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Articles by Keith Mandachit
How to Prioritize Data Effectively
You might be wondering what the bio sciences industry has to do with the broad manufacturing audience of Automation World. The reason I want to highlight the bio sciences here is because it has everything to do with effective manufacturing strategies today. While bio science revolves around microbes and propylene and the latest economies of sugar and corn and new alternative fuel sources, it’s also about data and systems and technology and automation.
SCADA Upgrade: Incremental or Full Scale?
It’s been a long day at work and you head home to relax but find out the roof is leaking. Then, your spouse says, “Oh yeah, I meant to mention, I think the dishwasher is on the fritz too.” After 20 years in the same house, a thought pops into your mind: We’ve been meaning to do something to the basement, too. Is it time to move?
2024 System Integrator of the Year winners announced
Details about the class of 2024 System Integrator of the Year winners: Interstates, Polytron and APCO Inc. Many great control system integrators exist, and many are expanding system integration capabilities and talent to help clients remain competitive, relevant and useful in an accelerating world of technology developments and market demands. Congratulations to the applicants who took the time to answer questions and assembled supporting documents to meet requirements to become finalists.
System integrators: Best of a breed
The historian Edmund Gibbon in his Decline and Fall, speaks of a field general who “transported his person to the scenes of danger,” or, as in a chess game, to the points of greatest tension. And that’s what systems integrators do. Systems integration brings together for a one-time event a menu of role-defined individuals to execute a project in a constrained environment that requires highly trained individuals to execute detailed, complex protocols.
Systems integrators continue applying technology to human endeavors
System integration insights Winning system integrators (SIs) emphasize their impact, from setting up water systems to aiding industries like petroleum refining and medical manufacturing. The integration landscape evolves with the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), cloud, artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics, fostering cross-training between information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) professionals.
The time is now for systems integrators, manufacturers
System integration insights Systems integrators offer advanced tech access, aiding productivity through information technology/operational technology (IT/OT) convergence and automation. Current tech advancements, like the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), rival the impact of programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) in the 1980s.
SIs bring automation advances to an installed base of legacy systems
System integration insights Supply chain resilience and labor constraints from COVID-19 shape increased automation demands, pushing system integrators (SIs) to broaden project scopes and face talent shortages. SIs should assess strengths, expand perspectives through collaborations, address talent shortages, and explore newer business models for sustained growth.
Enhanced technology addresses manufacturing challenges
System integration insights Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, in a recent report, said as many as 2.1 million manufacturing jobs will be unfilled through 2030, and warns that the worker shortage will hurt revenue and production and could ultimately cost the US economy up to $1 trillion by 2030. Folks over 55 years of age make up increasingly larger portions of the technical workforce in the US.
The Opportunity Presented by Industrial Workforce Shortages
Spring and fall are traditional times for industry conferences. At these events we’ve talked about Industry 4.0, cybersecurity, digital transformation, IT/OT convergence, digital twins and the impact of AI, specifically ChatGPT and its use cases in industrial manufacturing. Each of these topics is fascinating but one message has dominated my thoughts recently and I can’t quite shake it.
Is your PLC a weapon?
Cyber attacks are on the rise in nearly every industry and show no signs of slowing down anytime in the near future. Where there once was a dedicated effort to gain access to the programmable logic controller (PLC) and interfere directly with a specific program, cyber criminals have now moved into a higher tier of intelligence. Now, gaining access to a PLC can provide hackers with access to entire network systems, amplifying the chaos they are able to create.
How to Upgrade Your Food Plant's Automation Technology
Since the 1940s, when food manufacturing was significantly slowed in favor of war production, technological innovations have tremendously increased the speed, efficiency, quality, and production of food. New technologies continue to hit the industry on a regular basis. But what happens if a wave of new technology has not quite hit your production line?
Keith Mandachit OT/IT Integration Blog
Given the competitive environment we all find ourselves in today, there is no greater time than now to plan strategic moves to keep your company at the top of the food chain when it comes to productivity and efficiency. For manufacturing companies, utilities, and nearly all regulated businesses, this will include an element of automation.
Keith Mandachit Supply Chain Blog
There’s not an industry in the world right now unaffected in some manner by supply chain headaches, and the constant logistics needed to keep up can be maddening. Turbulence in the supply chain, shortages of skilled labor, economic uncertainties and increased demand specifically for manufactured household items (everything from toilet paper to lumber to computers and the chips that make them) are playing a significant part in outlining what 2022 will look like.
System integrator competencies in the age of IT/OT convergence
The information technology (IT)/operational technology (OT) convergence trend is on an accelerated adoption path as more businesses start to realize the relevance between operational data and profitability. System integration (SI) engineers play a critical role in the convergence journey. OT has evolved in the past decade and is on an accelerated journey to become more complex and more connected.
Hargrove Controls + Automation is System Integrator of the Year, 2022
Karen Griffin, vice president of Hargrove Controls + Automation. Courtesy: Hargrove Controls + Automation When it comes to cybersecurity, it takes leadership to guide manufacturers away from threats. Leadership also enables system integrators like Hargrove Controls + Automation to engage with its clients to help bring about their success as well as grow its own team.
The future of work for system integrators
By Jose M. Rivera December 8, 2021 Jose M. Rivera has been CEO of the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) since March 2015. Courtesy: CSIA The importance of work cannot be overstated. We dedicate a considerable portion of our productive time to it. For many, work defines who they are. At the level of companies, cities, states and countries, work generates and defines our economic value. The COVID-19 pandemic delivered a full-blown challenge to our work routines.
2022 System Integrator Giants
Pendant Automation Inc. moved up from number 63 to 38. Lord & Company Inc. moved from the number 66 position to 54. McEnery Automation edged up from number 57 to 55, while Quantum Solutions Inc. remained steady in the number 56 slot. Logicon Technosolutions Pvt. Ltd., which entered the System Integrator Giants list last year, moved up from number 75 to number 67.
System integrator rebrands to reflect changes in company culture, focus
David Lax, president of EOSYS, which was formerly Premier System Integrators. Courtesy: EOSYS PREMIER System Integrators has rebranded as EOSYS, effective immediately. Founded in 1991, the company chose to rebrand after 30 years in operation to better reflect its employee-ownership structure, recent growth, and expanded services. “We began the rebranding process earlier this year in recognition of the fact that our services today extend far beyond system integration.
Case study: System integrator fixes food processing equipment from 3 OEMs Original
Learning Objectives System integration project included repair of equipment designed and developed by a custom fabricator that was not working. Project resulted in an operational, integrated machine running the production line with efficiency and relieving a significant number of employees from being required to work in frigid temperatures. Lessons learned cover for areas: project turnover, communication, safety, and site visits.
We’ve Been Hit and Are Down!
A few weeks ago, the latest cybersecurity ransomware attack—dubbed NotPetya or SortaPetya—affected many companies across the world, including some in the U.S. as well as one of our customers, a global leader in its industry with many facilities across the world. As the trusted system integrator partner for one of its facilities, we were called on to help with the recovery from this mess. Upon arriving at the scene, we found that every Windows-based computer, virtual or local, was encrypted.
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