Manny Mandrusiak reports from our Greenville PROFIBUS in the Process Industries one-day training class:
I used to enjoy reading magazines where they had issues that were “Assistant Editor’s Months” – issues where the Assistant Editor wrote the column, with a little different perspective. Well that would make me the “Assistant Blogger” for Carl. I do apologize for the delay in the post, but I ventured from Greenville back to Canada for a quick visit, or as everyone in Arizona affectionately refers to it as “getting my Tim Horton’s coffee fix. I must say that I do miss my Timmy Ho Ho’s living in the US, but I’m sure the fact that I will never have to shovel snow again will make me feel better.
While Carl was busy at ABB World this week, the rest of the team deployed to Greenville to hold a Process Training Class and we were not disappointed with the turn out. Over 75 people packed the Champagne Conference room at the Greenville Marriott to soak up the latest developments in PROFIBUS for the Process Industries. Note: Being Canadian its pronounced pro-sess. [From my own expat assignment in Canada, I knew process has a long o, not a short o as in the US. –Carl]
PTO Executive Director Mike Bryant was on hand to emcee the event. Attendees were treated to additional information about the future of PROFIBUS and PROFINET, right from the horse’s mouth. Mike gave an excellent overview of the PTO, its roots, and where the organization was heading for the future.
Mike also fielded a lot of questions about the differences between PROFIBUS and Foundation Fieldbus. People who attended were looking for answers and there was no better place to find them than from Mike.
There was a really good mix of professionals in the crowd. Most surprisingly was the number of IT people in the crowd. I spoke to a number of them, and they are all looking for the knowledge in how to get data out of PROFIBUS systems and pull it into ERP and MES systems. This is a trend that I have seen over the last few years. More IT professionals are being asked to delve into shop floor systems for data access. It most definitely justifies the need for the training classes that we are conducting.
Comments were:
“Very good! Not really too sure what I was going to expect, but came away learning a lot.”
“Very good foundation to begin understanding PROFIBUS. I have plenty of information to take back.”
“Good seeing so many vendors in the room.”
“Good overview from simple to more complex systems to include higher use.”
“Well worth my time.”
PROFINET was also a huge topic of discussion. There were a series of questions about PROFINET and the reliability of the technology. Mike had no issues with opening the floor to a PROFINET discussion. It was a true testament to the thirst for knowledge that the attendees had. Across the room, everyone was looking for more. It was a hugely successful seminar in my opinion.
Attendees were also treated to a presentation from Moin on asset management. Moin brought along a complete process system demo for attendees to interact with. Between that system and the generous displays from the vendors who attended, individuals who attended this training class really got a good look at PROFIBUS hardware.
The one thing that I was sad about was the fact that I have still not had barbecue. I’m from Canada, so barbecue has a completely different meaning to me, but I have become totally fascinated by southern barbecue. I’m dying to get the opportunity to sample some true barbecue, because as I understand it there are two different kinds in the south: vinegar based, and tomato based. If anyone out there has any suggestions for me as to where to get my barbecue education, please post your comments to the blog. I want to completely experience real American barbecue and I would really appreciate some restaurant suggestions.
We still have many more classes coming up; see the schedule at http://us.profibus.com/news_display.aspx?newsid=156. And if we are missing your geography this year, try one of our archived webinars at http://us.profibus.com/webinars.aspx?pagetype=archive for one-hour webinars on Industrial Ethernet, PROFINET, and PROFIBUS.