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Oct 30, 2024 | 
automationworld.com | Keith Mandachit
You might be wondering what the bio sciences industry has to do with the broad manufacturing audience of Automation World. The reason I want to highlight the bio sciences here is because it has everything to do with effective manufacturing strategies today. While bio science revolves around microbes and propylene and the latest economies of sugar and corn and new alternative fuel sources, it’s also about data and systems and technology and automation.
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Jun 17, 2024 | 
automationworld.com | Keith Mandachit
It’s been a long day at work and you head home to relax but find out the roof is leaking. Then, your spouse says, “Oh yeah, I meant to mention, I think the dishwasher is on the fritz too.” After 20 years in the same house, a thought pops into your mind: We’ve been meaning to do something to the basement, too. Is it time to move?
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Dec 13, 2023 | 
plantengineering.com | Chris Vavra |Kevin Parker |Keith Mandachit |Barbara Padgett
Details about the class of 2024 System Integrator of the Year winners: Interstates, Polytron and APCO Inc. Many great control system integrators exist, and many are expanding system integration capabilities and talent to help clients remain competitive, relevant and useful in an accelerating world of technology developments and market demands. Congratulations to the applicants who took the time to answer questions and assembled supporting documents to meet requirements to become finalists.
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Dec 13, 2023 | 
plantengineering.com | Kevin Parker |Keith Mandachit |Barbara Padgett |Chris Vavra
The historian Edmund Gibbon in his Decline and Fall, speaks of a field general who “transported his person to the scenes of danger,” or, as in a chess game, to the points of greatest tension. And that’s what systems integrators do. Systems integration brings together for a one-time event a menu of role-defined individuals to execute a project in a constrained environment that requires highly trained individuals to execute detailed, complex protocols.
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Dec 13, 2023 | 
plantengineering.com | Kevin Parker |Keith Mandachit |Barbara Padgett |Chris Vavra
System integration insights Winning system integrators (SIs) emphasize their impact, from setting up water systems to aiding industries like petroleum refining and medical manufacturing. The integration landscape evolves with the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), cloud, artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics, fostering cross-training between information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) professionals.
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Dec 13, 2023 | 
plantengineering.com | Kevin Parker |Keith Mandachit |Barbara Padgett |John DeTellem |Chris Vavra
System integration insights Systems integrators offer advanced tech access, aiding productivity through information technology/operational technology (IT/OT) convergence and automation. Current tech advancements, like the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), rival the impact of programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) in the 1980s.
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Dec 13, 2023 | 
plantengineering.com | Jose Rivera |Kevin Parker |Keith Mandachit |Barbara Padgett |Chris Vavra
System integration insights Supply chain resilience and labor constraints from COVID-19 shape increased automation demands, pushing system integrators (SIs) to broaden project scopes and face talent shortages. SIs should assess strengths, expand perspectives through collaborations, address talent shortages, and explore newer business models for sustained growth.
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Dec 9, 2023 | 
plantengineering.com | Keith Mandachit |Barbara Padgett |John DeTellem |Kevin Parker |Chris Vavra
SCADA terms and definitions Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) is a system of software and hardware elements that can control processes either locatly or remotely. SCADA components include the supervisory computer, remote terminal units (RTUs) or programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and human machine interfaces (HMIs) that display a schematic representation of the system, amongst other information.
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Dec 9, 2023 | 
controleng.com | Keith Mandachit |Barbara Padgett
System integration insights Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, in a recent report, said as many as 2.1 million manufacturing jobs will be unfilled through 2030, and warns that the worker shortage will hurt revenue and production and could ultimately cost the US economy up to $1 trillion by 2030. Folks over 55 years of age make up increasingly larger portions of the technical workforce in the US.
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Jun 19, 2023 | 
automationworld.com | Keith Mandachit
Spring and fall are traditional times for industry conferences. At these events we’ve talked about Industry 4.0, cybersecurity, digital transformation, IT/OT convergence, digital twins and the impact of AI, specifically ChatGPT and its use cases in industrial manufacturing. Each of these topics is fascinating but one message has dominated my thoughts recently and I can’t quite shake it.
