Speaking of Training
loading… I read the October issue of Automation World moments ago (while my computer was rebooting – I read quick and the computer boots slow). “Fieldbus Reigns in Process Control” emphasizes the need for training and relates experiences from users that have made the investment in training. (Also read the sidebar: “Training Is Critical”.) From…
Never, Ever Use a Fieldbus
loading… 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…
Foremost Fieldbus Expert Speaks in LA
loading… For those of you in Los Angeles on November 13, I’ll be speaking at the local ISA meeting on why to use a fieldbus. You will find more information here: http://www.isala.org/profibus.html. Please note at the information site that I did not provide the following sentence as part of my biography: “We are fortunate to…
Scheduling Joy
loading… 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…
ISA Side Trip
loading… From the ISA Show’s biggest booth to that company’s new Customer Technology Center was a short drive. I visited the Phoenix Contact Customer Technology Center in Houston instead of going back to the show on Thursday. It is an impressive facility with a great training room and a more impressive product presentation area. Lots…
ISA Impressions
loading… If you remember the glory days of the ISA Show like I do the current incarnation is really disappointing. It’s telling that National Manufacturing Week has moved out of McCormack to Rosemount while the Allen Bradley Automation Fair is in McCormick. User gatherings rule and the shows drool. Look at the recent attendance reports…
Milestones
loading… Google was 10 years old yesterday. PROFIsafe celebrates its 10th anniversary this month, too. The Working Group was formed 10 years ago this month. Now with over 410,000 nodes installed through last December it’s the most prolific of the safety over a fieldbus technologies. Next year Dilbert will be 20! And the first PROFIBUS…
Balancing the Needs of Engineering and IT
loading… At the recent PROFINET one-day training event in Detroit I had an interesting side conversation with an IT guy about the IT challenges in adopting Industrial Ethernet, especially when the plant is unionized. I pointed him to the Industrial Ethernet Book how-to-get-along article: “The great IT divide: good intentions separated by common objectives.” Now…
Overbooked and Jaded in Detroit
loading… 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…
RPAs, PICCs, PITLs, and PITCs plus RSS
loading… PI (PROFIBUS and PROFINET International) is the international umbrella organization for PROFIBUS and PROFINET fieldbus technologies. Today the emphasis is on international. I have recently returned from the PI annual meeting of Regional PI Associations (RPAs) like PTO. We accomplished the mundane (budgets and elections) and the exciting (strategy review and individual RPA updates). …