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Sunday, September 30, 2007 |
Here's an interesting item I caught in the Chicago Tribune online (I get its RSS feeds). Seems that Motorola has sold its embedded communications division to Emerson Electric Co. No further information in the article. We'll have to find out what's up.
9:32:46 PM 
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I just read "MindSet: The New Psychology of Success," by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. This is one of those books where the author makes her point in the first couple of chapters and there's little reason to read the rest. She does make some important observations, though.
Dweck discovered that there are two mindsets in people through researching, at first, how students reacted to failure. She gave a set of puzzles to 5th graders that became progressively harder. She noticed that some reacted to failure as the puzzles became quite challenging by quitting and developing an attitude of "I'm stupid" or the like, while others said things like "I like challenges" or "I didn't think I could learn this much." She eventually classified two mindsets as "fixed" and "growth." First, mindset is the view you adopt for yourself. People who develop a fixed mindset believe that their qualities are carved in stone and for some it creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over. The other mindset believes that the hand you're dealt at the beginning of life is just the starting point for development. The growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts.
Her studies have shown that people with a fixed mindset often greatly overestimate their abilities, but people with a growth mindset are usually pretty accurate. Harold Gardner, in his book "Extraordinary Minds, concluded that exceptional individuals have "a special talent for identifying their own strengths and weaknesses." It's interesting that those with the growth mindset seem to have that talent.
There are two meanings to ability: a fixed ability that needs to be proven and a changeable ability that can be developed through learning. You have a choice.
Reigning from atop a pedestal and wanting to be seen as perfect is often called "CEO's Disease." Lee Iacocca had it at Chrysler. He had one success at Chrysler and them kept bringing out the same model of car with only superficial changes only to have them fail. On the other hand, Darwin Smith, looking back on his extraordinary performance at Kimberly-Clark, declared, "I never stopped trying to be qualified for the job."
Malcolm Gladwell, the author and New Yorker writer, has suggested that as a society we value natural, effortless accomplishment over achievement through effort.
8:06:57 PM
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Members and lurkers (those of us who are not members, but who read the email posts of the committee) of the ISA SP-100 committee charged with developing a standard for wireless networking in process control, have witnessed a flurry of comments sparked by Honeywell's comments in early September. First Jack Bolick released a letter urging a vote against the Hart Communication Foundation Revision 7 standard that included the WirelessHart specification. This was followed by an open letter to the SP-100 committee by Honeywell Wireless Business Development Leader Jeff Becker (which he permitted me to reprint). Walt Boyes of Control Magazine soon posted a long challenge to the committee and the fur started to fly. This is all private communication, which I have no compulsion to try to reprint. But the committee is still somewhat fractious.
I continue to believe that a standard that allows different, but compatible, profiles and that will allow future innovation can come out of the committee. Sometimes I think that there are people trying to make it harder than it should be-not that it's easy.
I cited Dick Caro in his past standards committee work in the post. His comment on the post is instructive.
Thanks for the recognition of my principled move in 1999 when I resigned as Convener of IEC SC65C/WG6 otherwise known as the Fieldbus standards committee. Yes, I am active on ISA100 with a mission to keep this standard single-headed, not the IEC fieldbus standard that now has 15 heads and will soon have 20 -- NONE of which interoperate except for the two that are implemented as Foundation Fieldbus and Foundation Fieldbus HSE. By the way, HART 4-6 will soon become part of that same standard (but not HART 7, yet.) So far, the Fieldbus Foundation has agreed to build a wireless version ON TOP of ISA100.11a. This is good news. We are working diligently to determine if there is some way the wireless portion of HART 7 can be made to flow smoothly through an ISA100.11a stack. To its credit, the HART Communication Foundation has opened their HART7 specification to working members of ISA100 to make this determination. The real controversy is that ISA100.11a has always had HART as one of its key applications. I personally know of at least 2 companies that are planning to build HART interface modules for ISA100.11a that will attach to current installed wired HART instruments and transfer data identified by its HART EDD natively through the ISA 100.11a wireless network. To these companies, a free-standing WirelessHART network is not only competitive, but is a potential source of interference and user confusion. At least these two companies view WirelessHART as unnecessary. Certainly, I would have less work if the wireless features of HART7 had not been approved. But then again, I would have less to write about. #
7:40:07 PM
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OpenProj, an open source desktop replacement for Microsoft Project developed by Projity is now in beta testing in over 50 customer sites comprising over 500 seats. Projity customers can download OpenProj for free and use it anytime they want from their machine. Project teams can access the same documents and collaborate on projects as well which enables distributed project teams to save time and money. With OpenProj, users can utilize the program on Microsoft Windows, Linux, Unix or Apple Macintosh platforms.
