by Gary Mintchell | Feb 12, 2021 | Business, Leadership, News
ICYMI, NI (the company formerly known as National Instruments) has staked out some bold new directions. It is now called simply NI. The corporate identity also includes new logo and bold new colors.
That can be mere cosmetics. It has also just announced its 10-year corporate impact strategy, aimed at addressing some of our most pressing environmental, societal, and economic issues. The goals cover three pillars:
- Changing the faces of engineering
- Building a thriving and equitable society
- Engineering a healthy planet
That could also be mere words written for a corporate annual report only to be forgotten in the quest for sales, profits, survival.
To probe more deeply, I was able to connect with Tabitha Upshaw, NI’s Head of Corporate Impact, to discuss more on these goals and what NI is actually doing. She took some time out of a busy day to brief me on the details of the goals and directions. I acknowledged that this sounds great and also within the history and culture of NI—a company I’ve followed since 1998 when it was an upstart entrepreneurial company. The refreshing part is in the details. She (and the team) has organized governance teams, working groups, reporting—all the tools of good management. I think they are actually going to follow through to make an impact.
NI Launches 10-Year Strategy and Goals for Advancing Diversity, Equity and Sustainability
Company also makes $3.4 million commitment to advancing diversity in STEM education
February 03, 2021 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
NI released Engineering Hope, its 2030 Corporate Impact Strategy, outlining the company’s vision and aspirational goals for making a measurable, positive impact on society and the environment by 2030. The long-term plan to advance diversity, equity and sustainability furthers NI’s promise to Engineer Ambitiously, connecting people, ideas and technology to take on the world’s greatest challenges.
“The world is facing pressing challenges, from climate change to inequality. Engineering will play a pivotal role in confronting these issues, which is why we must collectively lead the change we hope to see in society,” said NI President and CEO Eric Starkloff. “We are focusing our efforts in areas like sustainability, diversity and equity – areas in which we can drive important, meaningful impact at NI, in the engineering field and in society at large.”
Over the next decade, NI is dedicated to creating impact in three areas by working toward a set of 15 goals and commitments, including two “moonshot” diversity goals. The strategy reflects a yearlong process to assess NI’s environmental impact and the priorities of employees, customers and other stakeholders. See the full strategy and goal list at ni.com/engineeringhope2030.
- Changing the faces of engineering: NI is committed to increasing diversity and inclusion across its workforce and management teams and throughout the engineering industry. NI’s “moonshot” goals are based on the aspiration for its workforce to mirror society overall. With that in mind, NI has set specific 2030 goals to increase the representation of women and people of color in its workforce and in management roles, based on global and U.S. demographics.Achieving this goal, particularly in technical fields, will require focus not just within NI, but also on educational opportunities for underserved communities. NI will continue supporting the future generation of engineers by giving to and volunteering with STEM education initiatives. NI will invest $3.4 million globally over the next four years in STEM education initiatives that serve underrepresented or economically disadvantaged students. Its first grantees, Code2College and Project Lead The Way, will each receive $100,000 per year for the next four years to expand their hands-on learning programs.
- Building a thriving and equitable society: By 2030, NI’s goal is for 16% of its suppliers to be small or diverse businesses. This is part of NI’s commitment to increasing equity and well-being among its employees and in the communities where they live and work. The company will also work toward achieving pay equity, advancing comprehensive well-being programs and supporting economic opportunity initiatives through giving and volunteering.
- Engineering a healthy planet: By 2030, NI’s goal is to achieve Zero Waste at NI-owned buildings and reduce waste at leased facilities worldwide. The company will also work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve resources and design all new buildings to LEED and WELL standards. NI will also pursue circular design improvements to its products and packaging and donate or discount NI products to organizations developing green technologies.
To further progress toward these goals, NI has issued a 2+1 Giving Pledge: By 2030, the company will increase giving from 1% to 2% of annual, pre-tax profits in the form of monetary and product donations. And NI employees will have the opportunity to spend 1% of their work hours volunteering in their communities.
“This strategy builds upon NI’s culture of caring and long legacy of corporate citizenship,” said NI Head of Corporate Impact Tabitha Upshaw. “At the same time, it goes beyond philanthropy to integrate corporate impact into most every aspect of our business, especially the way we empower our customers, educators and innovators to use NI products for good.”
