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Wednesday, June 25, 2008 |
OK, sort of politics. I've seen reports that McCain wants to reward whoever can develop a good battery for an electric car. Meanwhile, supposedly Obama has advisers who are tied to the ethanol industry and has espoused expanded production as a counter to the oil problem. Meanwhile, this report from the GigaOm network suggests that most ethanol plants are in danger of shutting down. There's no panacea.
(Not to mention many readers of this blog are in the oil industry.)
7:59:06 PM 
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I never read Jim Pinto's "Weblogs." They are really more a discussion forum than Weblog. He has one per company where people (employees) can write in anonymously and post comments (often critical). Well, Jim Cahill of Emerson does--at least the Emerson one--and noticed some misinformation spreading. Here's his response for you safety minded engineers out there.
For the marketers, this is a good example of a corporate blog at work.
7:50:50 PM
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[updated I was in Foxborough, MA yesterday to attend the official celebration of Foxboro Co.'s 100th birthday. I posted one "tweet" on Twitter, but when I tried to update a second time (over several times) the service was busy. Typical problem for Twitter.
You can read the press release, but it's hard to get a feel for the event without seeing the 1200 local employees and many retirees gathered for speeches, lunch (steak and lobster, wow), and recognition from various dignitaries. CEO and President Paulett Eberhart gave a good CEO speech pointing out the rich history of the company and the need for continuing change as the company competes in the new century. She pointed especially to the company history of technology, innovation and customer service. The enthusiasm of the crowd was catching. Not many companies have a 100 year birthday, so this is special. The local town selectman (and former Foxboro employee) read a citation from the Town of Foxborough. The local state assemblyman was present to present a proclamation from the Massachusetts State Assembly. Letters of congratulation came from U.S. Senator John Kerry and U.S. Representative Barney Frank.
In my career, I've had 9 years with one employer and 7 with another. Lord (and Dave Harvey) willing, I'll see at least 10 with Automation World. But the telling thing about loyalty was the exercise Eberhart had the attendees do. She asked all the Foxboro (Invensys Process Systems) employees to stand. Interestingly, I was sitting beside the new corporate PR manager who was just beginning his fourth week. So, when she asked all those with five or less years' experience to sit, he did with a few others. Then she did 10 or less years. When she asked those with 20 or less years of experience with the company to sit, more than half were still standing. Several hundred were still standing at more than 30 years, and I counted 12 standing at 40 years or more. A real tribute to a company.
Since my personality type (on the Myers-Briggs) includes "intuitive" I'll give you my impression of IPS based on a short chat with Eberhart and talks with many other people. I think that the transformation of IPS from a hardware company to a total solutions company is well under way and that we should see some breakout publicity in the near future. Many people speculated about Eberhart's EDS background as a move to services from hardware. I'd say that this is typical in the process systems industry. All the companies need a hardware and systems base, but growth (and continued life) will depend on the transition to services, engineering, project management and the like. I'll have more later.
The Foxboro brand was born in 1908 when E.H. and B.B. Bristol opened the Industrial Instrument Company, which was renamed The Foxboro Company in 1914. In 1990 Foxboro was acquired by Siebe plc of the United Kingdom and in 1999 Siebe and British Tire and Rubber, another British engineering firm, merged to form Invensys plc. Invensys plc then joined Foxboro and its current sister brands Triconex, SimSci-Esscor and Avantis to form IPS. IPS works with clients to integrate automation, simulation and operations management technologies that help clients execute business strategies.
"Foxboro automation has been setting the industry standard for 100 years and our experts have contributed numerous innovations to the industry. Now with more than 50,000 customers worldwide, the Foxboro brand and our people are known throughout the world for quality, reliability and innovation," said IPS Vice President Jack Souza, who directs manufacturing and operations in Foxboro. "We should also be very proud that the technology and innovation that started here are playing an important part in the long-term success of IPS and Invensys as a whole."
9:46:43 AM
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© Copyright 2008 Gary Mintchell.
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