"The Projity team has received tremendous feedback from key industry leaders, who are already using OpenProj to satisfy their desktop needs," said Marc O'Brien, Projity chief executive officer. "The Proijty team is excited to provide worldwide usage of a free and open source project management solution that is a complete replacement of Microsoft Project and other desktop solutions. OpenProj's familiar user interface and ability to open existing native Microsoft files makes migrating both free and seamless."
OpenProj builds upon Projity's software-as-a-service (SaaS) release of Project-On-Demand last year. OpenProj offers a seamless migration for Microsoft Project files.
7:35:39 PM
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Attempting to move the OMAC Users Group toward further collaboration and broader representation, its leadership team has created the first annual Technical Symposium entitled "Bridging the Gap between the Discrete and Process Industries." The event will be held at the Future of Flight Aviation Center at Boeing and the Hilton Garden in Everett, Wash. on Nov. 28-29.
This two-day special event will focus on integrating the discrete and process industries using standards like those for computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) and numeric control, inspection, computer-aided design (CAD) definition, data packaging, process planning and automotive manufacturing.
Some highlights of the symposium include:
* OMAC Working Group meetings
* A tour of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner Manufacturing Facility and Future of Flight Aviation Center
* Case studies focusing on the discrete and process industries focused on leveraging best practices
* How to better leverage OMAC guidelines
* Break out sessions
* Networking and learning opportunities
Seating capacity for the event is limited to 150 attendees and registration is first-come-first-served.
Registration prices:
$295.00 OMAC Members
$350.00 Non-Members
7:30:28 PM
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OAGIS will be building ISA-95 based Business Object Documents in collaboration with ISA95 Standards Committee on Enterprise-Control Integration and WBF's XML Working Group. The goal of the documents is to ensure that no matter which standard a customer or vendor implements, the two standards will interoperate.
"We've been listening to customers' needs for years, and the ISA95 content is very important to all of the manufacturing end users I have spoken with," said David Connelly, CEO of the Open Applications Group. "Our work to create these documents brings real solutions to the end user."
The decision, made during a mid-August OAGi Manufacturing Working Group meeting involving representatives from IBM, Yokogawa, iBASEt, Boeing, Infor, ISA and WBF and others, reflects ongoing collaboration between ISA, WBF, and OAGi through the OpenO&M Initiative. The OpenO&M Initiative is a venture of ISA, MIMOSA, OAGi, OPC, and WBF, and supports development of business process models for data exchange between manufacturing operations management and business support systems.
The Open Applications Group is a not-for-profit open standards development organization building a standard called the Open Applications Group Integration Specification (OAGIS). The OAGIS standard covers data exchange requirements for business systems and applications, including manufacturing and operations management systems. The Open
Applications Group Board of Directors voted earlier in the year to express the work of the ISA95 working group in OAGIS, providing the end user a world class XML solution based on the popular and respected standard.
"The documents that will come from our collaboration with ISA and WBF will be the industry guidelines that customers need," said Gary Sullivan of iBASEt. "Harmonizing standards is important work, and the industry will benefit from this ongoing collaboration."
