Getting Ready to Travel?
With all this staying home protocol going on, are you missing the travel scene? Some pundits are doing a linear extrapolation from a limited data set and predicting a "new normal" where all conferences are virtual. Have you heard that before? October might be a good...
Industrial Leadership—Beyond The Buzz
Have you heard “digital transformation” until your ears ring? Every supplier, every analyst, every consultant promises to take you on the digital transformation journey. Pause and reflect. Aren’t you already using many digital tools in your business and production...
Inductive Automation Expands Again, Buys Land for Two New Buildings
How about some good news? Based on many conversations within the industry, I’ve longed pegged Inductive Automation as a growth company among a field perhaps not so active. Here is more evidence of solid growth for the company—and most likely also for this type of...
Hitachi Vantara Acquires What’s Left of Containership
Suddenly the subject of "containers" has moved from the realm of IT into the realm of manufacturing IT (aka OT). One company held a press conference at the decidedly OT-oriented ARC Forum last February. If you are new to containers, check out Kubernetes. Kubernetes...
IIoT versus MES, Is It A Battle?
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) or Manufacturing Enterprise Solution (MES), that is the question. Actually, I didn’t know that it was a question, or an either/or. I’m thinking false dichotomy. As you might imagine, I receive a ton of emails from a variety of...
Standard of Standards Model For Asset Data
Alan Johnston caught up with me yesterday to update me on progress MIMOSA has made toward updating and adoption of its asset information data and data flow models--described by the Open Industrial Interoperability Ecosystem (OIIE). I had been working with them a few...
Solution for 3D Printing Pure Copper
3D printing proffers the possibility for drastic advances in manufacturing. However combining printing technology with material science holds the key to success. And, every week brings news of advances. Here is one where a company has improved manufacture with pure...
Engineering in the Cloud
What?? Engineering in the Cloud? One of the joys of having been around so long is to see technologies that some said they'd never use become commonplace. When I switched to the "dark side of the force" and landed a job as a sales engineer, my first customer told me...
Rockwell Automation Numbers
I ran into a long-time acquaintance a couple of weeks ago (before the coronavirus impact) who told me he was all-in investing in Rockwell Automation. The stock had been slowly oscillating between the 170s and 210 for some time. He felt it was destined to keep growing...
Hannover Messe Postponed
Hannover Messe postponed to July 13 due to concerns of spreading Coronavirus. World’s largest manufacturing trade show now in the summer.