Don’t miss DMC Pacific Northwest Regional Manager, John Williams, co-leading a presentation with our client Sila Nanotechnologies on September 18th. Together, they will share best practices on architecting an Ignition solution for industrial growth.

As the reigning champions of last year’s ICC Build-a-thon, DMC is especially excited to return in 2025—not as competitors this time, but to cheer on this year’s teams and celebrate the innovation and collaboration that make ICC so special!

Presentation Information

• Scaling Smart: Architecting for Industrial Growth
• Speakers: John Williams and Luis Chachayma
• Date: Thursday, September 18th at 2:00 p.m.

Sila’s transition from R&D-scale experiments to a full battery material production facility required more than just more equipment — it demanded a shift in how systems were architected. Learn how Sila (working with DMC) deployed Ignition using a Unified Namespace design, UDT-driven standardization, and MQTT messaging via HiveMQ to create a consistent, scalable control layer. This structure not only streamlines deployment across the plant but also feeds contextualized process data to Snowflake for deeper insight and future optimization.

What to Expect at ICC 2025

ICC 2025 offers attendees the chance to:

• Gain new insights from Ignition experts and community leaders in technical sessions and workshops.
• Explore cutting-edge technology through live demonstrations, add-ons, and ecosystem partner exhibits.
• Discover fresh ideas by connecting with peers in the Discover Gallery and at networking events.

With a mix of keynotes, training, and community showcases, ICC provides practical takeaways as well as inspiration for future projects.

Conference Information

• When: September 15 – 18, 2025
• Where: SAFE Credit Union Convention Center, Sacramento, California
• What: View the full conference schedule

Register for tickets here

DMC and Ignition

As an Ignition Premier Integrator, DMC is proud to deliver solutions powered by Ignition. We are Ignition 8.1 Gold certified, highlighting our commitment to technical excellence and continuous learning.

Our partnership with Ignition provides access to exclusive resources that help us deliver innovative, high-performing solutions and outstanding customer support to our clients.

Learn more about DMC’s Ignition partnership.

Don’t miss the chance to connect with the DMC team at ICC 2025. Register today and meet us in Sacramento!

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Congratulations to our team members Brandon Tanner, Sheila Kennedy-Moore, and Nicoli Liedtke for representing DMC and bringing home the win! 

The Competition 

DMC and BIJC Ltd competed live on stage in an industrial automation challenge for the ICC Build-a-thon’s grand finale. To challenge our Ignition programming skills, we had two days to program an Ignition application to control a convenience store. The store had a car wash, gas pump, and food market. 

Opto 22 provided the PLCs and a miniature convenience store that we could control. The goal provided by Inductive Automation was to make it easy to expand our brand of convenience stores and take over the world with our stores. We decided to include a Minion theme in our project, saying that we were hired by Gru to take over the world with our convenience stores. Our tagline was, “This is a first for DMC, being hired by a villain.” 

To accomplish this goal, DMC made a high-level map screen displaying the location and the status of each store. Users could click on a store location on the screen to see more details. In order to verify that each store was profitable for our business expansion, we used simulation logic to simulate transactions. We also tracked the store’s transactions and profitability with custom dashboards. Our solution streamlined configuring new stores by prompting the user to fill out its name and select the location on a map once the project detected new MQTT tags. 

One highlight of our solution was our slick user interface (UI). We implemented custom CSS in our project to give the UI a polished look. This is a complex aspect of Ignition that not everyone has experience with, and we spent extra time on the UI to make our project stand out. 

Other fun aspects of the project included creating a car wash button with an animated car and bubbles. We also created a custom SVG to control the store’s lights. Every time the car wash ran, we brought out bubble guns. 

Each member of DMC’s team presented on part of the project. Sheila handled the introduction and the project overview.  Nicoli did the technical project review and Brandon took on the project curveball which was adding a new store to the application. The audience voted on the winner, and we were proud to take home the honors and wear the orange winner’s blazers! 