The strategy is also designed to be iterative, and NI may scale its commitments and goals as its programs evolve and mature. NI will publish an annual corporate impact report that measures against its 2019 baseline data.
About NI
At NI, we bring together the people, ideas and technology so forward thinkers and creative problem solvers can take on humanity’s biggest challenges. From data and automation to research and validation, we provide the tailored, software-connected systems engineers and enterprises need to Engineer Ambitiously every day.
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 11, 2021 | News, Security
Verve embeds aDolus’ ability to generate SBOMs and validate components for improved cybersecurity.
Our combined offering is the only platform that enables end users to manage the security of their ICS/OT endpoints down to vulnerabilities in hidden subcomponents.” — Eric Byres, P.Eng, ISA Fellow
I recently caught up with Verve Industrial CEO John Livingston to go over the news of a partnership with Eric Byres’ new company, aDolus Technology. Livingston reminded me that, unlike most cybersecurity solutions that sit on the network and perform packet analysis looking for anomalies, Verve is an endpoint management tool that speaks a language comfortable to CISOs. He told me that market acceptance has been good, with sales doubling in 2020. Partly, I’m sure, due to stresses on security due to the sudden migration of employees from offices to home, and partly due to CISOs recognizing a different type of solution.
aDolus Technology Inc., a global authority on software intelligence for critical infrastructure, announced its partnership with Verve Industrial, a leading industrial control system management and cyber security provider. The partnership brings the power of the aDolus FACT platform’s IoT/OT SBOM (software bill of materials) analysis and validation into Verve’s IoT/OT endpoint vulnerability management platform.
“Supply chain attacks like the recent SolarWinds hack are now front-page news, and we are working with Verve to reduce the risk these attacks pose to critical systems,” said Eric Byres, CEO of aDolus and inventor of the Tofino Firewall. “Our combined offering is the only platform that enables end users to manage the security of their ICS/OT endpoints down to vulnerabilities in hidden subcomponents.”
The FACT platform correlates information from diverse sources about ICS, IIoT, and IoT firmware and software to provide continuous assurance that packages (and all their subcomponents) are legitimate, tamper-free, and safe to ship and install. Verve embeds this intelligence as an easy-to-use “FACT score” that indicates a component’s trustworthiness.
With over 25 years of OT experience, Verve is an OT/ICS cyber security company, partnering with customers to bridge IT OT security challenges in industrial environments. The Verve Security Center provides a robust asset inventory, vulnerability assessment, threat detection and the ability to safely remediate risks in a unified software-based platform.
“Current approaches that rely on passive detection of software miss the underlying reservoir of risk of both OS and application software as well as the hidden risks of vulnerable components within OT/IoT firmware,” said John Livingston, CEO of Verve. “Through this partnership, our customers can not only identify ‘known’ risks, but immediately check for vulnerabilities hidden in their embedded firmware.”
The Verve Security Center continues to deliver the most innovative capabilities to its clients in a single, easy-to-use platform and aDolus’ FACT platform is the latest in Verve’s ability to both simplify and improve their client’s risk management.
To learn more about the partnership between aDolus and Verve Industrial to reduce risk in industrial environments, join our webinar on February 25th: Why 40 Years of Product Outsourcing, Corporate Acquisitions, and Bad Spelling Leaves OT Security Flaws Hidden.
About aDolus Technology Inc.
aDolus provides an ecosystem called FACT (Framework for Analysis and Coordinated Trust) for brokering information about IoT and Industrial IoT software. FACT helps facilities determine if updates are safe to install on mission-critical devices. FACT aggregates information from vendors, asset owners, system integrators, consultants, and security researchers, and applies decades of security expertise to build a “FACT score” of trustworthiness. Much like a FICO credit score, FACT makes it quick and easy to make installation decisions, enforce policies, and ensure governance of security processes via an audit trail. Visit us at www.adolus.com.
