by Gary Mintchell | Jan 16, 2017 | Education, Leadership
“I have a dream.” Most Americans and people in many other countries know how to complete that introduction. Americans today celebrate the life of of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
His dream–that all peoples would be judged on the strength of their character rather than the color of their skins.
Many laws were passed in his wake. Much has been done to make society more fair in America–and probably many other places.
But almost every news I see from everywhere in the world, people are still wrestling with bringing this basic respect for other people–especially those who differ from us–into our thoughts and lives.
I heard a couple of guys talking in the locker room recently. They were talking about black people in the classic “they are lazy and on drugs and always looking for a handout” manner. I’m sure I didn’t confront them, because I’m personally pretty non-confrontational. But I must have said something, because one said, “Do you think we’re racists?” I thought to myself, “Well, yes, I do.” But he didn’t think he was. <sigh>
Respect for people is the foundation principle of Lean.
A workplace with a diverse group of people outperforms one where everyone is the same.
We know these work.
It only takes a small step every day to bring that dream into general reality.
by Gary Mintchell | Apr 19, 2016 | News
We have been anticipating a transition at Rockwell Automation, and today the company announced it has happened. Its board of directors has elected Blake D. Moret, a 30-year veteran of the Company, as president and chief executive officer, effective July 1, 2016. At that time Keith D. Nosbusch, 65, who has been president and chief executive officer since 2004, will transition from those roles while continuing as chairman of the board. Moret, 53, is currently senior vice president of the Company’s Control Products & Solutions segment.
A similar transition occurred when Nosbusch became CEO—Don Davis remained as Chairman for a period of time to assist the transition.
Rockwell had a strong group of internal contenders for the position. Any would have been a good choice in my opinion.
Donald R. Parfet, Lead Director, said: “Blake has proven himself to be an exceptional leader, with demonstrated readiness to lead the company. We welcome him to his new role at the conclusion of a deliberate and planned succession process. We are delighted he will build on the Company’s many accomplishments under Keith’s direction and propel our vision of The Connected Enterprise to the next level.”
“The past 12 years have been transformational for Rockwell Automation,” Parfet continued. “We’ve become a global technology leader and the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and information. Equally important, we are well positioned to accelerate our evolution with industry-leading innovation that improves our customers’ global competitiveness.”
“We thank Keith for his outstanding leadership during this period, including his work as a vocal champion of smart, productive, and secure manufacturing. We are pleased that he has agreed to stay on as chairman so that the Company can continue to benefit from his experience and support Blake’s transition to CEO.”
Nosbusch said: “It has been an honor and privilege to lead Rockwell Automation over the past 12 years. While as a team we enjoyed tremendous success, I have no doubt that we are well positioned for an even greater future. Blake is the ideal executive to move Rockwell Automation forward in its next chapter. He brings a strong customer focus, as well as a deep understanding of the Company’s values, culture, people, and technology, and how each of these power the Company’s success.”
Moret said: “I am honored to have the opportunity to lead Rockwell Automation and its talented employees into an exciting future. We have a deep management team, unmatched technology solutions, domain expertise across a broad range of industries, and enduring customer relationships around the world. We are committed to continue to deliver customer and shareowner value in the years ahead.”
Moret has 30 years of experience in sales and business management roles in product, services, and solutions businesses across Rockwell Automation. He began his career in 1985 as a sales trainee, and subsequently served in senior positions across the organization, including international assignments in Europe and Canada. In 2011, he was named senior vice president of Control Products & Solutions, one of the Company’s two business segments, with FY15 sales of $3.6 billion.
Moret is a graduate of Georgia Institute of Technology, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He has served as Chair of the Board of the Manufacturing Institute of the National Association of Manufacturers. Additionally, he is a member of the Board of Directors for the Milwaukee-based Urban Ecology Center, the Board of Directors of the United Way of Greater Milwaukee, and the Advisory Board of the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 15, 2016 | Marketing
Media interests me. Magazines, Web, notifications, alerts, and maybe even TV (although to a much lesser degree). Much of the news I consume comes via email, a newsreader (RSS), a few magazines (for longer range thinking), and maybe a couple of apps.
Jason Calacanis, now an angel investor and inveterate self-promoter, made his initial money as a pioneer in Web-based media. He sold his blog-based “empire” to AOL, then started several other businesses. Recently he tried a news app and email newsletter. I really like the email newsletter–I like things delivered not where I have to go search.
Well, yesterday’s newsletter proclaimed that it’s time to know when to throw in the towel:
I’ve been beating my head against a wall for the last two years trying to make a news app experience work, and despite great reviews, I’ve failed.
