Gary On Manufacturing-Three Things I Learned at MARTS 2013

Watch for the launch of The Manufacturing Connection (www.themanufacturingconnection.com), my new project.

I recently spoke at the MARTS 2013 conference and learned that:

Maintenance and Reliability people are still not always included in new technology discussions that would help them do their jobs better;

Maintenance should be brought into the plant management conversation, and they should learn about technologies and learn to ask for them;

Maintenance--and everyone else--could use more training about the technologies and benefits of MES applications.

Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Conference

Here is some key information about the 2013 Industrial Control Systems Cyber Security conference to prepare you and your calendar for what is always a superb security discussion (behind closed doors):

The conference will take place at the Georgia Tech Research Institute’s conference center in Atlanta Georgia, October 21-24, 2013, with more information available at the conference website.

Emphases this year include:

• Cooperation between Operations/Control Systems engineers and IT for improved cyber-security (at all levels including procedures, policies and vendor selection and implementation)
• Viewing the world of connected control systems from the hackers’ perspective – including some “how-to” demonstrations
• Status and initial lessons learned from an ICS cyber security solutions test-bed that organizer Joe Weiss has been working with a utility

Just like IT Systems, Industrial Control Systems (SCADA, DCS, PLC, etc.) can be the victims of cyber-incidents, with potentially dramatic consequences for critical infrastructure. Because of ICS characteristics (legacy field equipment, non-authenticated protocols, allergies to network scans, etc.) they require a distinct approach to cyber security.

If you're looking for information, event histories and solutions; if you want discussions with peers and experts on how to address the cyber risks of a control system, mark your calendar for the key event of the year.

ABB CTO Banerjee Also to Leave

Chief Technology Officer, Prith Banerjee, who joined ABB in 2012, has decided to leave ABB for family reasons. He will be relocating to the United States where he will be taking another position outside the company. A successor will be announced in due course.

“Prith has brought new momentum to ABB’s research and development activity,” said CEO Joe Hogan. “I regret Prith’s decision to leave the company. I’d like to thank him for his contribution and wish him all the best for the future.”

Banerjee will be leaving ABB in the next few weeks. A date for his departure has not yet been decided.

[Gary comments] I don't think we should be jumping to any conclusions, yet, with this announcement coming on the heels of CEO Joe Hogan's announcement at the end of last week. Maybe it's hard to recruit people to live in Zurich? Who knows.

Although Hogan has built a strong team, the loss of two key players will certainly be a short-term setback for the company. It is still showing strength and growth. It will be interesting to watch how the replacements are picked and what their strengths are in order to determine future directions.

Hogan To Leave ABB

Finished today's workout, opened my computer and there was the shocking message from ABB media relations people--Joe Hogan is leaving the company for private reasons.

Sorry to see him go. He has done a good job bringing ABB forward. His predecessor rescued the company from the brink of disaster in the 2003-2005 time frame. Hogan has been there since 2008 and has positioned the company for future success. He's built a strong team, made many prudent acquisisions and positioned the company for growth.

Here is the release from ABB:

ABB Chief Executive Officer Joe Hogan has decided to leave ABB for private reasons.

A date for his departure has not yet been decided. Hogan will continue to lead ABB until a successor is announced. He is committed to a smooth transition.

“Joe is a great and successful CEO and has done a remarkable job of leading the company through the deepest economic crisis in living memory. ABB today is in a much better position than it was when he joined five years ago,” said Chairman Hubertus von Grünberg. “I know this has been a tough and difficult decision for Joe and the Board sincerely regrets that Joe will be leaving the company.”

Hogan joined ABB as CEO in September 2008. During his time at the helm, ABB has invested about $20 billion to strengthen the company. Major investments have been made in acquisitions and in R&D to help secure ABB’s technological leadership in power and automation.

“Under Joe’s leadership ABB’s competitiveness has significantly improved by investing boldly in measures to drive growth and innovation, and by carefully managing costs,” von Grünberg added.

“I have informed the board that I have decided to leave ABB. This has been a difficult decision as I leave behind a strong and talented Executive Committee and a cohesive Board whose support I could always count on. I look forward to making a smooth transition with as little disruption as possible to the positive momentum that ABB has established,” CEO Hogan said.

SAP Wants to Own the Enterprise

The title of the post may be a bit reaching, but while I was interviewing people for background for the SAP/Harris Survey, I picked up some definite vibrations.

A little history, first. When SAP brought together all the suites bundled as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) there were a couple of problems. Like its Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) ancestor--an application I learned as far back as 1977--ERP forced companies to adapt their workflows to the software workflows.

Now this was contrary to what I was taught. Back then, they (IBM in my case) taught us to rationalize your physical systems and workflows first, then implement a digital solution. 35 years later, I still hear the wisdom of that teaching. From both first-hand and anecdotal evidence, too many people who implemented ERP went the other way around. They bought a package, then hired consultants to rationalize the business around the software.

I don't know if that was SAP's fault (they are always blamed, of course) or the fault of the people who implemented the application.

Connecting to the enterprise

The second challenge was integrating manufacturing enterprises with data brought directly from the plant or factory. To solve that problem, SAP acquired Lighthammer with the evolution of its product becoming MII.

The layer between the plant and the enterprise is known as Layer 3 of the Purdue Model--the execution layer. SAP has also undertaken efforts to incorporate MES into its offering.

Bringing it together

The interesting thing within the conversations I had was the matter-of-fact way the executives referred to this connectivity into the SAP mother ship.

I am interested in hearing about your experiences with all this connected SAP. Are you doing it? In the process of implementing? How is it going? What would you recommend to the next group of people trying to do this? Are you replacing another MES? Did you rationalize your operations--say using the ISA95 model?

Let me know.

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