About Verve Industrial
Verve Industrial Protection has ensured reliable and secure industrial control systems for 25 years. Its principal offering, the Verve Security Center, is a unique, vendor-agnostic OT end point management platform that provides IT-OT asset inventory, vulnerability management, and the ability to remediate threats and vulnerabilities from its orchestration platform. Verve’s Design-4-Defense professional services support clients in ensuring their OT environments are designed and operated in a secure manner. To learn more about Verve Industrial, please visit us at www.verveindustrial.com
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 10, 2021 | Automation, News, Organizations, Technology
OMAC, now dubbed Organization for Machine Automation and Control and a part of PMMI, first zapped to my attention at the 1998 ARC Forum. I’ve followed it for the ensuing 23 years through some ups and downs. It never successfully came up with a PLC built entirely from standards to put pressure on the major companies to bring prices down. On the other hand, a lot of the standardization discussions led activists in a variety of beneficial directions. Plus, a group of packaging end users and suppliers devised PackML and other standards that brought organization to control logic and HMI for packaging machines.
This is ARC Forum week, but none of us made the trip to Orlando this year. I had not heard from the organization for some time, so I reached out to Bryan Griffen, who is now Director of Industry Services for PMMI (Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute) and leader of OMAC, for an update. Griffen was previously director of engineering for an end user and implementer of the standard.
OMAC is still going strong. 2020 was a bit of a down year in terms of visibility since there were no events in which we could participate to get some exposure. However, we got a lot of things accomplished last year that are being rolled out now. Here are a few of the highlights:
• We completed an update of the ISA-TR88.00.02 (PackML). We slightly updated the state model, added several new PackTags, and improved the overall document content. The update is currently being reviewed by ISA for official publication. We hope to have it out in next couple of months. Yaskawa led this activity.
• We developed a new HMI and stacklight guideline for use with PackML implementations. It provides a common look and feel to operator interfaces in order to facilitate training, operations and maintenance activities. Mettler Toledo led this activity.
• We developed an new OEE guideline and new PackTags for implementing automatic OEE calculations on a PackML enabled line. ProMach led this activity.
• We just completed a new white paper on best practices for remote access to enable data collection, troubleshooting, upgrades and other remote activities. This effort was led by ei3.
• We are just now finishing up the design and migration to a new web platform. The new website will go live on March 1 and will include pages for all of the items above.
We are also just starting the election process for three open seats on the Board of Directors. This process will continue through March. We are planning a virtual General Session meeting in early April to announce the new board members, highlights from 2020, officially unveil the new website and so forth. The date for the General Session will be posted on the website as soon as we have nailed it down. The meeting is open to anyone, not just OMAC members.
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 5, 2021 | News, Organizations, Robots, Safety
Just received news about someone I know who has been recognized for her achievements in robot safety. The international group of remarkable women on SME’s list published today represent a comprehensive cross section of technologies in robotics and automation. The list was developed by U.S.-based Smart Manufacturing magazine published by SME in consultation with several leaders across the robotics and automation industries.
The list highlights the work of Roberta Nelson Shea, who joined Universal Robots (UR) as the company’s Global Technical Compliance Officer (GTCO) in 2016. She has long blazed the trail for women in a traditionally male-dominated industry; Nelson Shea was the first woman to serve on the Board of Directors of Robotic Industries Association (RIA) where she also participates in mentoring diversity efforts to get women more involved and recognized.
“From an engineering and management standpoint, women were and continue to be in the minority in the robotics industry. Fortunately, we are starting to see this slowly changing,” she says. “Since joining UR, I see more female engineers in software development, coding and user interface than I saw before.”
According to Robert Willig, executive director and CEO of SME, the industry still has miles to go in balancing diversity in manufacturing. “Those with the knowledge, creativity and drive to raise the level of technology and innovation can achieve success,” he says. “This group of women has not only the vision to create new products – and in some cases even new product categories – they also have the technological background and the business acumen to bring them to market and a willingness to teach others the processes necessary to make the next generations successful in our industry.”
Nelson Shea chaired the U.S. National Robot Safety Committee for 23 years, spent 40+ years within manufacturing automation, and is recognized as a global authority on robotic safety standards – most recently as Convenor of the ISO working group for industrial robotic safety (ISO/TC 299 WG3).
