Executive Director's Message 

by Bob Lowe

 
Welcome to the August CSIA newsletter!  Before I get into my article, let me remind you to forward this newsletter to others who would benefit from it.  The more exposure it gets, the more CSIA is understood and appreciated within your company.
 
I have a unique experience to tell you about this month. I was in India and Singapore last week, each for three days. It was at the invitation of Rockwell Automation to provide a workshop on best practices for the independent system integrators that largely use their products. The workshops were excerpts from our Best Practices manual and were well accepted by the attendees. There are some business culture differences, particularly in India, but nearly all of the content can be put to use when they return to their businesses. There were 36 companies represented in India and 18 in Singapore.
 

Why did Rockwell want me to do these workshops? Simply because they want the integrators in India and Southeast Asia to join CSIA, use Best Practices to improve their operations, get CSIA Certified and experience the many other benefits of CSIA membership. Doing so reduces the risk of project and business failure and increases the likelihood that Rockwell products will be utilized successfully.
 
Why did CSIA accept the invitation? Because part of our strategic plan is to increase our international membership and ultimately have CSIA Certified become a worldwide standard. 
 
I want to thank Rockwell for the invitation and the hospitality in both countries. Everyone I encountered, whether Rockwell people or the integrators, was warm, friendly and helpful. 

 

It's important for our other Partner members to know that this initiative for international growth is open to all. Rockwell just happened to go first. A steering committee will be established in both regions to determine how the integrators can take full advantage of their CSIA membership. Note that there is still a lot of room for growth here in the U.S. as well.

 

 

 

CSIA has launched a series of audio programs to promote the benefits of CSIA and the use of CSIA members to end-users. The Control System Solutions Forum is a recording archive of informative discussions that will help you understand the customer-integrator relationship and the positive outcomes it brings for both. The list of offerings, both video and audio, will continue to grow. Check back for updates.

 

Are you passionate about an aspect of your business that you'd like to share with your fellow CSIA members? If so please consider doing a 45-minute presentation at our annual conference in April 2011. Member presentations are always among the most highly rated! In a few short months the Executive Council will meet to start making decisions on the conference content and would love to include you in the mix. Please contact Bob Lowe for more information.

One of the most popular features of the CSIA Connected Community - Find an Integrator - is being expanded to provide more information about your company and its services to prospective clients. The CSIA contact person at your company will be receiving detailed instructions for completing your company profile during the month of August.   

 

In the meantime, please e-mail your current company logo to Brittany Marsala at bmarsala@controlsys.org (jpg format, approximately 200 x 200 pixels).

 

Find an Integrator is a membership benefit that will help your company reach its target markets. Stay tuned for more information!

 

 

• Automated data upload
• Trending of quarterly data and leading indicators
• Rich and flexible reporting
• Data security

 

CSIA Webinars 

 

 

The Partner Committee recently had a meeting to discuss opportunities for CSIA Partners to help spread the word to their organizations both inside and out. Bob Lowe is willing and able to provide web-based and sometimes direct presentations for both inside sales and the user community. By spreading the word about CSIA and CSIA Certification you are helping the organization and your integrators raise the bar.
 
The Executive Council recently appointed Mark Moriarity of Rockwell Automation as the Partner Committee Co-Chair to work with Steve Goldberg. Together they will help our Partner and integrator communities find synergy and work toward the promotion of CSIA and CSIA Certification.
 
For further information on either of these two items please contact Steve Goldberg at SMGoldberg@matrixti.com.

 

The Marketing committee would like to announce that it has taken on a new look since the Executive Conference last April. The committee now has six members in addition to CSIA management and includes Cliff Campbell, Frakes Engineering, Inc. Indianapolis, IN; Luigi De Bernardini, Autoware S.R. I., Vicenza, VI Italy; Tracy Chavarria, Concept Systems, Albany OR; Mark Moriarty, Rockwell Automation, Milwaukee, WI; John Justus, Bay-Tec Engineering in Napa CA; and myself, Tom Walther, ESE, Inc., Marshfield, WI.
 
Our primary objectives are to:

Our first initiative is focused on helping promote the CSIA brand and Certification to client companies. We have commissioned ARC to develop an article specifically targeted to client customers to that end. The rationale behind using ARC is that it comes from a neutral source with high credibility within the industry. CSIA Certified members will have the choice to send this information directly to their customers or have CSIA send an information packet to a list of their prospective or active customers. Some may prefer to have CSIA send the information to appear more neutral and so that it not be viewed as a direct "commercial." Communications will be coming in the future to request your desire to participate and preference.

 

Through these objectives, our vision is to help each of our member companies gain additional business as a result of being associated with CSIA.

 

For more information contact Tom Walther at walthert@ese1.com or (715) 387-4778 ext 252.

 

Programs on tap for sales training course 

You'll find a current question feed from controlsoverload.com on the connected community homepage!  Both sites can offer great value to you, but like any other social networking site, you get out of it what you put into it!

Do you remember the DIP switch settings to configure the RIO address of a Numatics valve bank? How do I initialize a 1394 Motion Controller? What does the jumper do on the SLC5/05 motherboard? Ask a question and browse the existing questions. If you know the answer, answer it! If you see an answer and/or a question you like, vote on it to tell the community you like it! 

Like the CSIA Connected Community, the goal of controlsoverload.com is to bring control systems integrators together, to share knowledge in one spot, and build a huge Q&A knowledge base online around controls and automation. 

 

Anixter ipAssuredSM is an infrastructure assurance program that matches a cabling infrastructure to the equipment it supports based on the technical, application and life-cycle requirements of the user. Equipment from networking servers in the data center to IP-based surveillance cameras on the perimeter are constantly advancing and requiring a cabling infrastructure to support their needs for speed and bandwidth. Divided into three performance classes, Anixter ipAssured provides a robust cabling infrastructure for the entire planned life cycle of the equipment from 1 to 15 years.

Developed through extensive testing and research in Anixter's Infrastructure Solutions Lab, Anixter ipAssured provides cabling recommendations based on the applications a company is running. Coupled with industry standards and manufacturer partners, this testing ensures customers receive a solution that is guaranteed to meet their current and future needs.

Anixter initially developed Anixter ipAssured for the security market but is rapidly expanding into the data center and industrial automation industries. Whereas bandwidth and speed are needed in the security and data center space, industrial network infrastructures have other differentiators: environment, determinism and latency. As Industrial Ethernet has matured, network-attached devices have propagated from PLCs and HMIs to I/O and level-three components such as sensors. By introducing an infrastructure assurance program, Anixter can help its customers select a solution based on their environment and equipment that exceeds their performance expectations.

 

 

We continue to hear great things from our members about the services provided by First Niagara. Recent examples are:

 

 

 

CSIA views its insurance programs as an adjunct to helping the membership use the very best business practices. To this end, First Niagara Risk Management offers the following services:

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

 

Our bonding facility is becoming increasingly popular again with excellent reports from membership on the service they receive.

 

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