I'm trying to digest the information I've picked up so far during the Forum. There were a lot of great meetings and a couple of demos. ILS Technology, noted with the partnership with Mitsubishi, showed me some new stuff coming. When I first heard about ILS's product, it was presented pretty much as a data gateway from control systems to enterprise systems--with the ability to talk natively to enterprise databases. New developments add memory and algorithms to the module to greatly increase functionality. For example, it does little good to flood an enterprise database with the tons of data that a plant full of control systems could generate. However, if you add some filtering capability (see my comments about Kepware the other day), suddenly it becomes much more useful. ILS execs talk about being able to replace some of the "lower end" areas of MES, for example. So, continuing the connectivity theme, add this one.
OMAC working groups worked in the past to bring some order and standards to packaging machine automation with the release of PackML and PackTags. Both were meant to be more general than only packaging (look for an explanation in the March issue of Automation World). One area that would on the surface appear to be an unlikely partner is machine tools. CNCs are quite different from PLCs and DCSs. But, with less than two weeks of work, OMAC engineer volunteers and Accumence demonstrated PackML (the machine state model) working with machine tool controls. Pair this with the work of ISA SP88.05 committee, and the standards work is moving along quite briskly.
On the sales and marketing front
I often ask hardware company executives how they intend to sell the new software products, since it's a different sales model and target people. Asked two people this week and got two different answers.
Chris Lyden, Vice President of Strategy for Invensys Process Systems, talked about selling the InFusion product. First, he told me that last year's sales were excellent. They achieved it partly by taking their existing DCS sales force and putting it through intensive training.
Rockwell Automation has tried out a few sales and distribution models over the last 10-12 years of selling software. Vice President and software business leader Kevin Roach told me that the division has developed a new sales and marketing organization for software sales. This will be a direct sales force with many people recruited from outside the company with experience selling at the CIO and similar level.
The two companies have different sales models to begin with--and different needs. The best takeaway is that both are proactively looking for ways to move their company's market position to a new level.
Also talking of marketing, but throwing in an international flavor, Yokogawa is continuing its internationalization strategy by establishing an Industrial Automation Global Marketing Center in Dallas. Maurice Wilkins, most recently with the ARC Advisory Group, will lead the group as Vice President of Strategic Marketing as part of Yokogawa's IA Global Marketing Group. Wilkins will report to Nobuaki Konishi, Head of IA Global Marketing in Tokyo. You may know Wilkins as Chairman of WBF (the organization formerly known as World Batch Forum). He also worked for Esso Chemical UK, Honeywell, and Millennium Specialty Chemicals. Yokogawa Chief Operating Officer and President, Shuzo Kaihori, stressed to me in our meeting Tuesday the importance of internationalization for the company in meeting its growth targets. The company already has a significant office in Singapore, and it is also developing regional engineering centers, as well.
10:53:23 AM 
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