Wednesday, February 21, 2007

CEO Interviews at ARC There are two companies that are "getting it" in terms of presentations. This isn't to imply anything about other companies, it's just that I've witnessed a few good ones lately. I describe the Emerson Process Management presentation during last week's ARC Forum below, and it was casual (no powerpoints!) yet very informative. The other company is Rockwell Automation. It has been evolving a good panel discussion format from last October's Automation Fair to Pack Expo. At the ARC Forum, it held a "press conference" for both media and end users to explain its partnership with Endress + Hauser and its process automation initiatives. In this case, they had four speakers who spoke concisely, kept to the time limits, kept things moving and had time for questions. Good work. Here's a summary of some of my meetings during the Forum: Tuesday morning, the first day of the ARC Forum in Orlando, started bright and early at 7 am with the "John and Peter Show." This was the public debut of Peter Zornio as the new Chief Strategic Officer of Emerson Process Management. The "price of admission" for media and customers at the breakfast was a question. So John Berra, president and CEO of Emerson Process Management, and Zornio sat on "bar stools" (sorry, don't know what else to call them) and answered the questions and other live ones in an informal and bantering session that was actually highly informative. Zornio led off by saying his move from Honeywell to Emerson was simply his view that this was an opportunity to make a difference in the industry. Berra said that this was not an exit strategy for him. Responding to a question about wireless, Berra noted that the true value is with asset management. Addressing a question about the aging workforce, Zornio suggested upgrading processes and work practices to capture knowledge, giving them an opportunity to stay around on a consulting basis and work to get new people into engineering. Berra noted that most boomers are not really ready to quit, but that we all need to work with universities to get them to teach systems. Companies should also have structured personal development planning. When asked about justifying automation projects, Berra suggested eating lunch with finance people more often so that you know them and what they are looking for. The most important technology right now-predictive information on equipment asset management. In a private interview, Schneider Electric North American President Dave Petratis and Vice President for Automation and Control Andy Gravitt, touted the success of the company's centers of competence and emphasis on OEMs. They also took 200 company leaders to Mississippi to help the people down there rebuild from Hurricane Katrina. Invensys Process Systems' new President and CEO Paulett Eberhart acknowledged her degree and experience in accounting and finance, but she stressed her sales and marketing experience with computer services company EDS as the important qualifications for her position at Invensys. She said that a total focus on the customer is essential-that's important for everyone from the receptionist who first greets a customer to everyone else. "Customers ask, 'Is this the kind of company that I want to do business with?' I want that answer to be yes." As far as what else to expect from her leadership, she placed importance on people development-finding, training and retaining the right people. My analysis is that the key to her hiring lies in the ability to sell "high end" software and services. When Invensys launched InFusion, I asked then-President Mike Caliel how the company would sell something so different from its traditional products. His reply essentially was that they would have to develop a sales force similarly different. This looks like an answer to my question. Also, she's from western Ohio. Gotta be good. Aubert Martin, president and CEO of Siemens Energy & Automation, and Raj Batra, newly appointed vice president and general manager of the automation division, discussed the value that its centers of competency brings to customers. Referring to the recently announced acquisition of UGS, Martin commented that the strategic value to Siemens was in the product lifecycle management and product design management portions from the Tecnomatix part of the company. Batra noted that Siemens' growth in the North American automotive market was partly due to the center of competency and partly by the auto manufacturers' drive toward lean and agile manufacturing. His push as the new head of the division is to get the word out about all the Siemens products and benefits. My interview with Yokogawa this year was with Shuzo Kaihori. He will become President of the company on April 1. He is currently Vice President of Industrial Automation Business. In assuming his new role, Kaihori commented that his challenge will be to execute the plan initiated by Isao Uchida, who remains with the company as Chairman. Speaking of technology, Kaihori sees fiber optic networking as a key communications backbone due to its speed and resistance to electrical noise. As customers place greater importance on asset management, Yokogawa must place greater emphasis on service and applications support in the future. Still more to come as I sort through notes and get the March issue belatedly out the door. 4:20:15 PM    comment []