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JimPinto.com - Connections for Growth & Success™
No. 7 : July 3, 2000
Contents
- "Unloved" Industrial Automation - Rumors buzz
- eFeedback - Bluetooth
- Where Intelligence Begins
- Hot Book : The SymbioticMan - Joel de Rosnay
- Industrial Marketing Practitioner
Industrial Automation Stocks Slide - Rumors Buzz
Industrial automation stock continued to take a beating this past
week. You'll find lots of interesting information, with graphs, charts,
facts and figures on the web. Take a look for yourself on the
Yahoo Financial news website:
Honeywell Down, Emerson Up
Honeywell slid to $33 near its 52-week low of 32. A long-term
Honeyweller, now ex, sent me this:
"I have an unconfirmed rumor that P+F just bought the entire
industrial proximity line from Honeywell Sensing and Control
(a.k.a. Micro Switch). If this is true, it might be the preliminary
signal that Honeywell is positioning itself to get out of the
industrial control market and that the photoelectric line is probably
next to go. I don't know if the "cash cow" industrial limit switch
will be going but I do know that GE ED&C was private labeling
that product and may be willing to take it over."
Emerson climbed 5% during the week and closed just above 60.
Some people brought up rumors about Siemens making a bid for
Emerson, which my high-within-Emerson source tells me
(and I believe) is "Horse manure of the finest vintage".
Rockwell slides - how much further?
Rockwell slid to a 52-week low of $31
(ouch#&%@! I bought the stock at 38.00).
A Rockwell “deep throat” commented :
"I keep hearing that Rockwell is doing better than last year but
behind plan. They are laying off people, cutting expenses, stopping
travel and training. Sounds like a short term tactic to boost the
stock price or even clean up prior to being acquired. And meanwhile,
Don Davis (the CEO) continues to collect his almost $3m salary…"
An ex-Allen-Bradley executive commented on my suggestion
(eNews June 26, 2000) that Eaton and Rockwell should get together.
"Eaton and Rockwell could never get together, unless Eaton was the
surviving management team, here's why:
- 1. Don Davis fired Randy Carson, who now heads Cutler-Hammer
as the automation brains of Eaton
- 2. Rockwell sold off all the automotive stuff a.k.a Meritor
- 3. Rockwell is too arrogant."
Regarding my eNews story on the Rockwell/Omron alliance
(eNews May 10, 2000) an Allen-Bradley insider emailed me :
"It seems that the recent Omron/Rockwell news will apparently
lead to merger or acquisition, but slowly and in 'stealth mode'..."
Industrial Automation "Unloved"
Regarding the stock-market slide, Mathieu van den Bergh writes :
"I hope that the market will soon recognize that our old brick and
mortar industries are undervalued. If we look at the market valuation
of companies like Siemens, one wonders about Wall Street (in)sanity.
I guess, we will need to experience a slight economic downturn, with
the "dot-com companies" going out of business by the bunch
before common sense sets back in".
Andrew Bond, editor of UK-based "SCADA Insider" brought this
interesting item to my attention :
"Roxboro (Solartron, Mobrey etc) are in negotiation with a VC
to take the group private. Part of the explanation is that Roxboro
is 'in an unloved sector'. The deal would value Roxboro at 210m UK
pounds (17.9m UK pounds profit on 124.8m UK pounds sales in 1999).
One for the revised urge to merge list before it goes unlisted!"
See my more extended coverage and commentary on this story
Roxboro - UK News and Commentary
Andrew continues, to echo Mathieu's point :
"Interesting to speculate that automation companies are unable
to take advantage of the dot-com effect when technology stocks
rise but appear to suffer from it when they fall!"
My article gives you the background on these goings-on :
"The Changing Face of Automation"
My previous tome includes sales vs. market-cap for all the industrial automation leaders :
The Urge to Merge
eFeedback - Bluetooth
Commenting on my coverage of Bluetooth (eNews June 26, 2000)
Hans Nilsson, Orsi Automazione S.p.A, Italy says :
"The Bluetooth standard has been "hot" here in Europe for at least
a year, and has been part of the European telecom surge. I am
convinced that the use of standards such as Bluetooth will make
things very different on the factory floor. I hope to see more
instruments with Bluetooth chips. This will make it very easy to
walk around and "communicate" with equipment around you.