With the new initiative, ISA95 will remain the foundation for the documents with OAGIS and B2MML sharing each other's extensions and collaborating on the standards. OAGi and WBF will sign a Memorandum of Understanding, and ISA and WBF will be invited to join the OAGi Partner Council when it is formed. OAGi will also have a representative on the ISA95 committee.
"ISA95 has contributed significant data exchange content and models supporting the manufacturing industry," said ISA Director of Standards Services T.S. "Chip" Lee. "Since our standard has historically been used in process manufacturing, and the OAGIS standard is typically used in discrete manufacturing, our collaboration enables the further development of both standards. WBF's XML Working Group's Business to Manufacturing Markup Language (B2MML) completes the package for the end user."
WBF's XMLWorking Group recently released V0400 of B2MML. The enhancements in this version of the documentation include support for ISA95 Part 5 Transactions, OAGIS messages, and UN/CEFACT core components, while still maintaining backward compatibility to V0300.
"The work that the WBF XML Working Group has done, and especially their efforts to incorporate the work of ISA95 and OAGIS into B2MML, makes the inclusion of these schemas a great fit for these OAGIS documents," said WBF Chairman Maurice Wilkins.
7:25:21 PM
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Honeywell announced it has joined the ISA Security Compliance Institute as a founding member. The institute is an organization of industrial technology vendors and end users dedicated to establishing specifications and processes for testing and certifying control systems products formed under the auspices of the Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society (ISA).
The ISA Security Compliance Institute will work to establish an ISASecure designation, which will identify and promote standards-compliant process control products and systems. This designation and certification process will provide a single compliance framework that will lower development and integration costs and enable more consistent system implementations.
"Process control security is a critical element of process safety and reliability," said Jason Urso, Honeywell Process Solutions Director of Marketing. "By joining the ISA Security Compliance Institute as a founding member, Honeywell is making a significant commitment to share its process control security expertise and experience to benefit the entire industry."
In creating the ISASecure designation, ISA Security Compliance Institute members will develop compliance requirements based on the emerging ISA99 and other relevant security standards. Using these requirements, the institute will derive and publish compliance test specifications. Additionally, the ISA Security Compliance Institute will establish ways to certify compliance tests and testing agencies and register compliant products and tests. The program will cover everything from the device-level products up to gateway interfaces, business planning and logistics systems.
"The last thing manufacturers should have to worry about is the integrity of the products that control their processes," said Andre Ristaino, managing director, ISA Security Compliance Institute. "The ISASecure designation will serve as an industry stamp of approval that assures manufacturers the control systems they use are safe, reliable and interoperable."
7:22:31 PM
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The Growth Engine Co. launched the first full-service innovation agency in August. Growth Engine brings the agency model to the discipline of innovation for companies looking to move beyond modest product line extensions. Growth Engine works closely with its clients on a long-term basis to ensure a continuous stream of higher-margin, game-changing new innovations that deliver significant revenue growth.
For two years, Growth Engine tested and refined the philosophy and practices behind the Innovation Agency concept while working with nationally recognized packaged-goods client Thomas, the number one maker of English muffins and prepackaged bagels. Growth Engine is now excited to share its proven innovation approach with the business community.
"Hiring The Growth Engine Company as our Innovation Agency of record has been strategically important to us," said Pete Rollins, General Manager of Thomas. "The innovations they've helped us with have led to $125 million in new annual revenue. And we now have a wealth of ideas in our innovation pipeline that will help us continue that growth."
In the history of marketing services, specialized agencies were invented as the need for them arose, such as ad agencies in the 1880's, public relations (PR) agencies in the 1920's and promotion agencies in the 1960's. With a 2007 Business Week survey indicating that 66 percent of executives rank innovation as one of their top 3 priorities, Growth Engine says that it is launching its specialized innovation agency to address this current business need.
