number of products have been downloaded from the FreeDownload page on our site, with more than 25,000 downloads. This important achievement is a demonstration of how interested users are in our software. We should like to take this opportunity to thank all those for the trust they have shown in us and to remind you that we are willing to organise basic, advanced and/or customised courses on our products.

One of the services which Automa offers its customers free of charge is editing and publishing articles on systems they have made. This activity gives the companies mentioned in them great visibility in the major magazines in the sector and on the web (Automa site, AutomaNews and automation portals). We should like to remind you that talking about a true success story is worth much more than abstractly describing the competences of a company and the characteristics of a product.

Since its launch about 15 years ago, Super-Flash has grown constantly in terms of performance. However, it has kept some of the basic characteristics which have distinguished it since 1989 unchanged: its reliability, i.e. its being able to operate continuously, its compatibility, i.e. the possibility of passing from one version to another without any problems, and its compactness. In fact, the supervisor has smaller dimensions than the other SCADA on the market and uses very few operating system modules. With Super-Flash it has therefore always been possible to make PC-based human-machine interfaces (HMI) which are compact and work perfectly 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Unfortunately, the wear on mechanical parts of the hardware (hard disk and fan) did not allow these applications to be used for all types of devices and plants. Thanks to new technologies, it is now possible to find industrial diskless and fanless PCs on the market, which have eliminated the mechanical parts in favour of electronic ones, which naturally last longer. These new PCs, together with Windows XP/E operating system and Super-Flash, are the solution for making reliable and flexible embedded systems.

Technological evolution now makes a great novelty available: the possibility, at last, of making PC-based HMIs reliable and advantageous. In fact, the market proposes numerous types of embedded PCs which are the most suitable basic hardware for making highly competitive HMI solutions, with the same operating continuity as the operator panels but with greater flexibility. In fact, on the one side these new PCs have a very high “Availability time (MTBF-Mean Time Between Failure)”, since, compared to normal PCs, the mechanical parts (disk and fan) – the major cause of faults - have been eliminated. On the other, they are highly flexible as they are systems open to communication, both with numerous devices towards the field and with the MES level. Furthermore, thanks to powerful and economical compact-flashes being available on the market, they have an extendible memory. The present embedded, diskless, fanless and touch-screen PCs, together with the XP/E Operating System, therefore make it possible to combine the reliability of classic operator panels with the flexibility of PCs. And all this comes at extremely favourablecosts! Thanks to its extreme compactness and its being able to work 24 hours a day 7 days a week, Super-Flash is the ideal completion item for these embedded solutions.

Windows XP/E is the ideal operating system for supporting PC-based HMIs in industrial environments. Compared with other platforms, it eliminates the problem of compatibility between desktop and embedded solutions at the roots: the applications do not have to pass from one environment to another, but use Windows XP as the sole system. In its complete version, XP/E is the same as XP with some extra performances which make it very reliable and flexible. The feature which makes it stand out is its being highly configurable. This means that the user will have a made-to-measure operating system and with smaller dimensions, made up of just the modules it requires. Among the new performances, there is the possibility of disabling the shutdown procedure without the risk of losing information or ruining files of the operating system when the PC suddenly turns off. Moreover, it can be completely concealed: in fact, it is possible to configure the system so that the HMI application starts directly without any product screens being displayed. It also supports boots from flash memory or from other removable supports, so that it can be installed in any situation in industrial environments. Thanks to its record-setting reliability and its extreme compactness Super-Flash is the most suitable development system for embedded solutions which use XP/E: it does, in fact, have smaller dimensions (it takes up little memory space) and above all uses very few operating system modules.

To bring its users closer to the world of embedded solutions and to help them understand their possibilities and potentials, Automa is organising, over the next months, some training/information sessions for all those who “want to learn more”. As in the past, we want to give our customers the possibility of getting to know and appreciate the novelties proposed by the market. For the embedded systems in particular, we should like to become their reference point, offering training, support and consultancy. For further information about the embedded solutions and the initiatives we are organising, please contact us directly on 035.32.33.911 or by e-mail to sales@automa.it.

Patch 1 of Super-Flash 3.9, which eliminates a few errors found in the new version, is available in the Download section on the Automa site. Customers who have a Royalty-Free licence can access the Download page protected by a password; those who have a Runtime licence or who are assessing the product, can freely access the FreeDownload page from which the supervisor and Patch 1 can be downloaded free of charge.

The “Updating is Better” initiative aimed at customers who have an old version of Super-Flash Royalty-Free has ended successfully. The important novelties of version 3.9, among which those regarding data collection, were an excellent reason for those the promotion was reserved for to take part enthusiastically.
Should anyone not have received the message, please do not hesitate to contact us on 035.32.33.911.

Soon the complete documentation on SmartDB – the product which allows a Super-Flash application to connect up in reading and writing to the databases - will be available on our site. The new manual will provide excellent support both for those who already know the product and for those who want to start to use it.

