FUD Dissection Part 2
When I was a new manager (way back when) I had a troublesome employee – Derris was a bit curmudgeonly [Encarta definition: curmudgeonly: somebody who is irritable or stubborn: somebody considered to be bad-tempered, disagreeable, or stubborn]. I consulted with the president of the company trying to figure out how to deal with him. The…
Winding Down Webinars
We had our final webinar of the year today. We’ve decided the next one will be in early 2008 and cover PROFIsafe (safety over a fieldbus). We’ve had only a few suggestions for additional topics including: Use of specific network diagnostic tools New PROFINET CBA applications (this from someone who has one) …
Never, Ever Use a Fieldbus
Never, ever use a fieldbus – just keep using 3-15psig instruments, or better yet go back to manually operated valves. Maybe it’s ok to use 4-2omA instruments, if you are really adventurous, but never, ever use a fieldbus. At least that’s the conclusion you might reach after reading “Crossing the Chasm” at ControlGlobal.com. It begins…
Scheduling Joy
I’m in the office all this week, but then it’s on the road again and again and again. The Richmond PROFINET one-day training event is October 17. (Mike A is on his way to Kansas City for the process class on October 11.) October 23 is the PROFINET Developer Workshop in Boston. Mike A will…
Overbooked and Jaded in Detroit
Overbooked applies to our PROFINET one-day training event in Detroit not the flight there. Airlines have a proprietary algorithm for predicting how many passengers will actually appear to occupy seats on their flight. I have an unsophisticated formula to predict how many will attend our PROFINET one-day training events. Mine is the more difficult calculation…
Wireless Webinar
We just concluded our Industrial Wireless Networking webinar. We ran out of time before we were able to answer the questions raised during the webinar, so we’ll post the Q&A here tomorrow. The post-webinar survey took us to task for not allowing enough time for live questions. Guilty as charged and our apologies. This webinar…
Pay me now or pay me later
There was an old TV commercial for oil filters that warned you to change the oil filter or risk damaging your engine which would cost you more later. The tag line: “Pay me now or pay me later.” This relates directly to choosing an Industrial Ethernet network. Well, maybe not real directly; in fact, it’s…
PROFInews from the Siemens Automation Summit 2007
One of my favorite activities at events like this is discovering PROFINET applications I have not seen before. Nicholas Heise highlighted many I had not seen in his presentation: * Tobacco Production (China) using PROFINET CBA for flexibility with modular machines * a Cigar Production (USA) application reduced engineering time and costs in route to…
Safety – Separate or Integrated?
Safety systems – should they be separated from or integrated with the control system? Surprisingly, vendors who offer only separate systems say you should use separate systems and vendors who offer only integrated systems say you should use integrated systems. Meanwhile, I think users are saying they should use hardwired relays. The users are missing…
Hanover Fair – Day 4
The fair used to run through Saturday, but ends mercifully on Friday these days. Fortunately for my feet, Day 4 (Thursday) is my last day on the fair. I think I stayed through Saturday only once. Saturday was family day and student day – lots of baby buggies, spouses, and kids (who were looking for…