Collaborative robots – or cobots – remain the fastest growing segment of industrial automation, projected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 30.37% during 2020–2025. UR leads the cobot market, having recently celebrated the sale of its 50,000th cobot. The emergence of robots that work alongside human workers and their importance in advanced manufacturing has brought robotics safety into the spotlight, says Nelson Shea:
“I’m deeply honored to receive this recognition from SME. Robotics safety might be regarded as sort of the ugly stepchild in the industrial automation industry. It was not as sexy or jazzy as artificial intelligence, neural networks and other developing technologies within robotics,” she says. “UR changed this. When you have humans and robots working within the same space instead of separated– as was the case with traditional industrial robot applications – safety becomes much more complex and the nuances are very different. Safety now might mean that the robot slows or changes position compared to simply stopping. My overall mission is to demystify robotic safety and make sure the deployment barriers are broken down. I am an advocate of global harmonization of safety requirements to reduce costs of designs, manufacturing, and compliance.”
At UR, Nelson Shea works closely with R&D colleagues in the safety aspects of new UR products and use scenarios. She also fields questions from customers wondering if UR cobots can be used in specific applications in accordance with the robotics safety standards. “I really enjoy working at UR, the caliber of their engineers is superlative. It’s a very innovative environment where we’re constantly pushing the envelope to provide a better and easier-to-use robot.”
Nelson Shea was previously honored by the American Society of Safety Professionals as being one of the top 100 Women in Safety over the past 100 years. “I deeply believe that automation can be done in a safe way that works well for the people interfacing with the equipment while having high productivity,” she says. “Having a strong robot safety standard has contributed to the success of the industrial robotics market,” she concludes citing a favorite quote from John Lizzi, executive director of robotics at GE Global Research. “We see robots, and specifically industrial robotics, as moving through three phases: robots as tools to robots as partners and, ultimately, to robots that sustain the things we care about.”
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 4, 2021 | Business, News, Organizations
AVEVA Underscores Commitment to Build a Sustainable Future as a Member of the UN Global Compact Network
AVEVA held a virtual conference last week with one early morning devoted to a media/press/analyst roundtable discussion primarily around sustainability. Schneider Electric has been an outspoken sustainability advocate for quite some time. It, of course, is the majority shareholder in AVEVA. The two companies often work hand-in-glove.
In this case, AVEVA has joined the United Nations Global Compact and the UN Global Compact Network UK, a voluntary leadership platform for the development, implementation, and disclosure of responsible business practices. AVEVA joins thousands of other companies around the globe committed to taking responsible business action to create a more sustainable world.
Launched in 2000, the UN Global Compact is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world, with more than 12,000 companies and 3,500 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 69 local networks. Its aim is to mobilize a global movement of sustainable companies and stakeholders to create the world that conducts business responsibly by aligning its strategies and operations with Ten Principles on human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption; and takes strategic actions to advance broader societal goals, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with an emphasis on collaboration and innovation.
AVEVA is already making strides towards a sustainable future, and today’s announcement marks another step in this journey. Alongside embedding changes across its own functions, AVEVA is enabling its customers to advance their own sustainability efforts with software solutions that can be applied across more than nine industry verticals to address challenges such as providing real-time energy data and supporting improved operational efficiency to help customers cut their energy consumption and emissions.
Craig Hayman, CEO of AVEVA, commented, “Joining the UN Global Compact cements our existing commitment to align our business with the Ten Principles, and provides an exciting platform for learning and collaboration with other members. AVEVA’s key focus will initially be on areas where our social and environmental contribution can be greatest, including addressing the climate crisis and expediting the transition to a more circular global economy. We will accelerate this journey by delivering products and solutions which will drive more sustainable outcomes for our customers while also providing additional benefits for our employee and partner ecosystem focused on ultimately creating a better environment for all.”
Steve Kenzie, Executive Director, UN Global Compact Network UK, added, “The core of the United Nations Global Compact’s mission is to support companies doing business responsibly by aligning their strategies and operations with ten universal principles on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption. We also support business taking actions to advance the Sustainable Development Goals. We are delighted and encouraged by AVEVA’s endorsement of our initiative.”
by Gary Mintchell | Feb 1, 2021 | Commentary, News, Organizations
Software veterans Scott Genereux and Brian Shepherd join Rockwell Automation in executive leadership roles
The importance of this move by Rockwell Automation cannot be overemphasized. Bringing in two “outsiders” at SVP level is unprecedented. I’ve observed the company and its culture since the mid-80s as a customer, student, distributor sales rep, and writer. I’ve seen people come and go and talked with most of the former executive staff. The few men who did not come up through the same process as everyone else simply did not last. The culture chewed them up.
