The program for the 2012 CSIA Executive Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz. is complete with 23 presentations that we believe will excite you. You'll go back to the office with many ideas on how to improve your company. Does the cost concern you? Consider this ROI calculation. If a few of those new ideas earn or save you about 20 billable hours in an entire year than you will have paid for the conference. If I could give you a money back guarantee on the investment I would. Instead, you have my word that the 2012 Executive Conference will be worthy of your registration. Additionally, is no extra charge for the opportunity to network with your peers and build worldwide business relationships - they pay dividends too! Be sure to attend, you'll be glad you did. Look for the preliminary program to be published later this month.

 

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by Lynda Patterson, FASAE, CAE, CSIA President

 

December is a month of both anticipation and reflection. As CSIA staff looks back on 2011, we see that our association has enjoyed a very successful year. In 2011:

• Integrator membership grew 16 percent, to 333 member companies
• Partner membership grew by 27 percent, to 76 members
• International membership grew 29 percent, with members in 26 countries; one in six member companies is headquartered outside of the United States
• Member retention rate was 96 percent in 2011
• Conference attendance increased 42 percent; the number of exhibitors has increased nearly 50 percent since 2009

CSIA has much to be thankful for. At the same time, CSIA members have much to anticipate in 2012. The Board of Directors recently expanded the mission of the organization to place greater emphasis on raising industry awareness of CSIA, the advantages of retaining a CSIA member, and the value of CSIA certification as contributing factor in a successful integration project.

 

The CSIA staff, with the assistance of a marketing firm and a web design firm, will be working to expand CSIA's online presence, expand relations with industry media, forge new partnership with other associations and provide tools for members to use in marketing to their clients. You will be hearing more about these initiatives soon.

 

On behalf of the entire CSIA staff - Bob, Jeanne, Brittany, Ann, Chrissy, Laura and Kim - I wish you happy holidays and a bright and successful new year. 

 

Do you have a survey question to suggest? Send it here.

Broaden your professional network and stay in touch between annual conferences by joining our online group, the CSIA Connected Community. The CSIA Connected Community is the only place you can go - any day, any time - to ask questions, access member-only resources, and learn what CSIA members are talking about.

The first step to participating in social networking is to complete your existing profile. (That's right, you already have a profile!)

 

 

1. Go to the CSIA Connected Community.

 

2. Log in. If you have never been to the Connected Community, take a moment to register as a new user, using the e-mail you use for all CSIA communications.

 

3. Go to My Profile to view your current profile. Add information or link to another social media site to automatically complete your profile. Save your changes.

 

4. Upload a business photo of yourself. The best format is a square, approximately 200 by 200 pixel, jpeg file.

 

The more information you share about yourself, the easier it will be for everyone to find common ground.

 

See you online! 

 

Low Cost High Benefit Marketing Strategies

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (New York)/3:00 p.m. GMT  Walt Boyes, Editor in Chief, Control Magazine

If you're like most control system integrators, a marketing plan does not come naturally. It doesn't align well with your technical mind. In this webinar, Walt Boyes will explain easy-to-understand strategies for promoting your company's strengths, capabilities and partnerships to prospective clients, without breaking your budget. Walt has spent many years in the world of automation media and has collected an immense portfolio of marketing wisdom. He'll share some of it during this 30-minute webinar. There will be time for questions and answers so be sure to bring yours.

 

Register here:

 

Recent webinar topics include:

• August: Independent Contractor Liability: What You Don't Know Will Hurt You.
• September: Successful Integrators Capitalize on Real-Time Feedback
• October: Certification Audit Preparation Process

These and many other CSIA webinars can be listened to and viewed in the webinar archives.

Cyber security and the CSIA Executive Conference

 

Are you giving proper consideration to the security of the systems you design for your clients? This blog from Tofino is a quick read but very insightful. At our 2012 Executive Conference, Eric Byres will present one of the 23 programs that will help you improve your business as well as the business of your clients. Follow Eric's blogs and be sure to join us in April. 

by Joe Martin, Member Relations Committee chair

• Seeking advocates for our associate and Certified members, the Board of Directors has approved the formation of a Member Relations committee an uptick from the former Membership committee. Our primary focus is on retention, engagement and recognition. We are also looking to grow the number of committee members and ambassadors.

• For most members, it's a no-brainer. But, reflecting on the value of your CSIA membership, it's time to consider renewal. By promptly replying to your renewal notice, you'll save yourself the time of dealing with follow up calls from CSIA staff. If you are at all on the fence about renewal, please shoot me a quick e-mail. I'd be happy to discuss it with you.

