IEN - January 2009 - (Page 32)

IEN / JANUARY ’09 pAGE 32 IEN’s WebReviews: Sensors Welcome to IEN’s WebReviews, formerly OnSite. We’ve made the ratings areas easier to understand using a simplified ratings chart and assigning a clear overall percentage rating by site. A different product or market segment will be reviewed each month, beginning this month with Sensors. Full written reviews are details available at www.ien.com/webreviews. here are dozens of excellent websites to choose from when searching for the right sensing devices. IEN editors narrowed the field to 18 sites that combine user friendliness with a wealth of accessible product information. On top of the list, according to the editors, is the OMEGA Engineering website— www.omega. com—coming in at a 96% overall rating with top scores in seven out of nine categories. Rounding out the top five were sites presented by Omron Electronics, Balluff, ifm effector, and Cognex. Virtually every site reviewed had unique elements that enhanced the product-search experience. Generally, we found that the sensor sites, as with most industrial sites, are still quite a bit behind those in the mass-market realm, but they’re catching up. Highest Rated Site of the Month A few things stood out: (A) Some sites still require that visitors endure a detailed registration process in order to get to the good content. (B) The more that companies offer a wide variety of similar products (and variations of those products), the greater the need for configuration tools. (C) Unfortunately, eCommerce still seems to be a luxury instead of a necessity to do business. We hope that you like our new format and that our reviews continue to be a valuable tool in your search for product and company information. COMPANY/RATING OMEGA Engineering Inc. WEBSITE/IN BRIEF www.omega.com: No registration required. Products are easy to find via multiple search avenues. Lots of tech data, downloads and updates. www.omron247.com: No registration required except for specific tech support. Good CAD drawing, software download features. www.balluff.com: Support documentation and user forums would make this excellent site even better. www.ifmefector.com: Features animated product demonstrations, and a clean, user-friendly design. www.cognex.com: Sleek, sexy, well-engineered but finding high-end content isn’t intuitive. www.gesensing.com: Site packs in loads of general product information, useful diagrams, and reference material. www.bannerengineering.com: Very good destination that would be even better with deeper content. www.turck-usa.com: No registration required. White papers and tutorials available. “Turck Converts” feature helpful. www.electro-sensors.com: Old-school appearance but a very solid site in terms of content. www.keyence.com/usa: User friendly design leads users to detailed product information. Lengthy registration process is also included. www.me-us.com: Though navigation is slightly clumsy, the site offers comprehensive product and application information. www.honeywell.com/sensing: Parametric search tool for products is robust and helpful. Product comparison is also a nice feature. www.watlow.com: Easy to find product info. Good product descriptions, technical material. Not easy to find contact phone numbers. www.omegadyne.com: No registration required except for free lit. Simple site, easy to navigate. Products well outlined. Useful links to omega.com. www.dwyer-inst.com: Most of the good stuff is on print-like virtual pages. Valuable but outdated paradigm. www.madisonco.com: Site offers basic product specs in an easy-to-read table format. www.asm-sensor.com: Very clean, easy-to-use design; detailed PDFs make the site even more worthwhile. www.autonicsusa.net: Could be a great site if all the good content didn’t require registration. T About Our Rating System Only sites that are considered Good or above are included in IEN’s WebReviews. Nine areas are analyzed for each site. Individual areas are rated Good, Better, or Best. The overall site percentage takes into account the individual scoring and the judgment of the reviewer. Good vVV Better vvV Best vvv GENERAL WHITE ENGINEERING/ DOWNLOADS/ REGISTRATION EASE of USE/ PRODUCT PAPERS & KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING TECHNICAL FRIENDLY NAVIGATION INFORMATION CASE STUDIES TOOLS BASE CONTENT SUPPORT/ USER FORUM PURCHASING INFO/ ASSISTANCE 96% Omron Electronics LLC vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv VVv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv VVv vvv Vvv vvv vvv Vvv Vvv vvv vvv Vvv vvv Vvv VVv vvv Vvv VVv Vvv vvv VVv vvv vvv vvv vvv Vvv vvv vvv Vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv Vvv vvv vvv Vvv VVv Vvv VVv VVv vvv Vvv Vvv Vvv VVv Vvv VVv Vvv VVv Vvv Vvv VVv VVV VVv VVV VVv vvv vvv vvv vvv vvv Vvv vvv Vvv Vvv vvv Vvv Vvv Vvv Vvv Vvv VVv Vvv Vvv vvv VVv Vvv Vvv vvv vvv VVv Vvv VVv vvv Vvv VVv Vvv VVv VVv VVv VVv Vvv vvv vvv Vvv VVv Vvv VVv VVv Vvv VVv VVV VVv VVv Vvv Vvv VVv VVv VVV VVv Vvv vvv VVv VVv Vvv VVv VVv VVv VVv VVv VVv VVv VVV VVv VVv VVv VVv VVv vvv vvv VVv vvv VVv Vvv vvv Vvv vvv Vvv Vvv Vvv VVv Vvv vvv Vvv VVv VVv 90% Balluff Inc. 89% ifm efector, inc. 89% Cognex Corp. 88% GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies 87% Banner Engineering 86% Turck Inc. 86% Electro-Sensors, Inc. 84% Keyence Corp. of America 85% Micro-Epsilon America 85% Honeywell Sensing & Control 85% Watlow 84% Omegadyne, Inc. 82% Dwyer Instruments 81% Madison Co. 81% ASM Sensors Inc. 78% Autonics Corp. 78% http://www.ien.com/webreviews http://www.omega.com http://www.omega.com http://www.omega.com http://www.omron247.com http://www.balluff.com http://www.ifmefector.com http://www.cognex.com http://www.gesensing.com http://www.bannerengineering.com http://www.turck-usa.com http://www.electro-sensors.com http://www.keyence.com/usa http://www.me-us.com http://www.honeywell.com/sensing http://www.watlow.com http://www.omegadyne.com http://www.omega.com http://www.dwyer-inst.com http://www.madisonco.com http://www.asm-sensor.com http://www.autonicsusa.net http://www.ien.com/blogs

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of IEN - January 2009

IEN - January 2009 Contents Hot New Products MRO/Plant Maintenance Problem Solvers Focus: CAD/CAM/CAE Free Catalogs & Tech Tips Plant Efficiency: Cost Cutters Free Samples Lifestyle Engineering Now on IEN.com Trade Show: ProMat 2009 IEN Best Brands Winners IEN’s WebReviews: Sensors Resource Center Advertiser Contact

IEN - January 2009

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