ISA Automation Week Conference

The International Society of Automation (ISA) dropped its annual Expo trade fair last year due to declining floor space rentals, conference attendance and overall attendance. The replacement was a conference with table-top exhibit area. The overall experience was not good, and many exhibitors complained about the logistics and chance to meet attendees--the reason for exhibiting, of course.

This year, the conference was moved from Houston to Mobile, AL. The conference program leadership added Greg McMillan, a professional whom I respect greatly. I figured he could move the program from one that was overly academic to something that members might find useful.

Greg just posted to his Modeling and Control blog an essay We are ISA. I found his "agree with us or get out" message to dissident ISA members somewhat off-putting, but he did detail changes in the program. I know some of the people, and I suspect that attendees will be able to find some good sessions. I certainly hope that ISA publishes more details about the courses than it did last year. I also hope they treat potential speakers with more respect than some of the stories I heard from last year.

In conjunction with thoughts on the conference, here is a side comment. Conference organizers have found a benefit that they can offer to their sponsors--editors. They promise to line up a big group of editors and offer a long session of press conferences so that the sponsors can get time in front of us. So I, and my colleagues, are used as bait for sponsorship. However, our cost to attend these events is upwards of $1,000. We're all small businesses. So, the cost is a concern. If we do come, we'd really like to have some substantial news to report to make it worth our while. And it would be great to have time after the meeting for an individual interview so that we can get our own spin and not just parrot what every other editor is saying. (If Walt and I write the same thing, you'd all begin to wonder--right?)

Back to the ISA conference. I did not attend last year because we would not be allowed to sit in conference sessions to get new ideas, meet the speakers for future articles, talk to attendees. We were supposed to spend the money to come down for the better part of one day to sit through press conferences. For that privilege, we would be allowed to eat the conference lunch.

Here's how Greg describes the upcoming agenda. "The AW 2011 program will build on last year's improvement in technical content and make a step increase in scope and expertise offered. An Advanced Control track chaired by Russ Rhinehart, an Installation, Operations, and Maintenance track chaired by Greg Lehmann, and a poster session Recent Developments in Process Control chaired by Jerry Cockrell have been added to the program. The Analysis track chaired by Jim Tatera and the Automation and Control System Design track chaired by John Munro have been restored to their previous prominence. We have added a general session where 6 prominent members of the Process Automation Hall of Fame will discuss how process control is more important than ever for manufacturing competitiveness and how users can get the most out of their control systems. Terry Tolliver and I will offer tutorials on key technologies. Charlie Cutler and Bela Liptak will present keynote addresses. Tribute sessions will show the impact of these and other leaders in our profession. Lastly, an Ask the Experts session is being planned to offer guidance on important challenging problems."

If I were working in the field, I'd take a close look at the new conference agenda and consider making the $2,000 investment (travel, lodging, conference fees, etc.). Unless there are changes in the way journalists are considered, though, I will not be there. It's too hard to get to Mobile for an afternoon of press conferences. The companies can send a release and call me.

Manufacturing jobs, blog update, GE

I've seen GE in the news recently. The main point seems to be that CEO Jeff Immelt is guiding the company away from the elixir of finance and back to its roots in manufacturing.

Steve Lohr writing in The New York Times on Dec. 4 says, "Perhaps no company outside of the banking sector was hit as hard by the financial crisis as G.E., certainly none that seemed healthy before the economic tailspin. Its big finance arm, GE Capital, long a cash machine that bolstered the mother ship's bottom line, became an albatross, threatening to pull down the entire enterprise. G.E. cut its dividend for the first time since the Great Depression, lost its triple-A credit rating and hastily arranged a $3 billion investment from the billionaire Warren E. Buffett."

Immelt admitted that GE was "seduced" by GE Capital's financial promise. In a disturbing part of Lohr's report, he notes, "In the buoyant years before the credit crisis, the company's finance arm contributed nearly half of GE's overall profits. When Mr. Immelt had qualms about the unit's risks, he sought outside opinions, including ordering up a study by the consulting firm McKinsey & Company in 2007. Sixty days later, the consulting team, he says, told GE that money from nations with a trade surplus, like China, and sovereign wealth funds, among other investors, would provide enough liquidity in the financial system to fuel lending and leverage for the foreseeable future. (McKinsey declined to comment on the study.)"

