Latest Updates

This is a paper that discusses the value of having a CSI partner who has expertise within a customer's industry. The customer may have some expectations regarding the role of the "Domain Expert" that may or may not align with what the "Domain Expert" believes he or she should be doing. The Domain Expertise helps analyze the various decisions that need to be made in order to get the project started off on the right foot - so to speak. Each customer is somewhat unique in what they do and how they do it, but the Domain Expert can keep the stakeholders from "solution jumping" and properly consider decisions that they will be living with for some time into the future.

With the correct blend of experience, standards and best practices, you can focus on the more complex aspects of the automation system, which have the potential to generate more value while reducing the overall development time.

It seems that the subject of ‘value’ when discussing Control System Integration is one that isn’t uniformly defined or perhaps only defined in terms of front-end cost. So the question, “How do YOU determine value?” There are a number of things that contribute to value. It might be some sort of particular specialization or it could be the CSI’s ability to execute large, complex projects and do so reliably. In any event, in order to deliver value to the CSI customers, the CSI has to deliver something that performs well, is embraced by the operators, is on schedule and within budget. I propose that ‘value’ should be measured through start-up or commissioning.