This issue of eNews has items which will interest primarily those involved with industrial automation. For others on this list, I beg your indulgence.

The wild, wacky, wireless wars

There was a 11th hour appeal via an "open letter" from Honeywell, which itself is on the 5-member HCF board of directors, recommending that HCF adopt the not-yet-ready ISA100 for wireless networking. Other HCF board members are ABB, Emerson Process Management, Endress+Hauser and Siemens.

ISA100 is being developed to support multiple protocols, such as Hart, Profibus, CIP and Foundation Fieldbus instead of just Hart-7. This is being coordinated by ISA's SP100 committee, with a "draft version" ISA-100.11a expected at the ISA Expo in October (now just a week away). When was the last time a committee approved a draft specification in less than umpteen months?

The vote predictably passed 4:1, snubbing Honeywell. WirelessHart became the first officially released industrial wireless communication standard. The expectation is that multiple products will soon be available with the new standard. Of course, WirelessHART approval doesn't end the arguments.

At the launch of 'OneWireless' offering in June 2007, Honeywell kept refusing to be drawn on whether they supported Wireless HART, insisting instead that they supported HART-over-wireless. Most observers did not really understand the semantic difference.

It's about 2 years since Emerson demonstrated its lead with its wireless products. Since then Emerson has released products in advance of agreement on the standard with an undertaking that users would be able to migrate to the standard once it had been approved. The approval of WirelessHART now makes it easy for them to cement their lead, leaving Honeywell to protest about how ISA100 will provide better links to more protocols. Indeed, Emerson remains committed to working on SP100, and intend to make sure Wireless HART technology is included in that standard - when it is eventually approved.

Emerson has the most to gain if the standard emerges today; Honeywell has the most to lose if Wireless HART gains market traction. That is simply the basis of their two opposing positions.

Most companies in the automation industry recognize Wireless as a new "inflection point" which will generate significant growth and market share for the leaders. So, the "Wireless Wars" are generating even more wild and wacky non-sense.

This kind of noise is similar to what occurred during the "Fieldbus Wars" which started almost 2 decades ago. ISA was coordinating the SP50 Fieldbus standard, which never really got anywhere. In the end, some 10-15 different industrial networking protocols were approved as "standards". The situation was too funny to write about in regular prose - people would be offended by clear statements of what was happening. So, I turned to poetry - a crisp, lucid way of describing the situation.

Here (below) is my new poem on the Wireless Wars. I trust you'll enjoy it.

Automation World - WirelessHart Ready for Prime Time

Walt Boyes, CONTROL - An open letter to the SP-100 community

Return to the TOP

Pinto Poem: The Industrial Wireless Quadrille

With Apologies to Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - The Lobster Quadrille

"You can really have no notion how delightful it will be,
With this broader standard, why can't we just agree?"
"WirelessHART!" cried Emerson and would not change their stance
ABB, Siemens, E+H too, just would not join the dance.
Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join the dance!

Honeywell an open letter wrote, "Can't you see that HART's too narrow?
ISA-100 includes all protocols that we will need tomorrow."
Then lots of others gave their view, each trying to enhance
With open-letters flying around, it was the strangest dance
Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?

The wireless market's growing fast and who will be the champ?
The lobbying goes on to see who now will join which camp
In this dance and whirligig, are end-users there perchance?
'Cause this is for them, the vendors swear, as they prolong the dance
Will they, won't they, will they, won't they, will they join the dance?

Lewis Carroll's original poem - Lobster Quadrille

Read Jim Pinto's Fieldbus Poems

Pinto 1990 poem - The Fieldbus Quadrille

Return to the TOP

ISA - International Society of Automation

Executive Director Pat Gouhin, who joined in January 2006, has excellent related experience with the dynamics of volunteer-driven organizations. He has clearly developed a strong relationship with the volunteer chain-of-command, which now has a consistent vision focused on the future.

While originally an "instrumentation" society, ISA is now involved with the broader aspects of "automation" and aims to be a catalyst for creation of the automation profession of the future.

The original name was reflected in membership (about 29,000 total) being overwhelmingly American - 65% in the US, 10% in Canada. To be a successful global organization, the membership percentages should be the inverse of the current ratio, about 75 % from outside North America. If one makes the reasonable assumption that domestic membership has stabilized, then international membership should generate growth of at least 300%, to well over 100,000 members.

Next week, at ISA Expo 2007 in Houston, society delegates will vote to change ISA's name to International Society of Automation, reflecting the two important differences in focus: "International" and "Automation". I heartily recommend this change.

ISA Global Strategy Moves Forward

ISA - New Growth Through International Automation

Return to the TOP

ABB plans for continued growth & success

ABB plans to maintain its current core portfolio of businesses and aims to build on its leading technology and strong market positions in the fast-growing emerging economies to increase revenues organically at almost twice the rate of market growth and three times the rate of global GDP growth.

