News from CSIA for July 2010

July 2010 newsletter sponsored by First Niagara Risk Management

Welcome to the July CSIA newsletter! I hope you're enjoying summer and have carved out some vacation time for yourselves.

Have you been to the Connected Community lately? There are some enlightening conversations occurring that would give almost anyone ideas on ways to improve a business. Also, peruse the Resource Library...you never know what you'll find!

RSTechED: The CSIA staff and I extend our gratitude to Rockwell Automation for providing the opportunity to participate in their RSTechED event in June. I manned a booth during the windy opening reception in the pool area on Sunday evening and gave a presentation on Monday evening on the benefits of membership for integrators, emphasizing our Executive Conference, Best Practices and CSIA Certification.

Our Partner members, like Rockwell Automation, support CSIA because of the good we do in strengthening the CSI industry and a strong CSI industry helps their products go to market more smoothly!

Reminder: Send me an email when you encounter CSIA Certification as a requirement to bid or do work. We like to know.

Now that you're CSIA Certified. . . CSIA cerrtified logo

So you're CSIA Certified...Do your current customers know it? Do your prospective customers know it? If they do, good for you. If not, shame on you. You worked so hard to get there, shout it from the rooftops! It's what can set you apart - a differentiator in the market place.

What's the selling point? You represent a lower risk to failure because you've been tested, like an attorney who has passed the Bar exam versus one who hasn't. Given a choice, which would you choose?

So how do you get the word out? Here are a few ideas:

Prominently display it on your website and explain what it means.
Say it in the email signature of EVERY employee at your company.
Put it on all business cards.
Put CSIA Certified stickers that are available from our office on all of your laptops and hard hats.
Put CSIA Certified tattoos on the foreheads of all employees (just kidding).

Got the point? You are our best CSIA Certified brand marketing tool. Just do it...you'll be glad you did and so will we!

CSIA webinars: archives and updates Webinar

Webinars (Past)

Did you participate in the Baker and Daniels webinar on "Warranties" yesterday? If not, you missed a good one. If it's not there already, a recording of the webinar will be posted on the public website under "News and Events" for those of you who weren't able to participate.

Webinars (Future)

We are continuing with our monthly webinars. Webinars are an inexpensive (almost free!) way to learn more about how to improve your business. Think of them as extension of the educational aspect of our annual conference. Topics are typically business-related; others, a bit more technical. We ask that you please forward information you receive on the webinars to others in your company who might benefit from a particular topic.

Up next . . .

Electrical ARC Flash Safety and Risk Management
Joseph Weigel, Square D Services
July 21, 2010, 11 a.m. EDT
This session presents an overview of the NFPA 70E 2009 Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace and the requirements of the standards, which are intended to better protect electrical workers from injury when they work on energized electrical equipment.
The types of major electrical faults that can occur in electrical equipment are presented, with a focus on arcing faults as particularly damaging and dangerous to workers and equipment. Statistical occurrences of arc flash accidents that cause significant injuries and fatalities are discussed in both human and financial terms. The presentation covers all aspects of facility and employer responsibilities for compliance to the NFPA 70E standards, as well as the current status of OSHA enforcement of these standards.

An OPC Foundation webinar is being planned for August so stay tuned for details.

Membership Committee update

by Joe Martin, Membership Committee Chair

The membership committee has been spending the months since the conference undergoing some changes to better define our purpose and mission. With the help of Ed Diehl and Lynda Patterson, we finalized a committee charter in June. We've also just completed a major revamping of our mentorship program so that it can better accommodate our mentors without diminishing its value to our new members.

We are now looking to round out the Membership Committee with between eight and ten active people. The time commitment is only about an hour per month for about ten months of the year. Our meetings are by conference call and very little preparation is required.

The duties and responsibilities for the Membership Committee members include the following:

Establish clear tactics or actions, which the committee will undertake to achieve the objectives outlined in the charter.
Oversee engagement programs and evaluate their effectiveness.
Recommended strategy changes (if any) to the Board for approval.
Provide guidance and assistance to the CSIA staff responsible for processing membership applications and renewals.
The Committee Chairman is to provide regular and timely progress reports to the Board.
Carry out other duties and responsibilities as delegated by the Board.
Abide by the "Conflict of Interest, Antitrust and Leadership Acknowledgement" statement, found in the CSIA Leadership Manual.
While serving on the committee and when representing CSIA in other capacities, always act in the best interest of the CSIA and all of its members.

