by Gary Mintchell | Jan 28, 2022 | News, Operations Management, Workforce
The contractors just installed in the men’s restroom in the factory would intermittently make a whirring sound and a little shutter would open. I had a first level management role in the plant at that time of the early 70s. The guys would talk to me. They wondered if it was a camera spying on them to see who spent too much time away from production.
It was a deodorizer.
But that suspicion has stayed with me.
So, that was my first impression when I received this press release regarding “Safe Communications Software” that looks at workplace email and chat communications in a company. As the company told me, people should be aware that any time they use any communication tool on the company’s servers they are not using a private communication channel.
Besides, this application is not designed for nefarious spying on workers but is designed to protect employees from harassment, discrimination, bullying, and even workplace violence. Proactive mitigation benefits everyone in the company as well as prevents those post-event questions and recriminations.
Here is the release:
CommSafe AI launched CommSafe AI Safe Communication Software. The software has received certification with ServiceNow, a leader in enterprise digital process automation tools. CommSafe AI also integrates with Microsoft products and Google Workspace accounts.
The CommSafe AI tool is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product that in near real-time allows companies to get ahead of threats of conflict and violence in the workplace before they escalate to situations of physical or psychological harm causing costly lawsuits. The tool uses artificial intelligence (AI) models to analyze company communication to identify toxic behaviors and IP loss.
The smart and scalable software integrates into a company’s human resource workflow to capture in real time toxic email and chat communications among employees. In addition, CommSafe AI employs algorithms not only to identify toxicity, but also poor sentiments.
Because employees feel safer knowing their company is taking steps to protect them from harassment, they are focused and more productive. Equally important, company brand reputation remains uncompromised.
For companies and employees worried about privacy concerns, the software does not monitor electronic communications; rather it scans and flags potentially toxic language and poor sentiment.
“All flagged messages are reviewed by HR staff to determine the next course of action. Additionally, CommSafe AI works with your organization’s systems and methodologies and easily integrates with your tech, case management system, and workflows.”
“Identifying toxic communications and behaviors are at the forefront of making the workplace a safe space for everyone. It’s the intelligent solution combining machine learning, human judgment and experience to help identify risks to your employees and the workplace culture,” adds Sanjit Singh, Chief Revenue Officer at CommSafe AI.
CommSafe AI’s subscription software is designed to uncover language associated with bullying, sexual harassment, discrimination and intellectual property theft. It works across email products including Microsoft Outlook and Google Suite, as well as collaboration tools such as Slack and Microsoft Teams. The company worked with a select group of beta customers to perfect the algorithms. Emails and communication on a company server are never private and are actually the property of the employer. In a day and age where violence is escalating among organizations there has been a huge demand for this product. As we know Emails cross multiple channels and networks/servers to get from the server to recipient.
by Gary Mintchell | Jan 27, 2022 | Automation, Embedded Control, News, Security
Bedrock Automation Founder, CEO and CTO Albert Rooyakkers and I have had several energetic discussions regarding the open, secure, and automation pillars of the Bedrock Automation control solution. I always ask founders and CEOs in this market how they think they can possibly upend the leaders. In this case, independent observers tell me that Bedrock has found a niche within certain industry segments that require its specific benefits.
This news release points to a recent software upgrade making it easier to configure and run open applications inside the “Open Secure Automation” (OSA) controllers, simplify and improve SCADA redundancy, enable TLS support for MQTT Sparkplug, expand universal EtherNet/IP capacity, simplify flow meter proving, and assist in diagnosing large motors.
A quick aside—Sparkplug is an open information model standard developed by MQTT evangelists that I would label as “OPC UA lite”. Check out Cirrus Link for better and more detailed descriptions.
The new firmware affects the Bedrock OSA control system, the OSA Remote control system, Universal Ethernet module (UE5), and the OSA Remote +Flow measurement and control system.
The new Bedrock firmware enhancements move redundancy management from the SCADA system client to the Bedrock controller firmware. This enables seamless and flawless failover while simplifying SCADA configuration. The SCADA software then needs to point to only one IP address and the Bedrock controllers will find the active path automatically.
This software release improves throughput and diagnostics for the Bedrock Ethernet gateway modules. It includes both status and diagnostic information from EtherNet/IP and Modbus TCP devices connected to a Bedrock Universal Ethernet I/O module (UE5).
New control firmware in the Bedrock OSA Remote supports the J1939 and CANopen CAN bus communication standard, which extends open secure automation for control and factory automation. Using J1939 CAN bus, for example, the Bedrock OSA Remote can be configured as an RTU to read RPMs from large motors to diagnose performance.