According to the company's press release, long-term partnerships allow Growth Engine to gain a deeper knowledge of a client's business. By providing continuous strategic innovation leadership as well as expert people resources, Growth Engine ultimately helps organizations foster a more innovative environment and cultivate more creative leaders. Some of the key client benefits of the innovation agency approach according to Growth Engine executives include: 1) creating bigger, better ideas; 2) developing a unique and insightful consumer understanding; 3) reacting quickly to market changes; and 4) empowering clients by making innovation a collaborative effort; and 5) offering longer-term innovation continuity, resulting in significant revenue growth.
Growth Engine was co-founded by principals Bryan Mattimore and Gary Fraser, who have more than forty-five combined years of experience with innovation Mattimore is author of "99% Inspiration, A Real World Guide to Business Creativity." Fraser, a recipient of Brandweek Magazine's "Marketer of the Year" award, is a 25-year veteran of creative marketing and brand management at some of the world's top consumer products firms, including General Foods, Chesebrough-Pond's and Unilever.
"We're not just about creating ideas," said Mattimore. "We're about evolving ideas into successful marketplace innovations." Fraser continues, "That takes persistence, patience and drive, which are made possible by a long-term Innovation Agency partnership."
7:19:35 PM
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AirMagnet Inc. announced a major new release of its AirMagnet Enterprise, a solution for continuous wireless local area network (LAN) security and management. Enterprise 8.0 allows customers to provide better protection for their wireless environments and to do so more efficiently.
According the company, the system detects and defends against the latest classes of wireless LAN exploits, delivers the industry's only forensic analysis for spectrum/RF threats and introduces a complete threat intelligence system to classify and prioritize all wireless events for simple management.
"Security is a critical concern for our business and ensuring the integrity of the wireless LAN can often be a complicated and challenging task," said Tony Akens, network system administrator at Elkhart General Hospital. "AirMagnet Enterprise gives us full-time visibility and protection from wireless security threats so we can manage the network effectively and utilize the key business applications that are critical to our business."
The 8.0 version adds new classes of alarms to detect and identify the latest attack tools and strategies, and even provides enterprise-wide threat scoring to immediately tag the most serious wireless vulnerabilities. It also features advanced spectrum forensics, enabling IT staff to capture the raw evidence of interference or Layer 1 Denial-of-service attacks, and improved threat tracing to help IT organizations zero-in on new security challenges.
Its multi-dimensional, proactive wireless LAN (WLAN) defense automatically traces and classifies all wireless devices and suppresses both wireless and wire-side threats. A new threat scoring and impact analysis system lets IT staff quickly see the most serious security and performance issues, track important users or devices, track daily changes in overall security posture and viewing in-depth policy and compliance reports. The new WEP Shield feature that provides active protection for WEP devices by preventing the use of various hacking tools used to obtain or "crack" the static WEP keys.
6:57:30 PM
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I haven't posted for a while. Turns out I couldn't "see" the wifi on my old PowerBook G4. Evidently the hotel's wifi was the latest version with no backward compatibility. Interestingly, on the plane back I read my latest copy of FastCompany and saw this column, "The Tao of Steve," about the cult of personality around Jobs and the slack Apple is given despite its closed platform and shoddy hardware engineering. (I'm breaking in my fifth battery in four years.)
The trip to Germany was for a Festo press conference and a visit to Motek (sort of the Assembly Expo/National Manufacturing Week that was held at the same time at the Rosemont Convention Center in suburban Chicago). A group of four Canadian editors and me slipped off to catch a Bundesliege match Wednesday evening. It was a good, competitive match. I saw a couple of World Cup matches when it was in the US, otherwise this is the highest level match I've attended.
The biggest thing I learned was that pneumatic automation is still viable. Festo showed many handling applications. At the show, the theme that I saw was "mechatronics." A lot of machine automation with what we'd call motion control. I was there on the third day of the show, but the show floor was still pretty busy.
(By the way, Festo showed quite a few electronic products including machine vision and electronic drives that it doesn't promote over here. I also saw a new very small controller from Phoenix Contact that fits within its InLine platform that will be promoted in the US soon.)
6:50:42 PM
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© Copyright 2007 Gary Mintchell.
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