One of the characteristics of the EPS – MES level applications is their being strongly tailored to the existing production situation. The use of standard software products is often not enough to fulfil the needs of the end customer and it therefore becomes necessary to develop ad hoc systems. Automa takes this requirement into account and for the MES level proposes open-ended software packages, which can be highly personalised and integrated. In particular, MainteX is available for management of preventive and extraordinary maintenance, which is one of the typical functionalities of MES systems. Two characteristics make this software unique: the possibility of its interfacing directly with machines and plants and the optional supply of the sources in Visual Basic. MainteX therefore becomes a product which can be integrated perfectly into the other levels of the information system since it takes the data directly from the field and, thanks to the availability of the sources, is a product open towards any device and software application. Added to this, by being fully personalisable and not having any limits for future developments, it allows adaptation to all types of plants and production processes, but above all satisfies the customer’s most specific requirements. Supply of MainteX with the sources has different types of licences for Solution Providers, Manufacturers or End Users. For further information about the software and the sales strategy, you can contact us at sales@automa.it or directly on 035.32.33.911.

Since we want to be available for our customers at all times, this year the summer closing period for our technical assistance and the other Automa offices will be very short: from Monday 14th to Friday 26th August. The main reason why we have decided to reduce our team’s holiday period is to be “closer” to those customers who, during the month of August, work on the plants and might need technical and/or sales support. We would like to remind you that our technicians are available to everybody free of charge every Tuesday and Thursday morning, from 9:30 a.m. to midday. On the other hand, if you want to be able to consult them every day from Monday to Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to midday and from 3 to 6 p.m., this is possible by signing a contract, which can either be annual or can last just for a short period. In fact, we realise that assistance can be needed more at some times and less at others. For example, when learning to use the supervisor, when making a special application, when something rather urgent is in hand, or when there is the need to install the application made on the plant, many customers feel the need to have the support of our technicians available at all times, whereas at other “quieter” times the free assistance is sufficient help to continue to work efficaciously. The assistance contract can be activated at any time and start from any date. But that’s not all, if you need assistance for a period other than those covered by our Price List, this is not a problem! Simply contact our sales@automa.it and you will receive a personalised offer!

The new Price List, valid from July 2006, is now available for all Automa products: those in the Supervisione Libera line, the Coomunication Tools family of drivers, MainteX, etc. The choice of having a single reference document where information and sales proposals for all our software packages can be found is highly appreciated by our customers and is therefore once again confirmed. The new price list includes the 3.9 version of Super-Flash which offers numerous innovative functionalities for users. This version achieves an initial notable objective of an important and diversified Development Plan, which, in the months to come, will lead to realisation of further releases. In view of the great success obtained, the commercial strategy whereby MicroC is integrated in Super-Flash and proposed in a single solution is again confirmed, both for the Runtime (development system free of charge) and for the Royalty-Free (no royalties on the applications) formulas. Should you wish to receive the new price list and/or receive further commercial information about the supervisor and all the other Automa products, you can contact our sales staff via e-mail at sales@automa.it or directly on 035.32.33.911.

Super-Flash is often chosen as the Development System to make applications requiring high reliability, especially in plants operating 7 days a week, round the clock. For this reason, it is widespread in the food sector where there are delicate production processes and a high number of parameters to be kept under strict control (temperature, humidity, pressure, quantities, etc.) in orderto guarantee a safe and high quality product. Companies such as Maina and Novi-Elah-Dufour chose it to supervise their production plants, for making panettone (Italian Christmas cake) and chocolate respectively. Particularly at Novi, the supervision system, made by Giovanni Lagni, a professional from Mantua, controls the whole delicate stage of preparing the tasty Novi chocolate bars and the delicious Gianduiotti (Gianduia chocolate). Two applications have been made using our Development System for a total of more than 100 pages! To learn more about the largest Gianduiotto in the world, about the process for preparing the famous Novi chocolate, as well as the automation system made by Lagni, you may like to read the “Delicious Super… visions” article.

Attention! In the Download section of the Automa site, it is already possible to download Super-Flash 3.9 – the revolutionary version of the Development System with lots and lots of novelties. For those customers who have a Royalty-Free licence, it is possible to access the Download page protected by a password. For those who have a Runtime licence or who are evaluating the product, it is possible to freely access the FreeDownload page ,from where you can download the supervisor free of charge.

ErreUno, our distributor for the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Piacenza and Cremona, has made a new and interesting web site available for its users, where you can find a lot of information about the products and services offered. Take a “trip” to www.erre1.it!

The offer of XP Embedded on the market opens numerous new possibilities for Super-Flash users. In fact, our Development System is, by nature, compact and combines well with “modular” systems. Automa proposes itself as a point of reference for those customers who want to learn more and start to work with XP Embedded.

Communication among the different levels of information systems is nowadays a widespread and highly felt need in all industrial sectors. The first step to achieving effective integration is to operate so that the on-board machine software can exchange the information useful for MES applications with the databases. Automa puts SmartDB at its customers’ disposal. This is a product which allows a Super-Flash application to access a database to write and read data. One of the greatest plus points of the product is its capability of exchanging information with 80% of the databases present on the market, because it follows Microsoft’s ODBC and OLE DB standard and allows execution of SQL commands.


