How Enterprise Integration Brings Enterprise Intelligence

For nearly 20 years, the "holy grail" of automation was to ensure effective communications between Level 0 and 1 (the automation/devices layer) with Level 2 and 3 (the visualization and Manufacturing Execution Layers).  Why? Because in order to run a manufacturing enterprise effectively, you needed to not only understand, but bring the real-time process data into your business systems, for better, more informed decision making and overall analysis of yields, quality, throughput, inventory consumption, downtime, etc.

Enterprise Integration--the act of physically and logically "connecting the dots" between the process and the business systems--accomplishes a very important task, providing the data that drives the decisions. But there's another, sometimes nuanced, benefit of Enterprise Integration, and that's gaining Enteprise Intelligence.

Thank you, Automation Industry, for 30 years of employment

I gasp as I write this, but it's been 30 years since I was first employed by the automation industry.  I started out selling photoelectric controls (you know, same technology as garage door openers, with a light beam that you break, sending out an electrical signal) and from there progressing to vision and barcode systems, industrial controls, and finally, and thankfully, software.

Repost, with Comments: Mobile devices continue to fuel consumer demand for increased transparency

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Suppliers2/Mobiles-Millennials-and-IndieWomen-Supermarket-Guru-explores-what-s-big-in-2014?utm_source=copyright&utm_medium=OnSite&utm_campaign=copyright

"Mobile devices continue to fuel consumer demand for increased transparency; more convenience; and quick, easy opportunities to be social. Expect continued emphasis on technology and social media as trend-savvy, authenticity-minded Millennials start having families of their own, along with a call for healthy, convenient foods from the growing influencer segment known as IndieWomen, according to “Supermarket Guru” Phil Lempert’s top consumer trends for 2014."

I always pay attention to articles that examine the sentiments and drivers for consumer behavior.  First of all, it shows macro trends that will eventually ripple into the conservative world of industrial automation: #mobility, #cloud, #big data, #social all started with the consumer market, and made their way into industrial offerings.  Sometimes, these trends need a push--like Microsoft's Azure program, which supports commercial offerings to further their platform, or partnerships leading to products such as SmartGlance to address cloud, mobility AND big data--a trifecta as it were.

Repost, with comments: Cloud is the New Wild West

http://mobileenterprise.edgl.com/news/Cloud-is-the-New-Wild-West88883
We at Invensys have seen how customer, and really industry, interest in cloud computing has increased over the past year.  It started when virtualization became a common offering for industrial automation. Both VMware and Microsoft made offerings of ESXi and Hyper-V (respectively) "industrialized" so that automation software providers, such as Invensys and others, could use their technologies to provide application portability, as well as more strategic offerings such as High Availability and Fault Tolerance.

Virtualization, as Microsoft and others like to say, is a stepping stone to the cloud, because once you've isolated and "packaged" your application, it doesn't matter whether it's on a box on site ("on-premises") or truly in the cloud.  And if you check out the industrial automation industry, the number of cloud-based offerings, either hosted or as a Software as a Service, have tripled in the past years.  Applications such as remote monitoring, smart device enabled reporting, and process historians are now readily available in the cloud.  We anticipate the number of offerings to triple again, as technology becomes more secure and the infrastructure required to support the cloud products is stabilized and proliferated.  It's a great opportunity for manufacturers to cost-effectively be able to test products without making a huge investment in infrastructure, IT and hardware. 

So, if you would like to see what offerings are available--I have an event for you....it's an Eye Opener Seminar, either in Chicago or Boston, November 12 or 14th.  It's free to attend, there will be representatives from Microsoft, Invensys, and Saugatuck, and it can answer all of your questions about the viability, and use, of the cloud for industry.  You can register here.

Megatrends: The Cloud, Big Data, Mobility: Why Should You Care?

I've written a lot over the past year on the 2013 Megatrends that we see for industrial automation: The Cloud, Big Data, and Mobility.  When we first started talking about the cloud more than a year ago, the overall response we got from our customer base was "please no." There was no interest in the cloud--it was seen as disruptive technology that had no relevance to an industrial environment.

Why IT and Automation Go Hand in Hand

I recently responded to a post on LinkedIn in the Automation & Control subgroup. There, a young engineer was asking the question, "if I am in automation, why do I need to know IT." 

That is a great question and over the years that I have been in automation, I've experienced first a chasm between IT and automation (one company I visited 15 years ago had a CIO that had never gone on the plant floor!) to a gradual alignment and now, cross over between the two practices.

Industry Week: US Manufacturing Expands for Third Straight Month

http://www.industryweek.com/global-economy/us-manufacturing-expands-third-straight-month?NL=IW-07&Issue=IW-07_20130904_IW-07_93&YM_RID=maryanne.steidinger@invensys.com&YM_MID=1420302&sfvc4enews=42

Good news on the economic front--manufacturing has expanded (gone beyond the magic 50) for the third month in a row.  Certainly, we in the industrial automation industry applaud this condition, for it means companies are building, processing and producing goods that consumers want...and it also foretells of expansions, improvements, and additional capacity and capabilities.

We've seen an uptick, globally, in manufacturers desiring standardization, production operations management improvements, and extensions to existing software functionality. And of course, the automation industry (especially Invensys) is there to support your efforts with products such as MES, Workflow, and EMI.

Repost: Pulse report: New Opportunities Emerge as Consumers Focus on Value

This report is interesting for a number of reasons.  One, because it clearly shows the differences in age groups, and the way in which they search for information and make buying decisions.  Secondly, because it does have relevance to other industries besides retail.

