by Gary Mintchell | Nov 21, 2024 | Business, Commentary, News
Each year for perhaps 20 years, Control magazine along with the ARC Advisory Group publishes a list of the top 50 automation suppliers globally and in North America in terms of revenue. This year’s list is introduced this way.
The largest global and North American automation suppliers report artificial intelligence (AI), sustainability, advanced computing and services drive growth.
The technologies have advanced along with the general advance in compute power, standardized networking (including fieldbuses), and visualization.
What I notice is the stability of the top 50. The leaders are mostly still the leaders with the exceptions only of a couple companies that have been on acquisition paths. You still have Siemens, ABB, Rockwell, Honeywell, Emerson, and Schneider Electric.
The market has matured. Some technologies have, also. Profinet, Ethernet/IP, HART are all stable and ubiquitous. There are also CCLink and EtherCat in certain areas.
I am writing this while collecting thoughts and observations at Rockwell Automation’s Automation Fair. This opportunity affords conversations with companies other than Rockwell Automation to assess the state of the industry.
One point stands out—the state of the market in North America. I notice that while Emerson and Rockwell Automation still rock, Siemens, ABB, and even Honeywell show small sales while Yokogawa is barely a blip. This coincides with the undertone talk amongst people at the various non-Rockwell stands here in Anaheim about the past year being slow.
All this is merely interesting. I’m sure that when you make automation procurement decisions, it will be based on far more than industry rank.
by Gary Mintchell | Nov 18, 2024 | Business, Commentary, News
A publicist I know well sent me this news from the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). I studied politics academically during a dark period of my early life. I rate this sentiment as excellent. I rate its political expediency at nearly zero. Open letters will not a president of any stripe influence.
Perhaps all Americans who read my thoughts might send something like this to your Congresspeople wherever you live. There may be some influence on industrial policy. The problem is that they each have their own agendas, and many clash with these sentiments. (I once witnessed a meeting of Congressperson Jim Jordan with constituents hurt by the tariff policy. No one left that meeting happy. Oh, well…)
We know from Trump’s first term manufacturing industry received mixed blessings from Washington’s policies. I expect more of the same. But we’re a democracy. Give it a shot.
To: President-Elect Donald Trump
From: Association for Advancing Automation (A3)
We congratulate you on your election as the 47th President of the United States of America. As an association dedicated to leadership in automation, we very much appreciate your emphasis on strengthening American manufacturing.
We call on you as the president-elect to keep the U.S. competitive in automation and robotics and to sustain our people in well-paid employment opportunities. The U.S. lags behind many countries in automation, contributing to the loss of 46,000 manufacturing jobs in October alone. While much emphasis has been placed on American leadership in AI, the fact is we are falling behind our adversaries and competitors in the real, physical world applications of AI, such as robotics. Without leadership in the physical manifestation of AI – robotics – the US will not only lose the robotics race, but also the AI race.
To reclaim US leadership in automation and robotics, we believe our country needs a national strategy, one that not only supports automation technology innovation but clearly addresses the serious supply chain problem of providing a sufficient workforce of technicians and engineers for the robotics and automation industries.
We call on the U.S. government to partner with the robotics and automation industry to share how these technologies are used to bring back jobs to the U.S. and to increase worker productivity and safety. We also need the government to boost workforce training, robotics education and career inspiration.
Robotics and other forms of automation will ultimately enable countries to be more competitive economically and in national security and hire more people in specialized capacities. We urge you to recognize the benefits automation brings to the U.S. workforce, manufacturing and overall prosperity.
We look forward to working together, as industry and government, to help our businesses and citizens succeed in today’s competitive and increasingly automated workforce.
Sincerely,
Jeff Burnstein
President
Association for Advancing Automation
by Gary Mintchell | Oct 8, 2024 | Commentary, News, Podcast
I’ve been swamped with a project for the past 10 weeks. It ends next Tuesday (supposed to end Saturday, but you know how projects go).
The travails of Google with the US DOJ and Apple with the European Union focusing on the issues of monopolistic mature market and openness spurred some thoughts on similarities with the control and automation market. Those thoughts coalesced around the podcast.
Gary on Manufacturing.
Gary on YouTube.
by Gary Mintchell | Oct 1, 2024 | Automation, Commentary, News, Standards
This second in the series of posts on The Open Process Automation Forum concerns an in-depth analysis of a proposed system orchestration standard written by Harry Forbes of the ARC Advisory Group. This was written for Red Hat, but you can download a copy.
