Lisa Richter, Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) Industry Director PostedSeptember 20, 2019 AT 11:28 AM Agile vs. Waterfall: Which Way Is the Most Successful? Historically a software development/IT concept, agile project management methodology is creeping into other areas of the enterprise – from marketing to human relations and, yes, even manufacturing. But what about system integration? Is there a place for it? According to Tom Sulda, director and lead trainer for Latsa, the answer is a resounding yes … maybe. What Is Waterfall Methodology? A waterfall approach attempts to gather all the project requirements from the customer, then define a solution, estimate the cost and profit percentage of that solution, and then proposes both a solution and a cost. Sounds logical and simple enough. But as Sulda points out, there are some downsides. For starters, clients are all over the map in terms of being technically savvy – and that means they don’t always know what they don’t know. Therefore, there are some “clients who are very easy because they can be very clear about what they want and why they want ... Read More
Lisa Richter, Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) Industry Director PostedAugust 23, 2019 AT 11:08 AM 7 Selected Takeaways from Life as an Emerging Innovator IIot. Industry 4.0. The digital transformation. These days, you hear a lot of talk about this as an emerging trend. But how many organizations are actually walking the talk? Rising to the Challenge Meet Marc Taccolini, a former system integrator turned entrepreneur, who is not only walking the talk, he is also developing solutions such as FactoryStudio, a platform that he says addresses “the new challenges for the 4.0 industry.” As founder and CTO of Tatsoft, Taccolini’s journey from an integration engineer to innovator have given him a unique perspective on life, industrial automation and the future of system integration. On Life, Industrial Automation and the Future of System Integration During the CSIA 2019 Executive Conference, Taccolini recorded an episode of Talking Industrial Automation. Here’s a few key takeaways from that interview. On approaching a new project: “When we approach projects, it should not really be a new custom design. It ... Read More
Lisa Richter, Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) Industry Director PostedJuly 26, 2019 AT 11:07 AM Robots and jobs: This is what you need to know now to get ready Today’s headlines are full of gloomy examples of robots and automation replacing humans. Take this recent story in USA Today about how one Sin City resort chain is installing automated beverage systems and displacing service workers. Or this video of Ford’s eerily human-like, two-legged delivery robot coming to your door any minute now. Will robots take our jobs? With so much doomsday messaging, it’s easy to feel like the world is just one motherboard away from Stanley Kubrick’s HAL 9000 and humankind is going to be left to scrounge for scrap metal and huddle under discarded space capsules. Not so fast, says Jeff Burnstein, president of the Association of Advancing Automation, the umbrella organization for the Robotic Industries Association, Advancing Vision and Imaging, and Motion Control and Motor Association. While he acknowledges that the application of robotics is surging, he believes it will result in a net increase in jobs. “Robots are going to ... Read More
Lisa Richter, Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) Industry Director PostedJuly 10, 2019 AT 7:42 PM It's Time to Re-Think Your Simple Attribution Model; It's no Good (Sorry, not Sorry) With more and more channels competing for marketing dollars – and higher ups demanding data-driven decisions – marketers are challenged with evaluating their marketing mix. In fact, 41% of modern marketers have turned to marketing attribution modeling to evaluate ROI, according to research. What the Heck? In the most basic terms, attribution modeling attempts to assign a value or credit to the channel(s) that connected the customer to the channel. Sounds easy enough, amiright? All you have to do is figure out the first or last touchpoint (called single source attribution) and boom, that’s where you attribute the sale. Let’s break that down. Single Source Attribution and that aDORable Whatchamacallit In the first-touch attribution model, all credit gets assigned to the source that captured the initial engagement. For example, a first touch might be white paper download or lead from third-party site, such as a buyer’s guide. In the last-touch ... Read More
Lisa Richter, Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) Industry Director PostedJune 25, 2019 AT 3:15 PM How to Trust Processes That Will Help You Manage Growth 83% of CSIA members forecast a rosy economic outlook, according the April 2019 EZ Stats. And for many SIs, the rising economic tide translates to considerable growth and a new set of challenges: scaling up. As it turns out, it’s a tricky channel to navigate, with the shorelines of success littered with the shipwrecks of failures. Therefore, it’s essential to create a scalable management model, according to Matthew Swyers, founder, The Trademark Company, in “4 Essential Steps to Managing Growth,” in Inc. “As your business grows you must develop scalable management and quality control systems,” says Swyers. “As your business grows and duties become more segmented among new employees, a management structure must be put in place to ensure accountability against established benchmarks as well as to make sure quality control of your goods and services remains constant.” Mike Howard, vice president, system integration at George T. Hall ... Read More
Lisa Richter, Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) Industry Director PostedJune 4, 2019 AT 3:24 PM This Is What Happens When You Challenge Fear and Embrace Vulnerability It’s no secret that engineers are more skeptical than most when it comes to marketing, even among the younger generations. Case in point: Zack Scriven, co-founder of Zack Scriven Media. While he was the owner of an SI company early in his career, he felt the same way. “I was anti-marketing, anti-sales,” Scriven recalls. “And to be honest, I do not think it served me well…since then, I’ve had to truly embrace and come to love marketing.” So much so, he left his career as an SI to launch his own company and become a marketing evangelist, specializing in video and social marketing. What he’s learned along the way is that the recipe to successful marketing is one-part authenticity + one-part transparency. “If you can connect on a human level, a person-to-person level, your audience will learn to trust you, and you can use that as the foundation of your marketing and branding,” Scriven explains. And video is the perfect ... Read More