The Bedrock OSA Remote +Flow computer application now supports K-Factor and meter factor linearization with user-entered linearization curves. The OSA +Flow now also supports double chronometry for select high speed counter channels. The OSA +Flow application takes advantage of this new feature to support meter proving using displacement provers, including small volume provers.
All software will be standard on all relevant systems immediately. All current Bedrock OSA users can upgrade remotely at no charge.
by Gary Mintchell | Jan 21, 2022 | Commentary, News
I have a love/hate relationship to journalism. A free press that reports on what’s happening in government and the world is essential to democracy. The business of journalism combined with the journalist’s zeal for uncovering a “big” story lead to things like click bait and use of emotion-laden words in stories and headlines.
A reporter once put a private conversation we had about local schools politics on the front page of the local paper. That one experience shaded my relationships with reporters when I was later involved in the politics. It also has influenced my reporting during 20 years of interviewing people for magazines and this blog. In that time, I have had to retract only one interview. I’ve changed a couple of things when people didn’t realize this is a personal blog where I add opinions to the press releases. A couple of PR people thought I should just reprint their releases verbatim without comment. Well, sorry about that.
I recently had an email conversation with the founder/CEO of a Web-based news site promoted as a to-the-point news source. It was. Then I noticed post-acquisition emotional adjectives and heads. I was disappointed. He was surprised they did such a thing.
So, I wasn’t surprised when I opened Facebook and saw a post by long-time colleague Dan Hebert dissing the LA Times for a story about 2.5-foot waves “slamming” the California coast stemming from the Tonga volcano eruption and ensuing “tsunami”. I am an inland boy, but I don’t think 2.5-foot waves in the Pacific Ocean “slam” into much of anything.
At about the same time, my copy of the RAM Review newsletter arrived with a lead article from Bob Williamson dissing on another news source taking unresearched statistics (see my article on The Data Detective) about manufacturing.
I grimace when major-newspaper editorialists beat up on manufacturing because of workers leaving, excessive job openings, and an overall decline in jobs. They are looking at data. What do they know about how manufacturing works? And what do they really know about this major economic machine that produces 10.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP) here in the U.S.? Let’s go beyond those numbers and look at manufacturing pre- and post-COVID-19.
“The manufacturing workforce is shrinking,” a recent headline screamed. When we look at the peak of manufacturing (July 1979), there were 19,531,000 employed. As of Dec. 2021, there were 12,580,000 employed in manufacturing. That is clearly a HUGE decline (by the numbers). But what really happened? This is what happened: a total of five, yes five, economic recessions since 1979, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Manufacturing employment declined in each of them.
After those economic recessions, manufacturing kicked into high gear (again) at some of the highest rates in recent history. A 2014 Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) report update said it best: “Manufacturing is growing, even when manufacturing jobs are not. What is the explanation? A prime candidate is productivity growth.” And this continues to be true today.
This statement in the newspaper article also got my attention: “Manufacturing has weathered the biggest surge in workers quitting, a nearly 60% jump compared with pre-pandemic.” Employees who “quit” their manufacturing jobs in Nov. 2021 (the latest figures available at this time) was 2.3%. Let’s compare. In the same period (Nov. 2021) when manufacturing quits were 2.3% of the employed workforce, (retail) Trade, Transportation, and Utilities reached 3.6%, Professional and business services reached 3.7%, while Accommodation and Food Services sector reported the highest number of quits at 6.9% of their workforces.
I’ve just taken a few snips from the article. Check out the entire thing. I’ll just add an appropriate conclusion from Williamson for this segment:
The good news: Manufacturing jobs are still rewarding, and there are plenty of openings to be filled by talented people willing to learn.
We have to take in news, but we also need to check our prejudices and filter out the BS.
by Gary Mintchell | Jan 21, 2022 | Internet of Things, News, Operations Management, Organizations
Expect a plethora of acquisition news this year in the IoT and automation market. We have already had a few. Of course, acquisition is everywhere—check out also Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard in the gaming market. This news is ei3 expanding. This company offers no-code IIoT applications. No-code being another developing trend.
ei3 announced completion of the acquisition of Cognitive Solutions and Innovation AG (COGSI AG) of Zurich, Switzerland, a pioneer in delivering advanced artificial intelligence solutions for industrial manufacturing. The acquisition was completed through a cash and stock transaction.
Following the acquisition, COGSI AG assumes the ei3 brand and is being re-named “ei3 Europe”. In addition, Dr. Stefan Hild, CEO and founder of COGSI AG, joins the board of directors of ei3 and will assume the newly created role of VP of Data Science at ei3.
