Had a busy week, couldn't stop to think about posting. Not only writing five or six thousand words to get our September issue out, but it seemed like that many schedule changes on my high school soccer referee assignment database. Any Ohio high school certified soccer referees out there (except you, Darryl, you're already on my list)? I could use a couple ;-)
I talked with Nic Gihl, Schneider Electric North America vice president of industrial automation and control, before I left for Austin and NI Week. The interview, along with the one with Jeff Garwood, will appear in the September issue of Automation World. Nic is always interesting and willing to speak out on new topics.
What hit me was when he used the phrase "our industry" in a sentence. I'm trying to remember the last time I heard that phrase from someone who should be an industry leader. Probably Kevin Roach who once worked for Nic, then GE Fanuc (Roach sold his business to Gihl's Total Control Products, which was sold to GE Fanuc where both men worked for a while), and is now vice president and head of Rockwell Software. Roach is also president of the MESA software organization. That stood in stark contrast to Garwood's remark when I asked about the state of the industry, "I don't really know about the industry." That is a classic Jack Welch managers-can-manage-anything-and-don't-need-to-know-the-industry style.
Give credit to John Berra of Emerson Process for his role with the Fieldbus Foundation. But Emerson has built its entire structure around that network and doesn't seem interested in going beyond that.
So, don't look for a big industry leader networking sort of thing at ISA Expo 2005 in October in Chicago.
I'll be there. Stop me and tell me what's on your mind.
7:43:07 AM 
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