If we look at our typical industrial buyer, it is very similar to storytelling, in that preferences are handed down to generations, and oftentimes, the decision to buy or upgrade is based on past lore and experience.  We don't often see plants making sweeping decisions to replace their software or hardware, unless a defining event occurs, such as obsolescence (hello, XP!) or a step change in new technology (cloud, big data, mobile).  And even then, the vendors that these users are familiar and comfortable with normally get the first look, even if they are not best in class or even on par with the market.

So what can we do to change this habit?  Educate through the channels that they use.  And that's why this study is so interesting--because it provides us insight into the new buying habits.

http://www.retailleader.net/article-pulse_report__new_opportunities_emerge_as_consumers_focus_on_value-5715-part2.html

Repost, with comments: Why Mentorship is the gift that keeps giving

http://smartblogs.com/leadership/2013/06/13/why-mentorship-is-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving/

I couldn't agree more with the author of this article.  I have acted as an informal mentor over the years.  It is extremely gratifying, and rewarding, to see your mentees grow, thrive, and succeed as a result of coaching, advise and guidance. 

Operational Advantage will accelerate “Managed Services” Cloud adoption in the Industrial Sector!!!!

Operational Advantage will accelerate “Managed Services” Cloud adoption in the Industrial Sector!!!!

What You Want to Read-- A Recap of My Top Posts

You, my readers, are the ultimate determinator (is that even a word??) of what we write.  When I look at the posts I've had over the past year or so, the content that you seem to respond to isn't necessarily the heavy duty, technical specs and product details of the wonderful portfolio of software products that Invensys Operations Management offers.  Instead, it's a higher level, socially conscious view of what's going on in the world of industrial automation.

What Keeps You Up At Night?

How many times have you asked this question--to your peers, to important customers, during strategy meetings.  It is an effective way of cutting through the noise to uncover the essence of key care-abouts. 

I've been thinking about that from an industrial automation perspective.  The industry itself is nearing 45+ years, beginning with the development of the PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) back in the 70's.  Their key care-abouts at the time were to replace unstable and single purpose relays with a device that could multi-task different plant control functions, that could be programmed in a language that the plant electrician could understand, and could more effectively manage multitudes of control sensors.

5 Reasons Why Competition is Not Just Good, It’s Great for all of Us

Ever have a sales person come to you, panicked, that there’s a competitor in the wings waiting to steal your business? That should make you happy. Why?

Why Robots are a Good Thing for Automation

 

Robotic technology has been around since the late 70’s.  Starting in the automotive industry, spawned from aerospace, #robots were seen as a way to inject standardization in manufacturing assembly processes where it could be dangerous or costly to have people involved.  

I got involved with robots in the early 80’s.  I worked for an optical coating company, and we thought the lenses on top of the cameras would give us a new market niche to pursue.  I joined AIA (www.VisionOnline.org ) and started networking with those industry suppliers, both camera manufacturers and visions systems suppliers.   

REPOST: Accountability Theme Growing in the Industrial Sector!

Accountability Theme Growing in the Industrial Sector!
by Tim Sowle, Invensys Fellow

ARC World Forum: A Great Time for Industry, Part 3

This is the last of the three part series on the #ARC Advisory Group’s World Industry Forum. Invensys was very active, with customer presentations both in the technical tracks (Moving Historian and Production Management to the Cloud with General Mills’ use of SmartGlance, and Getting Smarter with Operator Training Simulators with Ron Cisco/Salt River Project’s use of DYNSIM) as well as in the Social Media track. 

The last panel we participated in was called Social Technologies for Industry, and featured Jon DiPietro, Internet Marketing Consultant; Gary Mintchell of AutomationDaily (previously co-founder, Automation World), Roy Krok VP Marketing, ARC and yours truly representing Invensys.

A Look at Industrial Operational Management Environment in 2020

A Look at Industrial Operational Management Environment in 2020
by Tim Sowle, Invensys Fellow and VP of System Strategy at Invensys Operations Management

Why automate food safety solutions?

By Niels Andersen, VP Manufacturing Business Consulting, Invensys Operations Management

We are now on track to get a revised food safety system in place in the USA. President Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act into law on January 4, 2011, and the FDA issued the proposed rules to fulfill the requirements for preventive controls in human food on January 4, 2013. The proposed rules are based on widely-accepted industry standards, so there should be few surprises for manufacturers. There is still work to be done to get the finalized rules in place, but there is now little doubt that the Food Safety Modernization Act is here to stay.

With the Food Safety Act in play, the question that Invensys now asks ourselves is "how do we bring value to our customers by automating food safety solutions?"

FREE Seminar: The Cloud for Manufacturing

Understand the business benefits and applicability of Azure Cloud Technology in industrial automation.

Join the top experts from Microsoft, Invensys, ARC Advisory Group and Sarla Analytics in a COMPLIMENTARY, interactive half-day seminar.

Register Today!

Dates & Locations

• Houston, TX - May 14, 2012
• Minneapolis, MN - May 17, 2012
• Boston, MA - June 5, 2012
• Redmond, WA - June 7, 2012

Topics

• Business Benefits & Rationale for Cloud Computing
• Azure Cloud Services for Manufacturers
• ARC Advisory Group: Is Industry Ready for the Cloud? ARC Advisory Group: Is Industry Ready for the Cloud?
• Invensys: Collaboration & Reporting in the Cloud
• Sarla Analytics: Analytics in the Cloud 

Bringing the Cloud Down to Earth: Part 2

OK, so I got a bit lazy on my last post.  And I got called on it.  So let's do it right!  We have seen a lot of movement lately on the cloud for industry, and specifically, the cloud for manufacturers. I have written 2 articles now and have participated on one panel, and the outcome of all of it is that manufacturers are in a "wait and see" mode.