SYSTEM ORCHESTRATION FOR OPEN INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION
ARC Whitepaper August 2024
Forbes looks at OPAF’s latest intention:
The Open Process Automation Forum (OPAF) recently announced its intention to base its System Orchestration O-PAS specification on the OASIS TOSCA standard. In the context of open heterogenous industrial automation systems, the term “System Orchestration” has a very broad meaning. It includes automated configuration, deployment, coordination, integration, and management of distributed systems and services. System Orchestration is essential for successfully managing complex software environments in modern, cloud-native application architectures. As industrial automation adopts these same architectures, it will also become critical for the industrial automation systems of the Future.
It has been too many years since that first meeting with OPAF leaders in Florida. I seem to remember that they had hired a consulting group (Nassim Nicholas Taleb notes that mathematicians begin with a problem and create a solution while consultants begin with a solution and create a problem) who had ties to the aerospace industry. The foundation standards came from there. I’m not surprised by this OPAF proposal.
Forbes continues:
Over the last 20 years in the IT and cloud computing space, many software tools have been developed and commercialized to serve these types of functions. These tools originated in open source, and several are now supported by commercial suppliers. Some have large installed bases in major enterprises. They also have large and active end user communities. They do not comply with a single standard, but rather support distinct Domain Specific Languages (DSL). During the same period, the vendor-neutral TOSCA specification has been employed in academic research and reportedly in some proprietary software in the telecom industry but has had negligible impact in commercial markets.
I side with Forbes in this preliminary conclusion:
Open automation supporters should leverage the large existing IT communities, human talent pools, and documented best practices that leading commercial products provide. While this precludes adopting a single standard, the OPAF could instead focus on carefully defining orchestration use cases for O-PAS systems, enabling end users to implement them with the commercial software that OT suppliers and industrial automation end users both prefer.
The entire whitepaper is worth a read.
by Gary Mintchell | Sep 18, 2024 | Commentary, News
Department of weird headlines—from today’s OPC Foundation news, “DCS Vendors Shift Toward OPC UA Over Classic.” There is some nuance. But it caused a double take.
From The Athletic newsletter, “NFL Playoff Predictor, updated projections.” It’s only the second week of the season. Predict? Supposedly Yogi Berra stated, “Predictions are difficult, especially about the future.” OK, I suppose if I were an NFL fan, this “news” would give me something to argue about with friends. I envision a sports bar, a beer, noise…
Last week I was in Phoenix for the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society annual conference. Plenty of energy. A big change from my normal venues. More coming later. Mostly due to…
This week in Folsom, CA at the Ignition Community Conference. Even more energy. Ignition 8.3 is an exciting release. More later as I gather my thoughts through the fog of fall allergy season.
by Gary Mintchell | Aug 23, 2024 | Commentary, News
After many years of Automation Fair expos from Rockwell Automation, the 2024 edition from November 18-21 in Anaheim boasts a new look and feel. Registration is now open for what Rockwell Automation calls, “a vibrant convergence of innovation, learning, and networking opportunities for industrial operations and technology leaders worldwide.”
The Rockwell publicity team pulled out the old Thesaurus. The four-day agenda is meticulously curated with exclusive programming found nowhere else, featuring tailored sessions, tracks, tours, and experiences designed to inspire and empower attendees. From hands-on learning to executive forums, attendees will gain insights into overcoming production challenges, enhancing resilience, agility, and sustainability, and making a significant impact in their industries.
One reason that Automation Fair always had very high attendance was that distributors brought their best customers and prospects (I did that a few times). Customer attendance was free of charge. This year’s event is much more like the traditional customer conference of its competitors. That means more content and also a fee to attend. Check out the sessions. Good content and networking makes it all worthwhile.
Event Highlights:
- Daily Keynotes: A fan favorite! Prepare to be inspired by industry experts and thought leaders driving meaningful change. Hosted Monday-Wednesday and open to all attendees.
- Expo: Explore more than 120 interactive exhibits across a half-million square feet of the Expo floor, Discovery Theaters showcase new product launches, and Expo tours are available to maximize time on the Expo floor.
- Education: 450+ hours of advanced training, 400+ domain expert presenters and 275+ educational sessions. Experience hands-on labs for interactive training and participate in product and technology sessions focusing on cutting-edge use cases and demonstrations.
- Off-site Tours: Back by popular demand, off-site tours are a unique opportunity to get close to the action at local cutting-edge industrial facilities.
