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Saturday, July 15, 2006 |
Received a comment on my post about Rockwell's RSTechEd from Jim May. I'm not getting into the discussion about which company does the best job of talking with customers. So far I'm pretty impressed with many. I was talking with Kevin Roach and Matt Bauer of Rockwell Software yesterday and they think that RSTechEd is the largest training event of its kind in the industry. I can't verify that--but it was big.
Anyway, words from a customer:
"RE: to RSTechEd 2006 sessions, I commend the activities, learning sessions, discussion sessions that R.A. put together for customers (me), integrators, distributors, and vendors to have the interaction between the managers of the Rockwell products and to also have a way for us the folks in the field give feedback and have someone in the flesh to hear the concerns and what possible events and actions could come of those issues and concerns. I have been to different events and meetings with different groups and it was not just a B (b**ch gripe) session and to show flash. There was actual content we could use and correct some notions we had for implementation of solutions. It was a solutions meeting, but maybe the amount and speed of solutions are to everyones flavor, but this was the time to voice it and have ears available. Thanks for the posting for this weblog newbie, Jim May"
Thanks for the note. I hope others take the time to comment about their experiences with Rockwell and other companies. We don't need every blog to be negative.
7:23:38 PM 
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An ideal way to reach engineers and electricians who can't travel to trade shows and seminars is to bring the show to them. Wago is doing just that with its Innovation in Automation Tour. It is starting the first week of August in Wisconsin and continuing through the rest of North America. The tour features product application panels and dedicated time with company application engineers to discuss challenges.
7:16:04 PM
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From The New York Times. The telling sentence is probably the one near the end which states that Kerkorian is interested in Ghosan as the next CEO of GM. He wants to see a faster turnaround. I'm not sure that this fits with Jim Pinto's comments in his last newsletter about the problem in US business being Wall Street's focus on short term share prices. Wagoner has had time to do something, but not much seems to be happening. GM really only needs about three things from a macro perspective: get serious about adopting the Toyota Production System in manufacturing; chop (not whittle) the huge bureaucracy; and get some good products.
I haven't seriously considered a GM product for 20 years. The last one I bought was a clunker that I just left at a repair place. I switched to Fords for a variety of reasons (it was my biggest customer and I could drive my Taurus back through security to the power house to park for customer calls--couldn't do that with a non-Ford being one). Got almost 250,000 miles on that Taurus of the early 90s vintage. But Ford's quality slipped badly under Nasser and my next two (mine and my wife's) were not good cars. So, now I have a Volvo and my wife a MiniCooper. Never looked at GM. Did look at Toyota.
Wagoner knows the three things. It's a question of Andy Grove's fear. GM doesn't have it. It's sinking quickly, but they're still bailing with buckets. Companies can go out of business--even big ones. In the 70s I worked for a division of a Fortune 50 company. That company was history by 1985. I'd hate to think of our country without a company the size of GM, but it could happen. And Ford is struggling as well. Can't US managers run a car company any more?
G.M., Renault and Nissan Agree to Study Alliance. The American, French and Japanese companies said the review would take approximately 90 days. By MICHELINE MAYNARD and NICK BUNKLEY. [NYT > Home Page]
7:16:35 AM
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© Copyright 2006 Gary Mintchell.
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