Monday, July 30, 2007

Another Wireless Supplier Enters the Fray I missed this one earlier this summer. Cisco is joining the manufacturing wireless fray (I think) as it announced a mobility solution for the oil and gas industry, the Cisco First Mile Wireless solution. This solution supports the extension and augmentation of corporate networked data to be utilized by wellhead workers stationed at desolate oil fields and offshore ocean oil rigs. Benefits are said to help oil and gas companies increase drilling uptime performance, improve in-field decision making processes and reduce operation costs by transforming isolated drilling sites to connected arms of the headquarter corporate network. "Cisco's First Mile Wireless solution does not replace the company man or diminish his importance," explains Massimo Insulla, Drilling and Work Over Deputy General Manager, Petrobel. "What it does is enable the wider team to share some of the burden with him: four eyes are better than two, and eight are better than four. This technology gives us the opportunity to more effectively assist the production team to reach the right decision." Unlike a traditional enterprise campus, the challenges facing oilfield wireless deployments increase tenfold due to harsh physical environments where there is limited infrastructure, scarce IT resources and an abundance of exposed, densely packed metal structures, which compounds wireless radio frequency (RF) interference. With the Cisco First Mile Wireless solution, oilfields and ocean rig platforms can network SCADA controls, maintenance sensors, mobile service workers, physical security assets, service vehicles and location service tags, as well as integrate mobility services, such as wireless voice over IP, video and guest access. The standard Cisco First Mile Wireless solution is architected and comprised of Cisco 1500 Series wireless mesh access points with specialized blast-proof hardened cases, Cisco WCS for wireless network management, supported by Cisco Secure Services for network security. A combination of pre-tested and validated backhaul technologies, including Wi-Fi bridging, WiMAX and satellite connectivity, and operation technologies and applications complete the transformation of the oilfield from an isolated, hard-to-reach location, to an oasis of information fully connected to remote expertise and analysis. 4:45:26 PM    comment []

MESA Conference 2007 speaker info. Here's a press release from MESA International regarding speakers for the upcoming conference (note: I'll be there, look for me; note 2: check out the name of the organization). Author, CIOs Headline Annual MESA Meet The Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association, MESA International, today announced keynote speakers for its Annual Plant-To-Enterprise Conference: Integration to Innovation, which will take place September 16-18, 2007 at the Rosen Plaza hotel in Orlando.  This year's line-up counts five CIO's from fortune 500 companies among a world-class group of keynote and general session presentations highlighting the importance seen for information technology in manufacturing. "Establishing an enterprise-wide manufacturing IT strategy has become a top priority for many CIO's today.  It's being driven by the need to improve product innovation capabilities, and it's being reflected in technology spending priorities" says Matt Bauer, MESA chairman. "We also see evidence of accelerating convergence between corporate IT and traditional manufacturing engineering departments. MESA International's focus on plant-wide information technologies puts us at the forefront of the next wave of manufacturing innovation. This conference provides a unique forum and a wonderful opportunity for professionals from both walks of life to gain better perspective on the opportunities and challenges IT-enabled manufacturing represents to world class manufacturers." The CIO's of GE Fanuc, Siemens, Rockwell Automation, Sara Lee and International Truck will present and discuss how IT is enabling world-class innovation and competitive advantage in manufacturing today. Keynote Peter Fingar, internationally recognized author of "How to Execute on Innovation, The Real-Time Enterprise: Competing on Time" illuminates the major economic shifts coming in the next decade, and what we can do to prepare our organizations to deal with the coming sea change. MESA International keystone sponsors now include GE Fanuc, SAP, Siemens, Rockwell Automation, Wonderware, IBM, Microsoft and MPDV. A surge of interest in IT-enabled manufacturing is fueling new growth in Europe and the Middle East. Additional MESA chapters are also being developed to serve manufacturers in South Africa, Australia, and China. Expansion efforts this year will culminate with a European MESA P2E Conference in November, 2007 located in Utrecht, Netherlands. Click for conference and registration information. 4:37:26 PM    comment []

Automation Minutes podcast posted The latest episode of Automation Minutes features an interview with Dave Bauman, OMAC technical director. The audio quality begins a little rough. I've gotta get a new machine. I think both of my USB ports are darn near shot. 2:17:46 PM    comment []