ABB expects profitability to increase by as much as 5% during the 5-year period, compared to 2006. As a result, earnings are expected to grow by a compound average of 15-20% per year, and after-tax return on capital will exceed 30% by 2011.

This strong position continues to fuel the news that ABB will soon make a move to acquire Rockwell. Meanwhile, Rockwell hired ex-Ford manufacturing people to run some of its US manufacturing plants, causing lots of layoffs and plant-closings. Distracted by these screw-ups, Rockwell is reported to be girding for a fight. Stay tuned...

ABB expects sustained growth and increased earnings from 2007 to 2011

ABB considering Rockwell acquisition

Return to the TOP

Yokogawa still targeting process automation top-spot

Yokogawa continues to re-assert the commitment that it will lead the world process automation market, with only about 3 or 4 years left to reach fulfillment. Yokogawa reports that it has passed one significant milestone - for the first time winning more than 50% of total sales from outside the Japanese market.

Andrew Bond writes in his respected UK Industrial Automation Insider:

"Yokogawa's dominance of and the effective exclusion of its main competitors from its home market means that it needs to achieve a significantly smaller share of the market outside of Japan than its Western rivals to achieve overall global market leadership. For that reason, the fact that it now derives less than half of its sales, 47.2% in 2006 - 07 to be precise, from its home market could mark a tipping point and herald an acceleration up the international pecking order."

Feb. 2005 - Yokogawa targets the top-spot

Yokogawa VISION-21 & ACTION-21 corporate strategy

Return to the TOP

eFeedback

"Reading about Pharma Lobbyists in the USA immediately made me thank heavens that we in the UK have the National Health Service (NHS). Most Brits love it. And advertising prescription drugs here is illegal.

"We also have an organization called NICE: http://www.nice.org.uk/ Among other things it tries to ensure that expensive drugs that are no better than cheaper equivalents are not prescribed. Of course Big Pharma lobbies against it, but I am happy to have my taxes used that way."

Return to the TOP

Rob Koene [Rob.Koene@Fluor.com] has some comments on my article that technology is making us stupid:

"Although you are right on many points, I am not entirely agreeing with your statement about remembering telephone numbers, birthdays, and other calendar/address stuff.

"Many millions of people have been using agendas and 'black books' for ages. I guess that if we ever learn to read Cro-Magnon we may find out that some of the drawings on cave walls actually depict birthdays or hunting appointments. Cavemen must often have been in a hurry then too, to go hunting....

"What it comes down to is a phrase I read about people glorifying the 'simple life' of earlier generations, while for those earlier generations (aka the 'simple lifers') life was not that simple at all....

"I can remember (1952) the 1st television set to be moved into our living room with my father's lame excuse that he wanted to see the world news. At that time, the main delivery of the news was the newspaper. They were sent by slow planes and couriers and so it often took days before you knew about stuff happening outside your country.

"Starting with CNN and later Internet the whole dog-and-pony show became instantaneous. You will not hear me complaining about the good old days EVER. I would never want to go back to operator handled international calls, making engineering drawings on transparencies, almost getting killed by the ammonia of the blueprint machines, the cold war, no computers, kick start motorcycles, rusting cars, etc.

"The only good things were the low gas prices, no traffic jams and trust-in-your-government (since you did not know any better) and great music, of course."

Return to the TOP

Gerry Shand [Gerry.Shand@jacobs.com] from Canada has this to say about people becoming obsolete:

"You've been discussing the importance of engineers re-inventing themselves because of the changing technical landscape. This is common with any high-profile or high-stress profession. Here are a few examples:

• Sports: When the body quits, so do you
• Movie Stars: yesterday's star, today's news, tomorrow's has-been
• Pop Artists: Same as movie stars
• Medical and Dental: Always new ways to perform surgeries, procedures requiring less or even no hospital time, faster healing typically without any scars
• Banking: who uses manual-entry anymore?

"There are several other examples of other professions and this is a common theme: Those who cannot adapt, learn new skills, or do not have a back up or succession plan to use their other resources wisely (brains, intellect and money) end up being broke and destitute. Quite a shock from when you were a celebrity.

"Why should the engineering field be any different?"

Return to the TOP

JimPinto.com eNews - on the web

Index of ALL past JimPinto.com eNews

eSpeak to me

If you have comments or suggestions for Growth & Success News, please contact me directly at : Jim@JimPinto.com

Subscribe or Unsubscribe

Or, simply send a blank email message to:
Sign-up@JimPinto.com
with subject line: "sign me up for JimPinto.com E-mail news".

To be removed send a blank email message to:
eRemove@JimPinto.com with subject line "Remove".

Stay in e-touch!

Cheers: