Monday, September 25, 2006

New OPC blog I just discovered Tom Burke's blog. He's president and executive director of the OPC Foundation and is evangelizing OPC. Way to go, Tom. 9:33:03 PM    comment []

Process Control blog Check out a new blog by a couple of Emerson Process engineers, but it's a non-company blog. Promises to be enlightening. Terry Blevins and Greg McMillan are collaborating on the ModelingAndControl.com blog. Thanks to  Jim Cahill  [Emerson Process Experts] for pointing this. 9:25:37 PM    comment []

Growing while cutting A couple of weeks ago I argued that Ford's cutting costs was only half the equation. In this article in The New York Times, the writers describe HP CEO Mark Hurd's strategy of combining cost cuts with growth strategies (i.e. new products). I was trained early in my career in manufacturing in both disciplines--always watch costs to boost the bottom line and bring out new products to improve the top line. I didn't think it was a magic formula--just the way to do business. But I guess when you get so big, it's hard to watch the costs. I'd bet that CEO ego gets in the way, too. Anyway, a telling point in the article is a statement that Hurd believes that cutting costs only destroys morale, while cutting costs combined with a simultaneous growth strategy will keep people focused and motivated. At Hewlett-Packard, a Chief Wounded by Divided Attention. Mark V. Hurd has transformed Hewlett-Packard into a growth company, but the success is being overshadowed by the company[base ']s leak scandal. By DAMON DARLIN. [NYT > Business] 7:17:57 AM    comment []