The product is available in the Royalty-Free and Runtime sales formulas. After having purchased the package, those who choose SmartDB Royalty-Free can use it for an unlimited number of applications. On the other hand, those who prefer the Runtime formula, buy the licence for a single application. Thanks to this sales proposal our customers do not take any investment risks since only the number of licences needed at a certain time is purchased. SmartDB solves the first important aspect of communication with databases: the one regarding connection. But Automa has also thought of the synchronisation aspects, making the Event Management module integrated in Super-Flash available, as well as data structuring, proposing both products like WAM (to display historical and real time alarms on the web) and its own experience in this field.Those who would like more information about this can download the draft of the “Product Profile” or ask for SmartDB on trial from our sales staff (sales@automa.it). For those interested in going into the subject in greater detail, Automa is organising courses on SmartDB and on SQL language in June and July.

Maintenance has become a strategic lever for increasing production capacity of plants and making them more efficient. For this reason, those who see to automation are increasingly asked to develop systems able to offer functions typical of maintenance. To satisfy these requirements, Automa has for some time made MainteX - software for managing preventive and extraordinary maintenance, available. Unlike most of the systems available on the market, this is extremely operative and has been designed thinking of the maintenance technician as the user. The plus features of the product are its being easy and simple to use. In addition, there is a particularity which comes from Automa’s twenty-years’ experience as a producer of software for industrial automation: the possibility of interfacing MainteX directly with machines and plants to collect the data from the field. This means the maintenance technician does not have to do an extra job to obtain the information needed for good operation of the system. In this way, both the time needed for data collection and transcription errors are reduced. Apart from being highly innovative, MainteX is also economical: in the Express version it only costs € 199.00. But that’s not all! It can also be fully personalised because it can be supplied with the sources. In this way even those who have specific requirements can make use of the advantages provided by MainteX and at the same time have a unique and made-to-measure product. To assess the product, it is possible to download a DEMO version from the www.maintex.it site, where a lot of information is available on the general subject of maintenance and on the software. For those interested in going into the subject in greater detail, Automa organises courses which deal with in-depth operation of the productand the subject of maintenance in general.

Since the beginning of the year, Automa has made numerous novelties available to its customers: integration of the MicroC compiler in Super-Flash; the SmartDB product and the Event Management module for communicating with databases and interfacing with the MES applications; the new version of Super-Flash and the new development plan for the next releases, etc. These novelties provide great added value for those who use the supervisor in terms of reducing the application development time, making integration with the higher levels of information systems easier and increasing the power and possibilities of the Development System. To give everyone the chance to make the most of the novelties, during the first few months of the year Automa organised “the Training & Information Initiative”: a series of courses and presentations to explain in detail how the various products operate. The initiative met with great success: this can be seen by the positive assessments in the questionnaires filled in by the numerous participants – more than 100, together with the fact that many people decided to enrol in several events. In fact, our customers considered it important to learn and take on the competences which help them to fulfil the needs of their users and therefore to become more competitive. In view of the high number of requests, and even though the initiative is now over, we have decided to continue training relative to databases with some courses on SmartDB and Event Management and with the new event on the SQL language. To learn more, please contact our sales staff at sales@automa.it or directly on 035.32.33.911

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Event Description Date Database and SQL language course The course has the objective of providing some general elements regarding databases and basic knowledge of the SQL language. Knowing the SQL language can allow Super-Flash programmers great capabilities of interaction with the major databases Super-Flash 20/07/2006 SmartDB and Event Management Course This course makes it possible to learn how to make the Super-Flash applications able to read and write database tables. You are also taught how to use the new Event Management which allows simple synchronisation between the HMI applications and those for data collection or production management 05/07/2006

To make a good supervision system, a technician usually has two possibilities: to purchase all the system components (hardware and software) from a single large company, or to go to many different suppliers to obtain the individual parts. The former solution means being able to have a single contact person, who can be consulted for information and assistance with the whole system. On the other hand, the latter one has the advantage of supplying high quality components, as these are offered by companies whose core-business is making that specific component (SCADA, PC, Operator Panel, PLC, etc.) To give its customers both these advantages, Automa continues to personally see to producing highly reliable pieces of software and, at the same time, looks for partnerships with some hardware suppliers (operator panels, PC, etc.) to be able to offer integrated solutions. One of these collaborations already up and running is the one with Panel SRL, a company in Emilia which builds high quality PCs for the industrial sector for more than ten years. Many customers have already successfully tried and certified operation of Super-Flash with the new series of Panel’s embedded PCs. High reliability is guaranteed by the diskless and funless architecture combined with the Embedded XP operating systems (Linux, Win 2000 and XP and DOS are also available).

Last May, BTB Transfer SRL opened the doors of its new premises to more than 150 Italian and foreign customers to show them how the company was growing and to present the brand-new high yield multi-centre transfer machines. To give their machines added value, BTB has enriched them with our software (Super-Flash, MicroC, SmartDB, WAM, and MainteX). Automa is often called on by its customers to be a partner in making complex systems aimed at giving the end customer added value.

After a year of hard work, continually at the service of customers from Monday to Friday, our assistance technicians will be taking a short break from 14th to 25th August to recharge their batteries and be ready from Monday 28th August on to solve problems, clear up any doubts, satisfy curiosity and find solutions ...