If you are interested in digging into the code that we made during the Build-a-Thon, we’ve uploaded our project to the Ignition Exchange here.  

Ignition Community Conference 

The Ignition Community Conference's mission is to see new technology, share ideas, and find inspiration. In addition to competing in the Build-a-Thon, DMC led a presentation on Optimizing Load Time in Ignition Perspective by Elizabeth Reed and Casimir Smith. 

DMC and Ignition 

DMC is an Ignition Premier Integrator. We are Ignition 8.1 Gold certified, illustrating our commitment to delivering Ignition expertise. Our partnership allows DMC access to exclusive technical resources which enables us to deliver top-notch customer service to our clients. 

Learn more about DMC’s Ignition partnership and contact us for your next project. 

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In addition to attending ICC, we are proud to lead a presentation on Optimizing Load Time in Ignition Perspective on September 18. We're also excited to be a finalist in Ignition's 2024 Build-a-Thon on September 19!

Presentation Information

Optimizing Load Time in Ignition Perspective
Speakers: Elizabeth Reed, DMC Senior Manager, SCADA and MES; Casimir Smith, DMC Project Engineer
Date: Sept. 18 at 2:45 p.m.

How can you ensure that screens load fast and actions are snappy when using Ignition Perspective to create bigger and better projects? Learn how in this presentation, which will discuss strategies for optimizing screen development, organizing nested views, and analyzing Perspective execution. You’ll also get a look at simple rules-of-thumb for bindings, complex custom svg components, and where to strike the balance between performance and maintainability.

Build-a-Thon Information

Credit: Inductive Automation

Date: Thurs Sept 19th at 9am

After finishing first in a field of 24 integrators in Ignition's 2024 Build-a-Thon, we're thrilled to be competing as finalists at ICC. DMC, Inc., will do battle with BIJC Ltd. in the fantasy-themed Ignition challenge to see who has the sharpest Ignition skills in all the land. 

Conference Information

When: September 17-19, 2024
Where: The Harris Center for the Arts in Folsom, California
What: View the conference schedule
Register for tickets here

DMC and Ignition

DMC is an Ignition Premier Integrator. We are Ignition 8.1 Gold certified, illustrating our commitment to delivering Ignition expertise. Our partnership with Ignition allows DMC access to exclusive technical resources which enables us to deliver top-notch customer service to our clients.

Learn more about DMC's Ignition partnership.

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This certification required passing several exams and proving success in implementing Sepasoft in customer MES solutions.

Sepasoft’s MES solutions help manufacturers improve production efficiency, quality control, and overall operations. DMC has been a Sepasoft partner for several years and currently has 14 Gold and 2 Credentialed engineers on our team. We are recognized for our competency in a variety of Sepasoft offerings including OEE, SPC, Track and Trace, and Business Connector.

I have been working with Sepasoft for years and I am very excited that DMC's MES expertise is being recognized by Sepasoft with the Premier Partner status. I hope to continue delivering high quality Sepasoft solutions to even more of our customers and seeing how Sepasoft can transform their operations.

Learn more about DMC's Sepasoft Programming expertise.

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The Build-a-Thon is a programming competition where DMC will spend two days programming an Ignition project based on a prompt from the Inductive Automation team. DMC will then present the finished project to the attendees of ICC, who will vote on which project they like more.

DMC is sending three of our top Ignition experts to compete in this exciting competition, and they have been busy preparing. To train for the competition, DMC has taken inspiration from F1 drivers to hone our programming skills and get in the right mindset. We had a fun time filming this training video and are excited for the opportunity to participate in the Build-a-Thon!

If you will be attending ICC please let us know. We would love to meet up with you!

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Inductive Automation, one of DMC’s partners, offers certification programs to help provide companies with the skills and confidence to complete complex projects. DMC is proud to announce that currently all eight of our offices are certified Ignition Integrators.