• Next year, you'll be hearing more about two new projects we are considering: a channel for members to develop their future work force and a method to improve members' employee retention and satisfaction.

Please have a safe Holiday Season and may your new year bring a relaxed mind, peaceful soul, joyful spirit and a healthy body!

 

 

The journey to CSIA certification will soon be aided by the Roadmap to Certification, a new initiative introduced by the Best Practices and Benchmarks Committee.

 

The committee is collecting model documents that members have developed to improve their businesses and prepare for a CSIA certification audit. These template documents, minus any identifying company information, will serve as examples of the documents referenced in the Best Practices and Benchmarks Manual. After review, the committee will post the best examples in the Best Practices Template Documents library on the CSIA Connected Community. The library will be available only to CSIA members.

The template collection process begins with Section 5 - Project Management. In future months, the committee will be seeking examples for the other three required pass sections: Section 4 - Financial Management, Section 6 - System Development Lifecycle, and Section 7 - Supporting Activities.

 

According to committee chair Jeff Miller, "the Roadmap to Certification ultimately helps us to raise the standards for our profession and build a better CSIA brand."

 

Please submit any templates you have for project plans - without any identifying information - to the Best Practice Committee at: bestpractices@controlsys.org by Friday, Jan. 6, 2012. 

by Bob Lowe, CSIA Executive Director

 

The Rockwell Automation Fair, Nov. 16-17 in Chicago, provided CSIA with an exhibit booth where we met many prospective and current members. Additionally, we were included as a presenter in their Latin America Group Solution Partner meeting. Opportunities like this enhance our membership growth initiative domestically and in Latin America. A big thanks to Eduardo Acosta, CSIA International Committee Chairman, for his participation.

 

We are very grateful to Rockwell Automation for their continuing generosity and support of CSIA!

by Bob Lowe, CSIA Executive Director

 

New integrator members! New Partner members! New contacts with existing Partner Members! New media relations! Excellent ISA contacts and relationships! Contacts with Petrobras, the biggest oil and gas company in South America! This is a summary of the outcome of having participated in the Brazil 2011 ISA Expo in Sao Paulo. All these contacts will support CSIA growth in Latin America, which means further strengthening the CSI industry worldwide. We are grateful to Jorge Ramos, President of ISA South America, for making the arrangements for CSIA to have a booth at no cost. In return, Jorge is invited to be a complementary attendee at the 2012 Executive Conference in April. Plus, we will do some Best Practices webcasts for Brazil ISA members in 2012. The ISA support staff was excellent also, particularly Claudia and Gilberto.

 

I am also grateful for the support of Eduardo Acosta and PC Romano. Their language skills and overall support contributed greatly to our success.

 

We are invited to return for the 2012 Expo and plan is to have a collective booth of integrators with sponsorships by our Partner members. This will provide greater exposure to other integrators and, just as importantly, to end-users.

CSIA 2011 Conference Gold Sponsor

 
Invensys Operations Management, a division of Invensys, was recognized by Microsoft as the Industry Solutions 2011 Partner of the Year. Having started our relationship with Microsoft in 1988 with the first Windows based HMI, Wonderware InTouch®, we have come a long way.

 

Another significant recognition came for the Skelta® Business Process Management (BPM) product as Global 100 Winner. Skelta was purchased in 2010 to provide Invensys with strong BPM/Workflow capabilities. The Skelta BPM.NET product is now the "engine" behind ArchestrA Workflow-an industrial-strength BPM designed for the industrial user. ArchestrA Workflow has been integrated into the ArchestrA System Platform, software and consignments, so that all users and partners have easy access to build and test rigorous workflow applications.

 

ArchestrA Workflow Software is a comprehensive workflow solution for industrial operations that allows organizations to build specific business processes that help in monitoring key business activities. Whether it is for regulatory compliance, or best practice sharing, or to enhance other systems of record (Manufacturing Execution Systems; Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence; Enterprise Asset Management; Enterprise Resource Planning), ArchestrA Workflow provides collaboration, visibility, and process enforcement.

 

Work processes in industrial facilities span across many different departments with a wide range of personnel involved. These processes typically include:

• Operations and production related activities
• Maintenance related activities
• Quality related activities
• Warehouse related activities
• Environmental & Safety related activities

ArchestrA Workflow has been designed to seamlessly collaborate with existing hardware and software assets to enable organizations to model, execute, and analyze processes that require people and systems to be coordinated effectively to accomplish specific business objectives.