It will surely minimize the use of cables"
On the other side of the fence, a US technical marketer argues :
"Bluetooth has four major problems : 1/ It has a very short range;
2/ It is expensive and will never come down in price; 3/ It has a
limited number of nodes; and 4/ It has a long development cycle.
I think there is a better chance of cell phone RF coming down in
price and converging with the LAN market before Bluetooth can
really take off.
“One more thing : The reason people think Bluetooth is great is that
the price is amortized over a cell phone license. People never see the
cost because it is subsidized by a lease agreement. This business
model will begin to proliferate to any major purchase. I wouldn't be
surprised to see leases for kitchen appliances in the next five years."
eWeek says :
"For Bluetooth, it's still teething time. Despite efforts
from industry giants to get products based on the wireless protocol
to market by next year, the new technology still faces obstacles."
Take a look at the eWeek Bluetooth coverage
Where Intelligence Begins
Lou Heavner, Anthony Kerstens and others have been having an
interesting discussion on the Automation List about
"Where Intelligence Begins".
Have you subscribed to the Automation List?
Subscribe : listserv@control.com
Synthetic intelligence was the subject of my presentation
at Dick Morley's Chaos Conference in Santa Fe, April ‘99.
Review at :
When computers exceed human intelligence
- Is a human with mechanical implants a machine?
- Is a machine with human extensions a human?
- When a human's intelligence is downloaded to a computer,
who is the person - the computer intelligence that survives,
or the physical body that dies?
My article on this subject was in the webzine Spark Online
March, 2000.
Intelligence and Consciousness in the New Age
Spark-online webzine article
At the Santa Fe Institute, Stuart Kaufman, Chris Langton and
other significant scientists are working with Artificial Life and its
development and characteristics. Take a look at :
Santa Fe Institute, Artificial Life
Exciting, scary and significant developments that are coming to the
forefront on the threshold of the new millennium.
Hot Book : The Symbiotic Man
At Santa Fe in May 2000, my subject moved from just
extrapolating machine intelligence, to "connected intelligence" in the
new age where humans co-exist with machine intelligence
(starting with the Internet). You can review my paper :
Symbiotic Life in the 21st Century - Humans & Technology
Which brings me to my "Hot Book" this week:
The Symbiotic Man -
A new understanding of the organization of life and a vision of the future.
By : Joel de Rosnay.
A powerful, new scientific methodology promises to dramatically recast our concept
of nature and mankind’s place in it. This is Chaos Theory - the
sciences of Complexity and Self-organization. Organic chemist,
computer scientist, visionary, Joel de Rosnay has been at the
forefront of the complexity movement for nearly 30 years.
This book has just been published (March 2000) - read it!
Take a look at deRosnay's Book
Industrial Marketing Practitioner
A good way for marketing people to get e-connected with marketing
thinking and discussions is through "Industrial Marketing Practitioner"
a monthly magazine filled with information, strategy and tactics for
surviving marketing in the fast-moving age of the Internet.
Columnists include automation marketing guru Walt Boyes, Prentis
Hall of Air Products and Chemicals, Mitch Gooze former president of
Teledyne Components and member of OMT Group, Robert Bly a
chemical engineer turned marketing professional.
IMP's readership and focus is on industrial marketing and often
covers industrial automation & controls issues in depth found
nowhere else.
My friends at IMP have offered a "Special" for readers of the
JimPinto.com eNews. Visit
http://practitioner.com and sign up
for a free subscription to “Tactics!” - the monthly Internet newsletter
for industrial marketing and sales.
While you're there, subscribe to Industrial Marketing Practitioner at
a special discounted rate of 10% off for a 1 year subscription and
25% off for a 2-year subscription. Commercials aside, this is a good
way to become part of an elite marketing milieu.
eSpeak to me !
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