There have been rumblings for some time that the PTC relationship was not going as well as planned. I wouldn’t have been surprised. Bringing in an SVP who is a former PTC executive reveals the seriousness of CEO Blake Moret’s intention of remaking Rockwell. Moret brought an immediate breath of fresh air to the organization upon his appointment. Bringing in two software senior executives is more than I would have hoped for.
This is light-years from a former CEO’s comment to me about software being an “experiment.” Software is now serious business. And just in time. I don’t think Rockwell has missed the market. But the competitors have been building out strategies for a few years. If these executives are successful and can navigate the Rockwell maze, you’re seeing the re-birth of the company.
Rockwell Automation announced two key additions to its executive leadership team, naming Scott Genereux senior vice president and chief revenue officer and Brian Shepherd senior vice president, Software and Control, effective Feb. 1. Genereux and Shepherd will report to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Blake Moret.
Genereux will have global responsibility for total revenue performance and will oversee Rockwell’s global sales and marketing strategy and functions, with specific focus on increasing software sales and annual recurring revenue (ARR). Shepherd will lead the operating segment that includes control and visualization software and hardware, information software, and network and security infrastructure, which was created as of Oct. 1.
“Scott and Brian add great new perspectives and depth to their respective positions,” said Moret. “Scott has tremendous experience leading enterprise software and hardware global sales teams, and is perfectly suited to help us build executive relationships with customers as we play a larger role in their enterprise-wide digital transformation. Brian brings deep industrial software product management experience, and he understands the value of our partner ecosystem. As software continues to play a larger role in our future value, these two leaders will play a key role in executing Rockwell Automation’s strategy to accelerate profitable growth.”
Genereux joins Rockwell with more than two decades of sales and management leadership experience. Most recently, he served as executive vice president for Worldwide Field Operations and chief revenue officer for Veritas Technologies, a leading provider of cloud data management solutions. Prior to that, he led sales and strategy for Oracle Corporation’s cloud infrastructure business. Genereux’s career also includes senior sales and marketing positions with QLogic, Data Direct Networks, and Hitachi Data Systems.
“With an expanding portfolio of technologies that spans SaaS, cloud, machine learning, and data analytics innovations, Rockwell Automation is at the forefront of industrial digital transformation,” said Genereux. “Nobody is better positioned to help organizations transform their supply chains and modernize their business practices with sustainable technology breakthroughs. I am very excited about joining the Rockwell team as we grow the company across both emerging and established industries worldwide.”
Shepherd brings extensive experience in leading strategy definition and end-to-end development of software solutions for manufacturing companies. He most recently served as president, Production Software and Smart Factory, for Hexagon AB. Before that, he worked in a variety of senior leadership roles at PTC, including executive vice president and general manager of PTC’s Enterprise Software segments. He has strong technical expertise in design, simulation, manufacturing planning and execution, as well as process and quality data analytics.
“Rockwell Automation has assembled a tremendous portfolio of technologies and solutions to enable our customers to accomplish their digital transformation journeys,” said Shepherd. “I’m excited to join the company at this important inflection point in strategy and execution.”
The Software and Control operating segment was created in October and had been led on an interim basis by Chris Nardecchia. Nardecchia remains at the company in his ongoing role as senior vice president of Information Technology and chief information officer, reporting to Moret. The other two operating segments that were created in October remain unchanged. They are Lifecycle Services, led by senior vice president Frank Kulaszewicz, and Intelligent Devices, led by senior vice president Fran Wlodarczyk.
At the bottom of every press release is a blurb where the company describes itself. This is a new blurb. It’s interesting. This is along the lines of another company’s long-term statement of “solving big engineering challenges.” This vision statement sets forth an admirable goal—beyond just technology or products.
Rockwell Automation Inc. is a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation. We connect the imaginations of people with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, making the world more productive and more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 23,500 problem solvers dedicated to our customers in more than 100 countries.