Lisa Richter, Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) Industry Director PostedMay 24, 2019 AT 11:36 AM What Happens When You Deploy a Try-Before-You-Buy People Pipeline? Over the past couple of months, I’ve attended quite a few industry events (I’m looking at you, CSIA Executive Conference!). And while the venues, hosts and people were all over the map, there was one universal topic that kept leaping out: sourcing qualified talent. This “global war on talent,” says Joe LaRussa, director of industrial engineering for the North American Seat Business at Brose, a global automotive mechatronic solutions provider, has plagued the manufacturing industry for years, including bleeding into North America. As a team leader of manufacturing and industrial engineers responsible for manufacturing process design, Joe says he finds it particularly hard to source controls engineers and people with tooling experience. “These are two key areas where capacity is really limited,” he says. “On top of this, there is the capability issue. I find many just don’t have enough experience or simply not enough transferable ... Read More
Lisa Richter, Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) Industry Director PostedFebruary 1, 2019 AT 12:53 PM Looking for a Pathway to Robust and Secure Industrial Automation? Artwork by Caroline Whalen System integration often happens in the later stages of a project and typically represents a relatively small part of the overall spend. If it’s not done right, it can torpedo the entire venture. You might want to ask yourself a few questions: Does your manufacturing operation rely on automation for success? Do you need your systems integrator to be your go-to supplier to perform your automation and configuration activities? Do you feel like your automation system is a black box, and you just hope it works when it is time to run your operation? Do you lose sleep at night worrying that someone will cyber-hack into your automation system and create havoc? Do you hope your systems integrator is there for you day in and day out for the long-haul? Does procurement commoditize system integration? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are not alone. Your next question is most likely: Where to ... Read More
Dennis Nash, Control Station, Inc. President PostedJanuary 29, 2019 AT 2:04 PM PID Tuning Fundamentals: Simple ‘Recipe” for Tuning PIDs Highly effective and repeatable methods for tuning PID controllers manually do indeed exist. Read More
Dennis Nash, Control Station, Inc. President PostedNovember 29, 2018 AT 12:15 PM PID Tuning Fundamentals: Calculating Model Parameters Tuning PID control loops involves the collection and analysis of test data as well as the modeling of the associated process dynamics. Read More
Dennis Nash, Control Station, Inc. President PostedOctober 16, 2018 AT 9:19 AM PID Tuning Fundamentals: Bump Test Options The bump test is a critical step in any PID controller tuning method. Read More
Dennis Nash, Control Station, Inc. President PostedOctober 4, 2018 AT 12:55 PM PID Tuning Fundamentals: Collecting Good Data At one time or another we’ve all heard the old adage: Garbage in, Garbage out. While it’s an old saying, it’s a good one and it’s highly relevant to PID controller tuning and process optimization. Read More
Dennis Nash, Control Station, Inc. President PostedSeptember 25, 2018 AT 10:06 AM PID Tuning Fundamentals: Good Control Should Be SIMPLE After all these years the Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller remains the workhorse for process manufacturers. Still, after more than 50 years of use in industry many practitioners continue to view the tuning of PID controllers as a “black art”. Read More
, Applied Manufacturing Technologies PostedJuly 16, 2018 AT 8:30 AM Don’t be Phased by Your Automation Project Finding yourself with more questions than answers about your automation project? Make or buy? Robots? Conveyors? Tooling? How much will this cost? Do we have the expertise in house to even try to tackle an automation project? Read More
, RedViking PostedJuly 12, 2018 AT 8:30 AM 5 Principles of Flexible Assembly Line Design https://www.automationworld.com/5-principles-flexible-assembly-line-design By following these principles of flexible assembly line design, manufacturers can pursue lean manufacturing in their current operation while also building capabilities to maintain or add lean improvements in the future. Read More
Vryan Constantino, Panacea Technologies Inc Lead Engineer PostedJuly 9, 2018 AT 8:30 AM Thin Clients, ThinManager and the Mobile HMI https://www.automationworld.com/thin-clients-thinmanager-and-mobile-hmi As you make your move to mobile human-machine interfaces, ThinManager is a good way to ease the integration and operation of your thin client. Read More
, Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) PostedJuly 2, 2018 AT 6:30 AM Obsolescence and Aging Infrastructure—Call the Guy! Quick! https://www.automationworld.com/obsolescence-and-aging-infrastructure-call-guy-quick Nearly every manufacturing facility, no matter the industry, has the equipment that’s been there for decades, and the one old-timer who knows how to fix it. Prepare now before he retires and that knowledge walks out the door. Read More
Luigi De Bernardini, Autoware, S.R.L. CEO PostedJune 29, 2018 AT 8:30 AM Digitalization Is Disrupting the Supply Chain https://www.automationworld.com/digitalization-disrupting-supply-chain A range of technologies have changed the industrial landscape. Companies that can successfully manage those technologies will also change the way they manage their supply chain. Read More
Michael Bachelor, Bachelor Controls, Inc. President PostedJune 21, 2018 AT 8:30 AM Oh, the Things We Can Do https://www.automationworld.com/oh-things-we-can-do When considering the important anatomy of an Internet of Things system, don’t neglect your focus on the ‘things’ themselves. Then you can worry about the cloud, analytics and dashboards. Read More
Stephen J Malyszko P.E., Malisko Engineering, Inc. President & CEO PostedJune 18, 2018 AT 8:30 AM Is Your Plant Floor Capable of Connection? https://www.automationworld.com/your-plant-floor-capable-connection All buzzwords aside, it’s time to start planning for the future if you’re not already doing so. Three important areas that manufacturers need to focus on are security, physical infrastructure and the logical topology. Read More