By mid June, Super-Flash 3.9 will be available, in the Runtime and Royalty-Free formulas. The new issue is the first in a series of releases which aim at improving the product following guidelines defined on the basis of a very great many indications (more than 500) from users. One of Automa’s main objectives is to identify and eliminate behaviour models in using the development system which are not spontaneous and force the user to pay excessive attention. We then thought of heavily investing in the product’s intrinsic characteristics in order to provide the instruments for drastically reducing the development time of an application, to improve the supervisor’s flexibility and power and to increase its capacity as a data server. Then integration with the EPS/MES level is essential. In this version, we already make all the instruments available for exchanging information efficiently with the databases, dealing with all aspects of communication: connection (with the SmartDB product), synchronisation (with the Event Management module integrated in Super-Flash) and data structuring to find the information needed by the customer and make it available (for example with WAM - a web application for displaying the historical alarms and real time). Another important subject is the one regarding the FDA standards, already applied in some sectors, among which the pharmaceutical one, but soon to be applied in others as well, such as the food sector; Automa’s aim is to create a development system which further facilitates making applications which are 21 CFR part 11 compatible. The overall picture of the guidelines is completed with versions which are more “Windows-like” being produced. To learn about all the novelties of the 3.9 version, you can download the preliminary “Super-Flash 3.9” document, where all the new features of the product are listed and explained.

Super-Flash goes back a long way. Born more than 15 years ago, it was one of the first SCADA HMI packages on the market. Growing constantly it has, however, always kept some basic characteristics which have made it stand out since 1989: reliability, i.e. being able to operate at all times, and compatibility, i.e. the possibility of passing from one version to another without any problems. In fact, even today, there are still numerous applications made, for example, with the 1.91 version, reaching back to the beginning of the ‘90s, and which work perfectly 7 days a week round the clock, but which must unfortunately be replaced because they use the DOS operating system, which is difficult to buy with new PCs. Therefore, when the PC is replaced, these applications must be able to work in Windows, something which is easy to do with Super-Flash since it keeps its compatibility with the previous versions. The Development System has grown over the past 10 years, taking on important values, such as that of integration, power and internationalisation. Nowadays Super-Flash is fitted with more than 70 drivers to be able to communicate with most of the devices towards the field and is perfectly able to communicate with the EPS/MES level as well, thanks to its ability to exchange information efficiently with databases (SmartDB, Event Management and WAM). To make the supervisor more powerful, MicroC, a sub-set of the C language, fitted with an efficient multitasking Runtime engine, was created to extend the potentiality of the product to 360°. Today MicroC is completely integrated in Super-Flash and is therefore available to all users. The possibility of having the Development System in three languages (Italian, English and German), with 11 different dictionaries available for the applications, and with the possibility of changing language at runtime, means the development system is international. But the evolution ... doesn’t end there!

Within the more general strategy of increasing their own competitiveness, one of the levers which all companies have to pay attention to using today is reduction of costs. For this reason, apart from improving Super-Flash in terms of effectiveness and efficiency, Automa also proposes the Development System and all the other products in the Supervisione Libera line with two complementary sales formulas, both of which are extremely competitive: Runtime and Royalty-Free. For example, if you choose Super-Flash Royalty-Free, you purchase the Development System and then there is no licence cost for the applications made. Free of charge, MicroC, the powerful C language compiler, is also available inside the package and fully integrated in the supervisor, which extends the potentiality of the Development System to 360°. On the other hand, with Super-Flash Runtime, it is immediately possible to download the Development System at zero cost from the Automa web site, and this will also have the compiler inside it. At a later date, you can purchased the keys (hardware and software) needed for operation of the applications made (without the key the application run only 15 minutes each time). It is therefore possible to assess the product free of charge and start to develop the initial applications, which can also be very complex ones with MicroC. Thanks to this sales proposal, our customers do not take any investment risks. Only the number of keys needed at a certain time are purchased. In this way there will be two types of licence, according to the tools used to create the application: Super-Flash key or Super-Flash + MicroC key. The size of the key also differs according to the number of variables and alarms required – you can decide about this after having developed the application. And that’s to say nothing of the extremely low cost: from € 450.00 to 1,790.00, which can be further reduced depending on the number of keys purchased. Obtaining the price list for Super-Flash and all the other Automa products is very easy: simply ask for it at sales@automa.it: we will send it to you promptly.

Do you want to know the potentials of Super-Flash ? Do you want to know more about the sales formula most suited to your needs? Or do you want to go into the characteristics of the product in detail? Automa makes numerous tools available to start to get to know and/or assess whether our Development System is the one which satisfies your needs best. First of all our web site, where you can find the list and description of all our products and services (Products section). Then the Brochure can be downloaded from the Super-Flash page,which makes it possible to understand what the potentials and characteristics of the supervisor are. At this point all you have to do is download the product from the FreeDownload pages and, with the help of the “Getting Started”, start to make your first application. And when all this is still not enough to satisfy your curiosityand clear up all your doubts, our technical and sales staff are at your disposal both by telephone on 035.32.33.911, and either personally or through one of our distributors, for a presentation of the product and its potentials, either at Automa’s offices or at yours.