I call this disturbing because McKinsey supposedly hires very bright people. But they ignore what makes an economy healthy and buy into the day's prevailing wisdom.

Where the blog is going
Seven years ago this month, I started playing around with blogging software and began this blog. I had been reading blogs for several months, but 2003 was a hectic time as we got Automation World started and I learned to be an Editor in Chief. December was the first break I had where I could put together several contiguous days to concentrate on it.

It began as a person blog where I wrote as much about soccer as business and automation. For several reasons, the blog got co-opted by Automation World. First the sales department discovered it could sell advertising for an email newsletter with the blog as contents. Then I discovered we just couldn't post news often enough on our Website, so I started doing more newsy posts on happenings in the automation market.

Very soon, you will see a new and revolutionary Automation World Web site. Scary, I'm not on the team, but they are doing almost what I would do if I were designing it. It'll be great. It's built on a new platform that is easier to use than our current platform. So for current news, the site to visit or subscribe is here.

I will be doing less news and more thoughtful pieces on manufacturing, leadership, automation technology--and, yes, soccer.

Manufacturing jobs

I finally caved in and decided to send Rupert some money for an electronic Wall Street Journal subscription. Hope I'm not disappointed. But I say a couple of recent articles that had interesting manufacturing angles.

"Insourcing: The Secret To Job Growth, Want to put Americans back to work? Help multinationals grow their U.S. operations," by Robert M. Kimmitt and Matthew J. Slaughter, looks at the inverse of "outsourcing"--or sending jobs away from America.

They write, "Last month a Survey of Current Business report by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis suggested 'perhaps accidentally‚' a promising new approach. The report documented a dynamic group of companies that create high-paying American jobs based on significant capital investment and export prowess‚--precisely the kinds of jobs America desperately needs to build a sustainable recovery.

"In 2008, these companies employed 5.6 million Americans, 4.7% of total private-sector employment. In the U.S. private sector that year, these companies accounted for 11.3% of capital investment ($187.5 billion), 14.3% of research and development ($40.5 billion), and 18.1% of goods exports ($232.4 billion). All these activities contribute to good-paying jobs. In 2008, total U.S. compensation at these companies was $408.5 billion‚ per-worker average of $73,023. That's about one-third more than the average for all other U.S. workers.

So which companies are these? Ones that "insource"‚ that is, the U.S. operations of multinational firms based abroad. Insourcing companies now employ more than twice the number of Americans they employed in 1987. According to a recent survey by the Organization for International Investment, the chief financial officers of insourcing companies continue to see growth opportunities in America. Almost 50% plan to increase U.S. employment over the next 12 to 18 months, and just 22% plan to reduce it."

The global economy is so complex that any simple explanation will be much like the fable of the blind men and the elephant--you see only that part to which you're disposed to see, overlooking the whole picture. Remember to step back and look for balance when you see just one report.

Economic growth

I just received two reports on economic growth in the United States.

U.S. purchasing and supply management executives say economic growth in the United States will continue in 2011 in their December 2010 Semiannual Economic Forecast. Expectations are for a continuation of the economic recovery that began in mid-2009. The manufacturing sector continues to outpace the non-manufacturing sector and has greater expectations for growth in terms of revenue, say the nation's purchasing and supply management executives in their December 2010 Semiannual Economic Forecast. The overall forecast projects optimism about the U.S. economy for 2011. The manufacturing sector, overall, is positive about prospects in 2011 with revenues expected to increase in 16 of 18 industries, while the non-manufacturing sector appears slightly less positive about the year ahead, with 12 of 18 industries expecting higher revenues. Business investment, a major driver in the U.S. economy, will increase substantially in the manufacturing sector, while investment in the non-manufacturing sector will increase at a lower level. These projections are part of the forecast issued by the Business Survey Committee of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

Senior management at U.S. manufacturing companies is once again optimistic, according to a Grant Thornton LLP November survey. Nearly half (49%) believe the U.S. economy will improve in the next six months, and the same amount (49%) say they plan to increase staff during the same period. Manufacturing leaders are also optimistic about their own businesses, with 81% feeling optimistic about their companies' growth over the next six months.

There is much reason to be optimistic looking forward into 2011. But it will take all of our leadership skills to keep this growth on the right track.