So, we’re giving up on the Inside.com App and focusing 100% of our efforts on a medium that’s resulting in much better engagement — email!
WHY NEWS APPS FAILED
Very few people seem to want a dedicated news app, and while my team poured their heart and soul into building what I think was one of the two or three best news app experiences ever, we couldn’t get traction.
We got exceptional reviews, great press, featured by Apple, and tons of glorious feedback from users — but we didn’t have breakout success.
In this space, Automation World tried an app while I was still there. Don’t think it ever took off. Automation.com has a great app, but they never update it. So does ISA. And Profibus/Profinet US. But none seem to be going anywhere.
One problem is app saturation. It was such a good market to begin with, but people quickly grew tired of accumulating so many apps. I have five screens worth, and most people have far more. How do you keep up with them all?
I get blogs by feed reader or email. I don’t go searching much. I even failed to renew my Wall Street Journal subscription because it was all on the app, and I never go there. The NY Times sends me an email and its stories appear in my feed reader. Much friendlier.
Your Media Habit
So what is your media habit (aside from reading my site–or do you just read from the email)?
Do you spend much time with control and automation magazines?
What would you really like to serve you news you want?
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 4, 2016 | Marketing, News
Let’s take a look at a product development process today. My pool of things to write about has shrunk recently. I’m stretching out a little.
I will be at the ARC Forum next week. If any of you are going, look me up. Or stop me in the hallway to chat.
Have you ever participated in one of the crowd-sourcing investment projects? I invested in a Kickstarter project one time. Got the product eventually. Don’t use it now. But that’s OK. Have you ever thought about funding a new project through Kickstarter or something? These companies are proliferating.
A notice recently came through about a service for people crowdfunding. Krowdster is a big data powered web app for crowdfunding campaign optimization and promotion. It recently announced the addition of two new features to make it easier for crowdfunders to find targeted influencers and trending content in their industries.
In the past, crowdfunders may have hired expensive marketing or PR firms to do the job for them, but thanks to technology and big data, there are now tools that do the heavy lifting for you and make information accessible that has previously been impossible to access.
Influencer Search is a keyword search to discover influencers, journalists and bloggers in any niche, who have a following and who can help to get exposure for your crowdfunding campaign.
Trending Content is an easy way to discover blogs and news sites with trending content in any crowdfunding niche. Input search terms relevant to your campaign and discover content that is going viral on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google. This information can be used to build targeted media lists of the blogs and news sites that are writing about similar topics.
Both of the new tools work for all donations or rewards crowdfunding campaigns as well as the newly approved equity crowdfunding types “Regulation A+” and “Title III” of the JOBS Act.
Optimize & promote crowdfunding product development
Other features:
- Find Backers and Super Backers on Kickstarter and Indiegogo
- Build a highly targeted and engaged following on Twitter
- Get a professional Press Release written and distributed
- Reach influencers, journalists, and bloggers in your niche
- Discover viral content in your niche
- Optimize your campaign page setup
by Gary Mintchell | Jan 25, 2016 | Automation, Commentary, News, Technology
Make no mistake about it, Siemens in “all in” on industry 4.0, otherwise known as digital manufacturing. As the company experiences some restructuring, the PLM business continues to add companies and technologies to its digital manufacturing business.
A news item from Reuters, also reported in many outlets this morning, says that Siemens is set to acquire privately held CD-adapco. This computer-aided-engineering (CAE) developer focuses on simulating engines and other mechanical systems. It looks like a good fit.
Reuters says the deal would be for about $1 billion. The founder/CEO of CD-adapco passed away in September. Is widow has been running the company since then.
The race between Siemens and GE just keeps getting more interesting. Meanwhile, Rockwell Automation focuses on the factory and process automation space, preferring to steer clear of the engineering and PLM software space. Schneider Electric’s moves have been interesting, although its attempt to acquire Aveva collapsed. ABB has been busy divesting and refocusing following former-CEO Joe Hogan’s sudden departure.
Digital manufacturing, especially featuring digital simulation of manufacturing processes, is the core of Germany’s Industrie 4.0 initiative. GE is pursuing a somewhat similar path, but it prefers the strategy of “Industrial Internet of Things.” Targeting automotive and aircraft manufacturers, these strategies hold the promise of not only increased manufacturing and supply chain efficiencies, but also possibilities of new business and income models.
What will be interesting to watch is whether Siemens and GE get so large in the space that they can no longer efficiently manage the diverse portfolio.