Our new Charter allows for up to three members who are Partner Members or other parties actively involved in the CSIA and interested in serving the CSIA integrator community. However, the majority of our members must still be from integrator member companies, representing both Certified and non-Certified (Associate) Members.

Please contact Joe Martin for more information or if you would like to be added to our mentors list.

Best Practices Committee update

by Jeff Miller, Best Practices Committee Chair

The Best Practices Committee has begun the planning process for the development and release of a new version of the Best Practices manual. We have been busy collecting feedback from our members (integrators and partners) on areas of the best practices that could use some additional clarification, as well as creating a new section to address the best practices associated with the execution of non-project related revenue generating activities like system support or service work. The current proposed plan would have the Version 4 document ready for release at our 2012 CSIA annual conference.

Some areas that we are currently considering for modifications include sections on: Risk Management; Safety, Health and Environmental Regulations Compliance; Sales and Business Development; General Management. These were sections that most frequently received feedback from our member body as needing some work. We are in the process of creating a high level document outlining the proposed changes and will present this to the CSIA Executive Council before moving ahead. Once approval has been received we will schedule a two- to three-day face-to-face session to develop the approved changes and get them ready for the review, approval, and testing stages of the change process.

We have also began to work on a sample "Risk Review" document that integrators can use to structure their own risk management process. This document will provide some sample questions to ask during the proposal stage of the project as the integrator is trying to decide if they should pursue the work. It will also contain some areas of risk that may need to be considered and actively managed during the execution phase of the project.

Our committee would like to welcome a couple of new members since the 2010 Executive Conference. Recently joined are Jane Cunningham of Jordan Engineering in Beamsville, ON and Bill Sellitto of Martin Controls in Dublin, OH. As always, the Best Practices Committee would love to invite you to join our group and volunteer to help shape the Best Practices manual as we embark on this effort over the next 22 to 24 months to a year.

If you are interested in joining, please contact Jeff Miller at (712) 722-1663 X151 or jeff.miller@interstates.com.

Insurance update

by Paul Barnard

The CSIA Insurance Programs were created in response to CSIA members' need for appropriate and cost-effective coverage that reflects the exposures associated with control system integration. The CSIA program was developed to provide a partnership between our members and an insurance agency and carriers who truly understand control system integration, eliminating misclassification and potentially dangerous gaps in coverage.

CSIA was founded to support best practices within the industry and our Insurance Programs are a key element in achieving this goal. By getting their risk management and coverage right, our member's customers can see that these elements of the purchasing equation point clearly to working with CSIA-insured members.

We offer three Programs: first, a business insurance package for our U.S.-based membership; second, a Professional Errors & Omissions facility for our non-U.S.-based membership; and finally, a Bonding facility for membership transacting business within the United States. CSIA views its insurance programs as an adjunct to helping members use the very best business practices.

To this end, First Niagara Risk Management, our insurance agent, offers the following services:

Contract review
Advice on appropriate Terms & Conditions
Speak with you and your customers to clarify or resolve coverage concerns with regard to contracts and certificates
Coverage review to facilitate discussion of exposures so you may determine what you want to insure or self insure. This helps to reduce surprises at claim time.
Advice on the appropriate coverage that you should require of your subcontractors
Help with reviewing your disaster planning

Just as CSIA Best Practices improve your business so the application of good risk management will ensure that you have appropriate coverage at the appropriate pricing.

For more information on any of our programs please contact Paul Barnard, insurance program manager, (610) 507-6595 or paulbarnard@csia-insurance.com.

Join a Best Practices group

Are you wondering what your peers are doing to meet the requirements of criteria in the Best Practices manual, whether the criteria are included in the audit or not? Do you want to be able to share an answer to such a request? Then become a member of all of the newly created Conversation Groups for the BP manual sections. This is the place to ask questions about the BP manual criteria. It will be particularly useful for members working toward CSIA Certification or Recertification. There is a separate group for each section of the manual to make it easier to locate conversations.

Here's how to join a group:
1. Log into the Connected Community

2.    Go to Directory > All Communities
3.    Scroll down to the community to be joined; click on the title
4.    Click on "join community" on the right side of the screen
5.    Choose frequency of updates from pop-up menu
6.    Click on "save"
7.    Be sure it's included in your RSS Feeds (Directory>My RSS Feed)

Have anything valuable to say to customers?

by Todd Youngblood

Do executives of CSIA member companies have anything to say that would be of value to their customers? Well of course! - It's a silly question.