Automa has been building up Super-Flash Solution Providers for about two years. These are a group of particularly qualified customers who Automa recommends for those who want to develop a supervision system. The list of these companies can be found on the Super-Flash Solution Provider page of our site. Just think … in less than two years more than 8,000 users have visited their sites starting from this page! Those interested in becoming part of the “Super-Flash Solution Provider” team can contact our sales staff on 035.32.33.911 or via e-mail at sales@automa.it.

In less than 4 years, a very great manyproducts have been downloaded from the FreeDownload page of our site, with a number which exceeds 20,000 downloads. This important result shows us the interest users have in our software. We should like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for the faith they have put in us and to remind them of our willingness to organise basic, advanced and/or personalised courses on our products.

The "Training & Information" initiative, commenced at the end of February at Automa, covers organising a series of events (courses and presentations) regarding the numerous novelties we have made available since the beginning of the year: integration of the MicroC compiler in Super-Flash; the SmartDB product and the Event Management module to communicate with the databases and interface with the MES applications; the new development plan for the next versions of Super-Flash, etc. The initiative has met with great success: this is proved by the positive assessments of the questionnaires filled in by the people taking part and by the fact that many people decided to enrol in more than one event. In fact, our customers felt that it was important to learn about and take in competences which help them to fulfil the needs of their users and therefore to become more competitive. The low-cost formula provided a further incentive to allow everybody to acquire this knowledge. In view of the large number of requests, the initiative is going to carry on in the month of May as well, with the events described in the table. But that's not all! On request, we are thinking of planning some basic courses centred round the databases and the SQL language. For further information, please contact our sales staff at sales@automa.it or directly by phone on 035.32.33.911.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Date Type of event Description Cost 4/05/2006 Presentation of the development plan of the new versions of Super-Flash Apart from hearing about what Automa is preparing for the next versions of Super-Flash, during these events there is also space to present your own requests or to illustrate your criticisms Free 9/05/2006 Basic course on Super-Flash Ideal for training new personnel in the use of Super-Flash 95.00 €/pers. To be defined Basic course on MicroC Ideal for training new personnel in the use of MicroC in Super-Flash environment 95.00 €/pers. To be defined Advanced course on MicroC The potentials of MicroC are not always fully known. This course often helps you to discover really powerful and interesting possibilities 95.00 €/pers. To be defined Course on SmartDB and Event Management During this course it is possible to learn to work so that the Super-Flash applications can read and write database tables. It is also shown how to use the new Event Management which allows simple synchronisation between the HMI applications and those of the data collection or of production management 95.00 €/pers.

One of the solutions which has stirred up great interest in numerous people attending the courses and presentations (which Automa has been organising since the end of February), is WAM, a web application, available at the address www.sfwam.it, capable of displaying real-time and historical alarms, taken directly from the field. Thanks to WAM, the operator is no longer obliged to stay on-board the machine to know the state of the plant, but can do this remotely thereby having the possibility of controlling several plants worldwide at the same time. But that is not all - if the application were also visible to the maintenance technician, he would immediately know if and when he needs to intervene. In order to make users' work easier and to make sure that the information always reaches them, the WAM interface has also been designed to be displayed efficiently on devices such as PDA, Pocket PC, UMTS telephones, connected to the network in WiFi mode. WAM is open software, supplied with the ASP sources and with a Royalty-Free licence, so as to be adaptable to each customer's needs. In fact, it is fully personalisable, for example with information about production, lots traceability data, scheduling, etc. to be of help not only to operators and maintenance personnel, but also to the person in charge of production. Apart from assistance with the product, Automa makes itself available for training users and making them independent in maintaining and developing the application or, as a consultant, to help them to reduce the time-to-market of making a personalised solution. Then there is also the possibility of renting a web space and a database on our servers to start using the product right away. From today our application can be seen and assessed and its advantages understood at www.sfwam.it. And, as an old Chinese saying goes ... a picture is worth more than 5000 words!

Automa has always put communication at the core of its business, and therefore integration between the various levels of the information systems. In fact, we realise that, now more than ever before, no software application is worth anything unless it is able to exchange information with other software or hardware devices. For this reason our Development System has more than 70 drivers and numerous solutions (consisting of hardware and software) to communicate with the field. Apart from making the Super-Flash applications communicate with the plant, it is also possible to exchange information with the EPS/MES level, thanks to products such as SmartDB and Dolphin. Integration of Super-Flash with the other information system levels is thus completed. And what about those who develop applications in Visual Basic and Visual C++? We have thought of them, too, making a whole line of products available to them - the Communication Tools, to make Windows applications communicate with the field. But Automa does not only offer products, but also its twenty-year competency in the complex world of communication, such as providing support in selecting the best standard solution available, or in responding to specific requirements with ad hoc software. To get a taste of this ... download the "Super-Flash AND Siemens MPI" leaflet which illustrates different ways to make a Super-Flash application communicate with Siemens PLC S7 in MPI.

Since last March, Automa has a new distributor for Emilia. The ErreUno company is the new reference point for all the customers in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Piacenza and Cremona. It takes over from Azzali Elettronica, who we thank for the many years of precious collaboration. Automa is aware that, apart from keeping users updated with AutomaNews, the web site, articles on magazines, etc., it is important to have direct contact with their customers and to give them a reference point "close to home". For this reason we have entrusted Roberto Riccardi, owner of the ErreUno company with this task. Thanks to his twenty-year technical experience in the field of process automation and data acquisition, apart from dealing with sales, Riccardi is able to provide customer support in finding the most suitable solutions to satisfy their needs. For those who would like to have the new reference points, you can visit the Distributors Page on the Automa site.

To make its machines even more competitive, BTB Transfer SRL has decided to draw up a partnership with Automa, which will supply the competences and products (Super-Flash, MicroC, SmartDB, WAM, SendSMS, M-Box and MainteX) to facilitate integration between the software applications of the Transfer machines and the other levels of the company information systems of the end-customers. The first opportunity to see and “test” the outcome of this collaboration is "Open House 2006", an event which will be held from 15th to 18th May at the new BTB head office, where various extremely innovative plants will be presented andit will be possible to see these during the processing stages.

The Corporate Users page of the Automa site has been updated with a considerable number of companies in recent months. In fact, Automa products are now increasingly widespread both in Italy and abroad. Are you customers of ours, but don't yet appear on the references page? Let us know at sales@automa.it and you will soon be put on it.

Even without enablement of the licence, the Runtime formula allows SmartDB to be used in DEMO mode for a limited period of 15 minutes of continuous operation. This product can be requested from our sales staff via e-mail at sales@automa.it or directlyon 035.32.33.911.

When you buy a piece of software, you don't just buy a “commodity”, but a Product System, consisting of the commodity itself and of the services associated with it. Apart from finding the product with the best quality/price ratio, it is therefore necessary to analyse the characteristics of the services and the soundness of the company supplying them. In fact, when you select a piece of software you also choose a partner. But what are the qualities a partner should have? First of all availability. How many times have you found it almost impossible to speak to the supplier when you need to contact them to obtain further information or assistance once you have purchased a product or signed a contract, except after endless waits and repeated attempts? Apart from being available, a good partner takes “care” of their customers, for example by making some intermediaries between them and the company available, so that the customer is followed up by the same person until their request has been fulfilled and they are not obliged to repeat their problem hundreds of times before the right person listens to them. Then there must always be flexibility and a dynamic attitude in order to respond timely to the various requests.A very important strong point of a good partner is being, as Automa is, producer of their own software. Who better than the developers is more competent in giving support on their own “creation”? Furthermore, since there is a direct user-producer contact, the software is developed on the basis of customers' actual needs, expressed directly to the producer without passing through intermediaries.

One of Automa's main characteristics is always being available to help users satisfy their needs. This availability is the fruit both of our policy of paying attention to our customers which we constantly pursue, and above all of the fact that we understand and share the importance of having support at the right time. When this availability is also associated with competency, it becomes a high added value for the customer. Furthermore, by producing its own software, Automa has top knowledge and skill in using the products developed by its technicians. To obtain some help, or perhaps just an opinion, Automa makes various different services available. First and foremost, technical assistance, given by the developers of the software themselves, to solve problems, satisfy any curiosity, find the right solutions, etc. Then there are the training courses, both at basic level, for those who are starting to learn to use our products, and at advanced level, for those who already know them, but want to exploit all their potentials to the full. Finally, there is the consultation service we give to customers with specific and particular requests, such as those linked with integration. Do you have a requirement but don't know how to fulfil it? Share it with us …..strength lies in unity!

In an increasingly competitive and globalised context, where you have numerous alternatives to choose from for every product and/or service, it becomes indispensable to make yourself known. In fact, there is no point in having a good product/service if potential customers don't know that it's available.But making your offer known on the market is not enough, above all you have to make it unforgettable, unique and interesting. Exploiting the added value which the “made in Italy” mark gives is certainly a good way to characterise it. The Italian automation solutions are, in fact, among the best in the world and are especially appreciated for their innovative, flexible and ingenious characteristics. Automa agrees with and sponsors this “made in Italy” and wants to bring out the great added value an Italian company can give in terms of quality, competitiveness and the capacity to make non-standard systems, both in our own country and abroad. For this reason we have thought of creating services to increase the visibility of those who deal with automation here in Italy and abroad. For example, we offer the possibility for companies of being listed in the Partner Section of our internet site, as well as of editing and publishing articles on systems made by our customers free of charge: talking about a concrete success story is, in fact, worth much more than speaking abstractly about the competence of a company and the characteristics of a product!

In today's information society, and especially in the world of informatics and automation, it is increasingly difficult to keep constantly up to date on current trends, on “forthcoming” technologies, on products marketed, etc. Being up-to-date is important for those who want to be competitive, even if this takes up a lot of time. And it is exactly to save time that Automa, which keeps itself constantly informed about changes and transformations occurring with regard to its core business, offers to keep its customers up to date. Thanks to the monthly AutomaNews, more than 2000 people already use this service which points out all the novelties about the company and regarding the world of automation and the MES level. Furthermore, three of four times a year we send out “specials” which allow an initial in-depth insight into specific subjects.For those who want to have a broader idea of market trends and/or want to let us know their specific requirements, we are at disposal for meetings and presentations.