 

Some specific opportunities where ArchestrA Workflow can add value to existing application landscapes and provide incremental revenue opportunities for you include:

• Operator alarm response management
• Specification change management
• QA hold resolution
• Set point changes
• Material receiving and inspection
• Production order download synchronization
• And many more

Learn more about ArchestrA Workflow on our website.

by Paul Barnard, insurance manager

 

We welcome new participant iCommand Systems, Inc of Feeding Hills, MA. As with last month's new member, Synergy, iCommand found themselves in danger of having no coverage. Fortunately the CSIA Insurance Program was able to step in and solve the problem.

Our U.S. coverage continues to grow based upon the outstanding insurance coverage available only via our program. Also, the service that members are receiving from First Niagara Risk Management is wonderful. All existing members have renewed this year. I think the best endorsement of their services has come from Brenda Matthews, CFO of Hallam/ICS. "I love them," she said.

By this time next month we shall have added our first insured from the European Union. Our programs continue to expand to embrace members wherever they are based. Working, as we do, closely with the CSIA Best Practices Committee, our coverage reflects the very best in risk management and transfer that is available anywhere in the insurance market place.

So, for a consultation on your current coverage and what is on offer from CSIA, in whatever country you are based, please email me or call (001) 610-507-6595. I will provide you with a compelling case for your participation.

 

CSIA is a member organization of the Automation Federation (AF), focused on workforce education and defining automation as a specific career, both in academia and with the Department of Labor and Industry. A cornerstone of AF is the Automation Competency Model (ACM) which defines the building blocks needed to meet automation industry needs. Follow this link for a full definition of the ACM and its impact on careers. CSIA has a sincere interest in AF because one of the most pressing problems facing our industry is finding qualified people. AF will eventually help ease that problem. The success of CSIA members depends on the success of organizations like AF which is becoming a global initiative, particularly in Europe. 

February 6-9, 2012

Renaissance at SeaWorld Orlando Marriott

Orlando, Florida

 

ARC's World Industry Forum focuses on all industry challenges and can help you develop winning strategies. It provides the ideal environment for industry executives to collaborate, share ideas, and find new ways to attack their most pressing problems. The event includes sessions on the major issues facing our industry, with multiple tracks that enable executives to explore these topics from different perspectives. Owner/operators, solution providers, and technical experts will all benefit from this experience while simultaneously contributing to the community's body of knowledge. This forum is an excellent opportunity for CSIA members to meet prospective clients.

 

The MESA Global Education Program (GEP) aggressively addresses the knowledge gap that serves as the primary barrier to growth of the operations management space. Slowing that growth inhibits the realization of the significant gains available to end users who successfully embrace MES/MOM.* So, end-user manufacturers/producers and solution providers alike have reason to attend these programs.

 

MESA Certificate of Awareness (CoA) for MES/MOM* Business Awareness Program (2 days)is a high-level program of MES/MOM business functions courses geared for executives, manufacturing/operations and IT personnel and sales professionals.

 

MESA International is a non-profit, independent organization with members in 90 countries including solution providers, system integrators and manufacturer/producers.

 

These events occur in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Sao Paulo in December, and other locations globally in 2012. They require registration here.

 

*MES/MOM - Manufacturing Execution Systems/Manufacturing Operations Management 

Brasil Logic Sistemas, Indaiatuba Sao Paulo, Brazil

represented by Eduardo Luis Vieira 

Objectives: integration systems of factory floor; integration of coporate KPIA's with factory floor. Target markets: chemical process, DI water, OEM, machines. Application engineering: PLC, IHM, Industrial networks, MES, PIMS  

Control Technology Corporation, Hopkinton MA

represented by Thomas Schermerhorn

CTC designs and manufactures and places flexible, robust programmable automation control systems for the broadest range of industry applications. From the smallest I/O application to complex control applications integrating motion, analog and digital I/O. CTC brings the factory floor to your operational intelligence systems with its Web-enabled capability, whether locally or globally.  

NOFFZ Computer Technology, Toenisvorst North-Rhine Westfalia, Germany 

represented by Markus Solbach

NOFFZ ComputerTechnology GmbH delivers worldwide turn-key solutions and PC based measurement and automation systems with an extensive service. Compentence areas of the company are: development and production of automatic test-systems (ATE, ICT/FCT, AOI, haptic, audio, video); development of  hardware and software; image processing and analysis (LED and display test, surface inspection); and flexible small series production of electronic devices, modules and interfaces; product variant, tester and database management up to ERP level (Oracle, SAP). With the help of great partners from different diciplines the spectrum will be adjusted to the customer requirements, tasks and project scope. Target markets are machine builders, electronic manufacturers, medical, telecom, almost all industry segments.