Gary Mintchell's Feed Forward

Here's a sampling of the industry blogs I read over the past couple of days.

Jim Cahill's Emerson Process Experts on Optimum Combustion for Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Actually, I bookmarked that one for information for an article on sustainability I'm writing for our March issue of Automation World. Thanks, Jim.

Jim was back later with Similarities and Differences in Fired Heater Safety Standards. He also posted Electronically Dispatching Work Procedures. The idea of promoting internal experts to the community is good marketing and a community service.

Greg McMillan continued his Exceptional Opportunities in Process Control series with Middle Signal Selection.

Eric Murphy at the OPC Exchange Blog writes about OPC UA's adoption as a standard within NIST's Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards.

Speaking of OPC UA, I've been wondering about it versus OPC Xi -- the standard built on Microsoft .Net that the large systems suppliers seemed to want for a quick fix to the COM/DCOM problems of classic OPC. There'll be more coming after some press conferences Monday in Orlando, but the gist is that there will be a number of companies coming out with embedded solutions that will expand OPC UA into a number of new areas. So, if you are just updating your OPC communication from field devices and controllers to HMI or databases, Xi will get you there quickly. If you're looking for additional opportunities for communication, stay tuned to OPC UA.

One reason for investing in simulation technologies is to facilitate knowledge transfer--maybe also called best practices. Emerson's Jim Cahill discuss this, and points to the Mynah blog--which I did not subscribe to but do now. Thanks.

I see Jim Cahill has signed off for the year. Have a good time away from the computer. I've only slowed down because I'm trying to wrap up the January issue of Automation World and am writing the main feature about innovation in automation. It's very interesting, but very involved.

While recognizing people from Emerson Process, Greg McMillan has been busy with his Exceptional Opportunities in Process Control series. I appreciate this one--it's something I can understand right away! Thanks for the series this year, Greg.

There has been a proliferation of thinking about ISA since its shocking announcements in early October (hope you've caught up with Our ISA. Keith Campbell, retired from Hershey and now a blogger for Packaging World, posted a provactive essay this week. Will ISA Take the Wrong Path Again?

I first met Keith in relation to his work with OMAC (and I think he made a great presentation on financial justification of projects at a WBF meeting several years ago if memory serves). ARC Advisory Group used to sponsor OMAC, but then it handed it over to ISA to run some time ago. But OMAC still has meetings at the annual ARC Forum in Orlando. Same will be this year. This year it's called "ARC World Industry Forum:  Where Industry Leaders Meet to Solve Their Most Challenging Issues." It'll have four tracks you can choose from. Check it out. I'm sure they'd love to see more "end users" show up this year. I plan to be there. Once again they have press conference marathon for editors from 12 to 6 on Monday. Gives its clients a chance to get in front of us--hopefully with news. It's February 8-11 at the Rosen Center.

I have a bunch more items in queue, but gotta get to the gym and then finish that article. Watch for our special innovation and ideas issue online in early January and in your mailbox in mid-January.

Greg McMillan has struck again over at the Modeling and Control blog with a piece on control valve dynamics. This is far from my area of expertise, so I read these to learn--a lot.

I made it to Anaheim this afternoon and only missed one of the presentations to the general group for Rockwell Automation's Process Systems Users Group. Reported attendance numbers unofficially are around 500, greater than last year. That's a good trend (we can all hope that the economy is getting better for us!).

We're in the middle of a bunch of product updates. They got some applause with the announcement that Rockwell now supports a virtual computing environment with VMware. Discussions included process control, asset management and field devices (support for just about everything that's needed including WirelessHart), now I'm listening to updates on batch control. Still more updates to come.

Our Safety Automation Forum is shaping up to be an outstanding event tomorrow. I'll also have interviews with several top Rockwell executives tomorrow. These will never have breaking news, but I hope to gain some insights into Rockwell's direction, plans and expectations for the next year. Stay tuned.