Benefits of Working with an Ignition Certified Integrator

Being Ignition Certified demonstrates DMC’s continued commitment to providing quality Ignition expertise. This certification verifies our engineers’ extensive technical capabilities, exceptional quality of work, and the ability to complete complex projects. We can provide advanced solutions across industries in SCADA architecture that uses best practices to create reusable and robust code. This decreases development costs and makes it easier to scale Ignition over time.

Find out more about DMC’s partnership with Ignition and contact us with any project inquiries.

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Here are a few tools to help you find the bug.

Tool One – Gateway Script

If you're running a gateway script, the first place you should navigate to is the Status Page of the gateway.

Then, locate the Gateway Scripts page.

There, you will be able to see a list of all the gateways scripts along with their status. If the status is Error, you can click on it to get more information about why the script is failing.

Tool Two – Script Console

Another great debugging tool is the Script Console.

To access this, navigate to tools – script console. You can insert code into the multiline buffer and press execute. This writes the output of the script directly to the interactive interpreter right next to it.

Tool Three – Print Function

Finally, the last great script debugging tool is the Print Function. You can use the print function in Python scripts that are called in the gateway or the local client. In your script simply put print('Debug string') and it will print out that debug string.

If you are using “print” as part of a gateway script, it will print to a log file located in C:\Program Files\Inductive Automation\Ignition\logs.

If the script is run through the local client you can use the Output console to view the print statement. You can access it through Tools – Console. 

For more on Ignition, check out these 4 Tips for Ignition Designer.

Learn more about DMC's PLC Programming services.

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Recently, a bunch of DMC employees from different offices were scattered across the West Coast, so we decided to meet up. We did something fun and new for everyone – visit Sonoma, CA!

Travel In Tandem

We met up on Friday, ready for a bright and early Saturday outing. Our first stop was Spoke Folk Cyclery to pick up our transportation for the day.

The tandem bike took a little time to get used to, but after a bit we were pros. 

Yes, Nikhil and Nick were wearing matching tank tops for the tandem bike. 

Our route was a total of 11.6 miles and included three wineries and a stop for lunch.

Wine Time

After leaving Spoke Folk Cyclery, we got out of downtown Healdsburg and into the roads that weave through all of the wineries. 

Our first stop was Wilson Winery. We arrived right when they opened so we got to sit outside on their beautiful patio overlooking the vineyard. 

Next, we rode to Mauritson Wines just down the road. We enjoyed lounging around and tasting the wine.  

Taste Test

At this winery, we discovered that some people in the group did not know how to tell the difference between red and white wine! We obviously, had to do a blind taste test and see who passed.

Being engineers, we had to make sure that the test was valid, so we put a glass of white wine in the sun so it would be the same temperature as red wine. Out of 15 people, 4 failed the test! Since several people from New York failed the test, I think the New York office needs to drink more wine.

Piglets and Pinot

We then stopped for a quick lunch at the Dry Creek General Store, which has been a wine country staple since 1881. Our last stop was DaVero Farms and Winery. This winery was a farm as well as a vineyard, so they had cute piglets and other livestock. They also had fun games you could play in the vineyard, like cornhole and bocce ball. Fun fact: DMC’s Becca Stussman was a second place county champion at bocce ball. 

We ended our wine tasting excursion by playing cornhole and drinking wine – a pretty fantastic way to end a day. Cheers!

Learn more about culture at DMC

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There are tons of features to use Ignition’s independent modules for including Real-Time Status Control, Alarming, Reporting, Data Acquisition, Scripting, Scheduling, MES, and Mobile support.

Sometimes, there are tweaks you might want to make that require more customization. This blog lays out how to use Induction to make screens versatile by adding Custom Properties to them.

Accessing Custom Properties

To access custom properties, select the screen in the project browser and then navigate to Component > Customizers > Custom Properties.

Click on the image for high resolution

Template Parameters and Internal Properties

There are two types of custom properties, Template Parameters and Internal Properties. In my example, I have a template called Flags which has one template parameter for the state and five internal properties for various DMC offices. 

