I tried to be thoughtful and analytical in my post about Invensys and then broader into the automation market. But I often seem to stir up something.
Just discovered that this is not a new thing. My first “real” job out of grad school was at Airstream–the manufacturer of luxury travel trailers and motorhomes. While I was there we also built truck bodies for UPS and the bodies for the original people movers at the Atlanta airport (I quoted both of those projects). My last few years were in product development ending up as a program manager.
Turns out that Airstream (yes it still exists) has hired someone with an MA in history to write and compose an Airstream history. Part of it is an oral history. I’m going back to my home town of Jackson Center, Ohio tomorrow to be interviewed as part of this project. To prepare, I searched my files for any old stuff. Found the project plan for one of the 1980 trailer lines, the brochure for the first Airstream brand motorhome, the brochure for the Diesel-powered motor home (one of my projects), and, oh yes, a series of memos. Seems I wrote a memo about the the state of the bill of materials (which was one of my responsibilities) relative to such things as inventory shrinkage. Must have stepped on some toes, because what I found was the follow up memo where I said that I didn’t mean to point fingers (bet I did) and a copy of that memo returned to me with an atta boy written by the President. Wow. (didn’t stop him from laying me off two months later, though).