The acquisition of COGSI AG comes after years of close collaboration. With artificial intelligence, ei3’s industrial clients gain deep insights into their operations to reduce future unplanned downtime, improve asset efficiency, and boost sustainability.
Last year, ei3 and COGSI AG jointly brought to market “ConnectedAI”, a technology that allows AI solutions to be deployed at scale and with ease. Spencer Cramer, CEO of ei3 says, “As companies continue to invest further in ESG and CSR programs to increase sustainability and meet regulatory demands, they need a partner who can help connect their goals to meaningful and measurable results. ei3 and Cognitive Solutions (COGSI AG) will work together to realize a shared vision of secure, smart, and sustainable manufacturing through technology.”
“Our teams share a strong sense of purpose. Because ei3 is one of the first Industrial IoT companies, it has connected some of the largest fleets of machines and other assets. This provides a rich background for creating value by applying AI. We have already seen the benefits of adding AI-based analytics into the mix and look forward to achieving further efficiencies for our clients,” added Dr. Stefan Hild.
ConnectedAI transforms knowledge gathered from machines, devices and users into actionable intelligence and extends this intelligence to machines around the world, allowing organizations to carefully manage knowledge and skills while also balancing risk, cost, and performance. With this approach, ei3 makes its experience and innovations available in an easily deployable format to help drive process improvements at scale.
by Gary Mintchell | Jan 19, 2022 | Events, News
I guess we need to develop a flexible mindset for conferences and forums (fora?) this year. First the ARC Industry Forum, now Hannover Messe. I have made no plans for this one due to the uncertainty of international travel, well, also due to cost. Now, it’s in May, the week before ARC. It could be a busy late spring and summer.
This from the organizers:
Together with our exhibitors, we were already looking forward to a great restart of #HM22 in April. The longing to finally meet again in person is great. Unfortunately, however, the pandemic keeps the world in suspense continuously.
Due to the current worldwide situation, we have rescheduled this year’s HANNOVER MESSE for 30 May –2 June 2022.
We made this decision in close cooperation with our exhibitor advisory board and partner associations VDMA (Association of German Mechanical and Plant Engineering) and ZVEI (Central Association of German Electrical Engineering and Digital Industry).
Experience shows that summer is best for face-to-face events, so the new date offers all participants the greatest possible safety and planning security. Taking into account the current concentration of events in the summer months, as well as vacation and travel times, HANNOVER MESSE will be carried out once as a four-day event.
We will provide further information soon. In the meantime, we encourage you to update your travel plans to Hannover. Please contact us with any questions.
We look forward to seeing you this summer!
Your HANNOVER MESSE Team
by Gary Mintchell | Jan 18, 2022 | News, Organizations
Congratulations to someone I’ve known a long time. Scott has a challenge facing him. He should do well getting GE Digital focused on the Cloud and digital twin.
On Jan 18, 2021 GE announced the appointment of Scott Reese as Chief Executive Officer of GE Digital effective February 22, 2022. Reese succeeds Patrick Byrne who will continue at GE as Chief Executive Officer for the onshore wind business at GE Renewable Energy.
Reese joins GE from Autodesk where he is executive vice president, product development and manufacturing solutions. He joined Autodesk in 2003 with the acquisition of VIA Development Corporation and has spent nearly two decades leading product and go-to-market initiatives across a wide range of industries, while driving aggressive growth with next-generation solutions for manufacturing. Reese also established Autodesk’s cloud platform, products, operations, and cyber security practices.
Chief Executive Officer of GE’s global energy business portfolio, Scott Strazik said, “GE Digital is a critical part of the new energy company planned to spin off from GE in 2024. I am thrilled to have Scott Reese join this mission with his track record of transforming software businesses and driving growth. His deep software industry experience makes him the ideal fit to partner with our customers and the GE Digital team to accelerate the energy transition.”
Reese said, “I’m honored to take on this role and lead GE Digital’s mission to accelerate digital transformations and drive decarbonization efforts with our customers around the world. With global scale and leading technology, GE Digital’s growth potential is significant. I couldn’t be more excited to work with the talented team at GE Digital and the new energy company to make that grand vision a meaningful reality.”
Reese also serves on the board of The National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. (NACME) and Model N, Inc. (NYSE: MODN), a leader in cloud-revenue management solutions.
Byrne said, “It’s been my great privilege to build and work alongside the team at GE Digital. I’m so proud of the work we do in partnership with our customers across the world, accelerating the digital transformation of their operations. Scott Reese is stepping in to lead a passionate team at the forefront of the energy transition and I look forward to seeing GE Digital’s impact for years to come.”