Template Parameters

Template properties are parameters that appear on each template instance allowing each instance to be configured differently. Some popular uses of template parameters are to pass a tag prefix or a state into a template. 

Template properties can be accessed outside of the screen. So, if you call a template with template properties on a window, you can set the properties in that window. In the example below, I added a template property called State to the Flags template. As a result, when I use the Flags template on the DMC template, I am able to set the State property of the Flags instance to IL. 

Click on the image for higher resolution

Internal Properties

Internal properties, which cannot be accessed outside of the template, are intended for the internal workings of a template.

I added some properties to the Flags template for isChicago, isBoston, isDenver, isHouston, and isNewYork. This was done because these properties do not need to be accessible outside the Flags template but can be used within the template.

You can then add a binding to the internal property. A lot of times, I use an expression binding that uses the template parameter of the template. The binding I added to my example is an expression binding that compares the State property (which is a template parameter) to different strings. Below, it is comparing State to MA. If that is true, then the internal property isBoston is true. I am then able to use the isBoston property throughout my template.

Click on the image for higher resolution

If you are going to access the same data over and over again on your template, it is useful to create an internal property and set the value there. That way, there is only one point of maintenance if you ever have to change it. You are able to access the internal property through all binding types which gives you flexibility to combine internal properties and use them in different ways. It also makes it easier to debug complex bindings because instead of having one big binding you can separate the expression binding out into internal properties. You can then replace the large complex binding with a combination of internal properties. 

Below, I use the isChicago property to control the visibility of the Chicago flag image.

Click on the image for higher resolution

For more on Ignition, check out these 4 Tips for Ignition Designer.

Learn more about DMC’s PLC Programming services.

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The Designer is where you edit the lower level components, like screens, tags, and scripts.

The Gateway is where all of the higher level configuration lives – OPC connections, database connections, user management, etc.

Here are some basic tips and tricks that I have found useful when developing an Ignition project.

1. Create An Internal Property for a Screen if You Are Doing Complex Tag Bindings

If you know that you will be using the same binding for multiple objects on the screen, create an Internal Property. Once created, add the binding to the Internal Property. You can then use the Internal Property as the binding for as many screen objects as you want.

To change the binding, you now only need to edit the Internal Property binding instead of multiple bindings.

2. Use Data Types and Data Type Properties for Reusability

Data Types can be a great way to create a tag structure that is used over and over again. For example, you could structure your tags by basic devices of the system.

Similar to Internal Properties discussed above, Data Types create one point of maintenance which can really cut down on development time. There are even things you can do within Data Types to cut down on development time, like use Data Type Properties.

Data Type Properties are properties that can be accessed by any tag in the data type. So, if every tag in the Data Type is going to have the same first couple words, create a Custom Property and reference that property when you create the tags. 

You can reference the Data Type Properties in the tag properties by putting a {} around the name of the Data Type Property. In the below example, the Run and isRunning tags are pretty much the same except for the last part.

Now, if the name of the motor changes, all you have to do is change the name of the Data Type Property instead of changing the name of every tag that references the motor name. 

3. Use Memory Tags as Global Constants

Memory Tags are a great tool for any global constants you want to use in Ignition. You can use them for high/low limits, colors, pretty much anything you can think of. 

4. Take Advantage of Ignitions Built-in SQL Functions

Ignition does a great job of interfacing with SQL. In order to take advantage of this feature, create a Database Connection in the gateway. Once the connection is created, make it the default database for your Ignition project.

After you set up the Database Connection, you will be able to create SQL Queries by adding Query Tags. Within the Query Tag, you can add an SQL Query to it.

The format for the query is the same as a Query in SQL would be. This makes the Query easy to test because you can test it in SQL before implementing it in Ignition.

After you write the Query, select the Database Connection you want to use and then select the Query Type.

The picture below shows a Query Tag that has a Data Type of Dataset. The Query will then put the results into the Dataset, which can be accessed throughout the project.

Learn more about DMC's PLC Programming services.

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