When you buy software it is a good idea to make sure that the supplier company also offers the services linked to protection or activation of the licence. In fact, the software normally works thanks to a hardware protection/activation key or by means of an access code. The first device allows the product to be installed on any PC - all that is needed is for it to be fitted with a port to insert the key into. On the other hand, the second one is linked to the computer where the programme is installed. What happens if the protection key or the PC with the access code is faulty? In these cases, Automa provides a repair or replacement service of the protection device of its products. This type of service is fairly widespread among companies producing software. But when, instead of a fault, you find yourself up against a case of theft or loss, the software houses cannot “replace” the licence purchased because replacement foresees getting the old licence back in exchange for a new one, whereas following a theft or loss, the old licence is still operative and in circulation. Management of these events is usually left up to the customer, who may possibly see to taking out their own insurance for their “software licence” asset.Noting that insurance companies are unprepared on the matter of managing these cases and so as not to leave the customer in a difficult situation, Automa has thought up a service for a “guarantee against theft/loss”, which covers releasing a new licence and delivery to Automa of the old one, in the case where this is found again.

In view of the high number of participants at the events which illustrate the numerous and significant novelties for Super-Flash customers, the low-cost courses and free presentations will continue throughout the month of April as well. To know the details, dates and availability of one or more events, you can visit the Promotions page of the Automa site or contact our sales staff either by means of an e-mail to sales@automa.it or directly by telephone on 035.32.33.911.

When an HMI application is asked to provide information at higher levels of the information systems, it is forced to carry out an extra function in relation to its main task of supporting the operator and monitoring the production process. Since this process must go aheadregardless of delivery of the data collected, the HMI may produce information which it is not able to “dispose of” immediately due to the receiver (either absent or in any case “slower”) not being available. This means having to manage “queues of data” to be sent or choosing to overwrite, and therefore lose, the information which has not yet been communicated. The ideal thing would be to have someone able to receive the data at all times, as they are produced, and therefore not to have to worry about how and when to send them. The Event Management module, present in the forthcoming version of Super-Flash, will make a store available, to which the application can access continually, inserting data. These data, kept in a controlled and secure way, can be communicated to a database and to other tasks at a later time, using different times and methods according to the requirements of the higher levels of the information systems. In order to explain how Event Management works - already available for those who purchase a SmartDB licence - we have organised a series of events: some presentations of the new version of the Development System, for those who want to understand the potentials and characteristics in general of Event Management and of the other Super-Flash novelties, and some “SmartDB and Event Management” courses, for people who want to learn in detail how to implement effective integration.

2006 has started with numerous and significant novelties for Super-Flash customers. First of all, the project for a new and very important version of the Development System has taken off. Then, starting from this year, MicroC becomes an integral part of the Super-Flash standard equipment, both for the Royalty-Free formula and for the Runtime one. To provide the possibility of using the compiler straightaway and to get to know the other innovative products in the world of Supervisione Libera, such as those for data collection and communication with the databases, we have organised a series of events between February and March. This intense programme covers:

1. Free presentations of Super-Flash, where all the novelties present in the forthcoming version of the Development System will be illustrated
2. Basic MicroC courses, to learn how to use our ingenious C language compiler, which extends the potentials of the supervisor
3. Advanced MicroC courses, to be able to make the most of even the most complex functions of powerful MicroC
4. SmartDB and Event Management courses, to understand how simple it is, with Super-Flash, to collect data and manage communication with the databases
5. Super-Flash refresher courses (from 3.2/3.3 to 3.8), to give those who are not up-to- date or who have accepted the “old version licence update: 2 for the price of 1” promotion, the possibility of knowing how our Development System has greatly improved and of learning its numerous new functions
6. Basic Super-Flash courses for those who want to learn and use our supervisor

The events, which will each last about 3-4 hours, will be held in the course room at our head office in Gorle (BG - Italy), which encourages direct contact with all the staff at Automa and makes it possible for us to deal with any "off-the-agenda" requests.
LOOK AT THE COST! The courses described above will be organised using the new low-cost formula: only € 95,00+ VAT for each participant, to give everybody, but really everybody, the possibility of making the most of the advantages offered by using our products. To know the dates and availability of one or more of the events, you can contact the Automa sales staff by e-mail at sales@automa.it or phone directly on 035.32.33.911.

Automa always pays great attention to its customers' needs, and that is why the services they offer feature a high level of flexibility. Let's have a look at the telephone help line, for example. Our technicians are available free of charge every Tuesday and Thursday morning, from 9.30 a.m. to midday. To access the service, simply fill in a Request Form on our site and you will automatically be entered into our database. On the other hand, if you want to consult the technicians every day from Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to midday and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., is it possible to sign a contract. This contract can either be an annual one or last for just a short period (2, 6 or 10 months). We have, in fact, realised that assistance may be needed more at some times and less at others. For example, when you are learning to use the supervisor, are making a particular application or are in rather a hurry, or when you have to install the application developed on the plant, many customers consider it necessary to have the support of our technicians available at all times, whereas at other "quieter" moments, the free assistance service provides sufficient help to continue working efficiently.
The assistance contract can be activated at any time and start from any date. But that's not all - should you need assistance for a period other than those foreseen in out Price List, there's no problem! Just contact our sales staff and you will receive a customised offer!