Every CSIA member executive possesses an abundant storehouse of hard-won experience and expertise. Not only that, intelligent application of their knowledge will almost certainly lead to customers making and/or saving money.

Trouble is, customers are crazy busy - too busy to sit down, meet, discuss and learn enough from you to make their lives simpler. What's needed is a way to showcase your knowledge on-demand, at a time and place convenient to the customer. What's needed is something like the Control System Solutions Forum.

Think of it as a 20-minute talk radio show focused on a topic of interest to customer decision makers and influencers. It's recorded and available for streaming online and as a podcast. Try the links and listen to the inaugural episode with Marty Michael, VP of Enterprise Software Solutions at Avanceon.

Think about who can get value from this discussion. The list includes Marty, Avanceon, Avanceon's customers and employees, other CSIA member customers and personnel, CSIA, CSIA Partner members... (How many "win-win-wins" can we string together here?)

Have something valuable to say and need a place to share it? Contact Bob Lowe or Todd Youngblood for more information.

Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure

Active energy management architecture from plant to plug

The impending worldwide energy crisis is expected to impact the operational costs and processes of industries in every corner of the globe, forcing all companies to consciously reduce their sensitivity to what surely will become an unstable energy equation.

The solutions to the energy challenge are multiple and complex. Energy-efficient components are now the entry fee for the game, not the game-changer. In most cases, energy solutions rely on a stronger and more efficient collaboration between key stakeholders, including facility and building managers, IT managers, factory supervisors and plant engineers. Uncoordinated component-level attempts by different corporate functions to solve energy management issues without a comprehensive plan can actually inhibit a company's ability to meet efficiency goals.

Today's energy landscape requires synchronization across all segments and platforms. Schneider Electric created its EcoStruxure™ solution architecture to unite its unique expertise in power, datacenters, process and machines, building control, and physical security, and to enable intelligent energy management solutions for customers seeking to optimize energy efficiencies across multiple domains of their business.

Schneider Electric's vision for EcoStruxure is simple - develop and deploy an integrated architecture that ties together its five key domains of expertise to make energy safe, reliable, efficient, productive and green. What customers need are the connecting solutions that create an intelligent energy management system across all application areas.

EcoStruxure connects these five domains of expertise within an open and flexible ecosystem of technology that relies on the use of IP and web services, allowing purpose-specific applications to connect whenever needed, at the right level.

Our system integrator partners are an essential part in bringing EcoStruxure to end users. Customers rely on integrators to provide expert advice and integrated solutions. To do that, integrators need more than just specialty equipment. They need a partner - a global technology leader that can deliver the tools and training to be successful. The Schneider Electric Solutions Partner Program puts power in partnership - offering integrators market differentiation and helping them create success.

Find out more about EcoStruxure, or becoming part of Schneider Electric's Solution Partner Program.

Member News

ABB Robotics selects Axium, Inc. as partner
Dynasonics receives IQ award for innovation
AES Corporation in Top 5 Fastest Growing Companies
MatrikonOPC unveils secure OPC connectivity for wind power plants
Apex Manufacturing Solutions announces release of Factory Widgets

Welcome to the Newest CSIA Members

Research Instruments & Measurement Systems Punjab, Pakistan, represented by Dr. Nadeem Lehrasab

Research Instruments & Measurement Systems are OEM, system integrators and value-added resellers. Products include EPAL/CPAL electronics and communication portable laboratories. They focus on educational research platforms and industrial test and measurement solutions. In business since 2001, more than 60% of their revenue comes from projects and system integration services.

Newly Certified and Recertified Members

The Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) is pleased to announce that the following member companies have recently earned "Certified Member" distinction:

Certification

Cal-Bay Systems, Inc., San Rafael, CA

Recertification

Northwind Technical Services, Inc., Sabetha, KS

Get in the News News

Automation magazines are an excellent way for members of the control system integration industry to share information and showcase their expertise. CSIA members have the opportunity to submit articles or contribute content for articles written by the magazines' editorial staff.

Take advantage of the opportunity to advance the profession and gain publicity for your company!

_______________________

Automation.com

Automation.com publishes news, articles and application stories for more than 30 topic-specific Automation Portals and e-newsletters. The Systems Integrator portal is particularly applicable to CSIA.

CSIA members are invited to contribute their company news, byline articles and application stories. News releases can be sent to press@automation.com. Articles and application stories can be sent to content@automation.com.