Podcast Interview on Innovation in Automation

This is an interview I did for my innovations in automation article for January with Eddie Lee of Moxa. Didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. Traveled to Chicago with a ton of meetings Thursday and Friday, then two full days of soccer meetings over the weekend. I've been playing catch-up ever since. Be sure to listen in Thursday afternoon for the Ethernet Webcast on Automation World.

Automation Minutes 107

Automation Acquisitions and Useful Links

Yesterday, ABB announced its purchase of Baldor. That acquisition fits exactly with its stated directions--filling out its product line strategically (in this case more on the discrete than process side of automation), extending its product line into power and energy areas (efficient motors and variable frequency drives can reduce electric consumption significantly for a manufacturer) with the added bonus of giving ABB a significant distribution and sales channel in the US. I have maintained that this is the kind of acquisition ABB would make (arguing privately that acquiring Rockwell Automation makes no sense), but I'm kicking myself for not seeing that Baldor was the perfect fit.

On another note, I've been on SquareSpace for about a year now and decided to look at some ways to improve the site. I've changed themes trying for a little clarity and simplicity of appearance. There are a few things I still want to do when I get some spare time a little later.

I used to read Embedded Systems Programming magazine cover-to-cover and loved Jack Ganssle's columns on math. I just noticed his column on this Web site--and this is worth pondering. Is math essential for students? Some professor thinks not. You need certain amounts of math just to live economically in today's society. But more than that, I think math is a way of thinking. It teaches you a disciplined, logical approach to thought that is essential to a successful intellectual life. What do you think?

The new-age self-help gurus are all over setting goals. It's December, so it's goal-setting time for the new year. Except, when it's not. I've been through all those classes and lectures. I've come to share the outlook that Leo espouses in this essay about achieving without goals. Find your passion. Do it. Hmmm.

Michael Hyatt hit a trifecta of good posts in the last month or so. Here are some suggestions on clearing your desk, clearing your mind. Boy, do I need to do that. Why do leaders exist? Answer that in your mind, then check out his post. Something for you to focus on this coming year. Where are you most productive? Probably not in the office. I like going outside in the summer. Panera Bread. Even McDonalds. Watch the video, it's interesting. Oh, and watch out for those M&Ms (managers and meetings) that interfere with work.

Finally, here's a post from Garr Reynolds at Presentation Zen on education. Great presentation on the need for connection and engagement in education. Watch the video, too. Then pass this around. I agree wholeheartedly with this one. Wish it could really get propagated.

Beckhoff To Develop Line of Servo Motors

In an announcement at a press conference at the SPS/Drives Fair in Nuremberg on Nov. 23, Beckhoff Automation Managing Director Hans Beckhoff announced a joint venture with Fertig Motors GmbH to develop servomotors specifically for Beckhoff's PC-based Control and EtherCat--the networking technology championed by Beckhoff.

The first of these products will be presented at the end of 2011. The Motion division is being strategically expanded with new product lines in the category of servo drives, servo terminals and servomotors. Production capacities for Beckhoff drive technology are currently being expanded. The target is to grow the Motion division in the medium term to 25 percent of total sales.

Fertig Motors was established in March 2010 as a joint venture between Beckhoff Automation and Erwin Fertig, the former CEO and founder of Elau. Fertig currently has a team of 15 experienced motor and drive technology developers. The production facility is currently under construction and will begin series production at the end of 2011. “Our goal is to develop the next generation of servomotors: more dynamic, more energy-efficient and available at a low cost. Our team of highly motivated specialists is looking forward to this new challenge and is going about its work with enthusiasm. In order to ensure maximum quality standards and to guarantee high availability, all motors should be "Made in Germany," stated Fertig.

With the new standard product lines as a basis, the intent is to also develop and manufacture application-specific motors in the future. In this way, Beckhoff and Fertig Motors strive to provide their customers and their customers' applications with ideally suited motion products. The existing standard servomotor series from Beckhoff – the AM2000, AM3000 and AM3500 – will continue to be expanded even further.

Hans Beckhoff added, "We have always specialised in hardware and software, and naturally we have extensive know-how in drive technology. However, our knowledge will now be decisively deepened with the development of our own motor series, especially in the area of highly dynamic magnetic mechanics and the associated control algorithms. We are delighted with this new partnership and we are convinced that we will be able to offer our customers even more powerful system solutions as a result."