Last November, together with the 'Automazione Oggi' magazine, the “SCADA Showcase” came out – a guide offering a complete overview of the Development Systems in Italy. Choosing a SCADA is an important moment for a company, both in terms of economic investment and of learning time. For this reason, the market offer must be carefully assessed to find the software which is most suited to your own requirements. To do this, it is necessary to have as much information as possible about each product and then to compare them. The SCADA Showcase is a useful tool for starting to do this! It's a tradition for the cover of this guide to be dedicated to Super-Flash. In fact, Automa not only fully shares in the initiative which makes users' choices easier, but also sponsors it. For those who have lost the guide and want to receive another one, simply ask for it directly from our sales staff at sales@automa.it or you can consult the web site www.ilb2b.it on the “Le guide di Automazione Oggi” (The Automazione Oggi Guides) Italian page, where it will be available in a short time.

It's available now! You can download the new Super-Flash 3.8 Service Pack 3, which also contains MicroC 2.2 Runtime, free of charge on the Automa site, from the FreeDownload page.

After having made the Development System international, we want to continue along the route to improving the product by enriching Super-Flash with new functions. A careful analysis, taking into account the needs expressed by our customers and market trends, has led to defining the guidelines for the project. With THE new version, and the ones to follow, we shall aim at further reducing the development time of an application, making the supervisor even more intuitive and inserting work tools (e.g. libraries of ready-to-use objects and images). Improvements in flexibility and power, the capacity to act as a data and application server and compatibility with the 21 CFR part 11 standards are other novelties which we shall shortly be making available. One of the most important performances of Super-Flash, which will give our customers a high added value, is insertion, in the new version, of event management, with a view to further widening the possibilities of connection towards the EPS/MES level. As you can imagine, there are going to be lots of novelties. To explain them in detail, we have organised some free presentations which will help users to get a precise idea of the potentials of the Development System. Those who are interested in taking part can ask for the dates and information by sending an e-mail to sales@automa.it or by phoning us directly on 035.32.33.911.

Communication between the various levels of information systems is a widespread and highly felt need these days. The information coming from the field must be made available to production and maintenance to make use of the plants increasingly efficient. Just putting the two "worlds" into communication with each other is not, however, enough to manage data passage effectively. Above all, they need to be synchronised: in fact, the two levels travel at different speeds and the higher one does not always manage to acquire data at the same speed as the field.But there is more: not all the data have to be transferred, but only the significant ones. This is why it is necessary to unbind their collection from their archiving. To help users in the difficult task of passing on the information, in its new version Super-Flash will put "Event Management" at disposal, which is already available to those who have a SmartDB licence. In fact, the supervisor will be able to create a secure queue of events which will then be inserted in a database or sent to other tasks. The advantages of this performance are obvious: the user will be able to manage an unlimited number of events easily and safely with great savings in time, not only for implementing this functionality, but also for system maintenance. Would you like to know more about Event Management with Super-Flash? Take part in the presentations on the new version! To know where and when, just write an e-mail to our sales staff (sales@automa.it) or telephone on 035.32.33.911.

Starting from this year, there are lots of novelties for Royalty-Free customers. By updating just the Super-Flash licence you will also receive MicroC, the great C language compiler which extends the potential of the Development System. You will therefore find two products in a single package to have an ever more powerful supervisor. There are numerous advantages for those who sign the new updating contract: first of all, you will have the possibility of updating Super-Flash to the 3.8 version Service Pack 2 and keep it updated for the whole of 2006. Then, for each Super-Flash licence you will also receive a MicroC 2.1 licence free of charge and will be able to keep it updated for the whole year. Attention! February will be the month for training on MicroC, to give everyone the possibility of using the many functions of the compiler. To find out the prices and discounts, just consult the new Supervisione Libera Price List.
It's very easy to ask for it - simply send an e-mail to our sales staff (sales@automa.it).

The Runtime sales formula came to life a few years ago to help our customers in their need to limit heavy investments and to only have to face costs when there are opportunities to make a profit. In fact, with the new proposal you can start to use the Development System free of charge, making the applications and, only when the application is installed on the plant, purchase a key/licence. In 2006 we want to go further. Not only is the supervisor at zero cost, but MicroC has become Runtime too! In a short time, apart from the Development System, you will be able also to download the C language compiler, which extends the potentials of Super-Flash, free of charge from the Automa site on the FreeDownload page. This means you will be able to make much more complex applications. Only when the application is ready will it be necessary to purchase a key in order to make it run beyond the test period (15 minutes each time). So there will be two types of licence, according to the tools used to create the application: Super-Flash key or Super-Flash + MicroC key. To find out about all the advantages this new proposal provides, just ask our sales staff for the Supervisione Libera Price List via e-mail to sales@automa.it or directly by phoning 035.32.33.911.

Thanks to Automa's new sales strategy, all our Super-Flash customers will also have MicroC available to them. But what are the numerous features which make the compiler very powerful? To be able to use the product at its best and exploit its many potentials, Automa is organising some courses on MicroC each week in February. To find out the dates and availability, please contact our sales staff by telephone on 035.32.33.911.

The new 2006 Supervisione Libera and the other Automa products Price List is already available, and in it you can find all the novelties Automa proposes for the new year. It's really simple to get: just send an e-mail requesting it to our sales staff (sales@automa.it)