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Sunday, June 29, 2008 |
Seems Rockwell isn't the only automation company with reduced income. According to this article in The New York Times, Siemens is cutting 17,000 jobs worldwide (about 4 percent of total workforce) as it faces a slowdown that has seen its profits year over year drop 67 percent and its stock valuation drop by a third this year. Industrial automation is just part of the entire company.
7:46:53 PM 
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Rockwell Automation had some discouraging quarterly financial news last week, but they've had some some positive things happen aside from profits. It was recently recognized as "one of the world's most ethical companies" by the Ethisphere Institute, a think tank that studies business ethics and corporate responsibility. The selection process included reviewing the ethical and legal performance of more than 10,000 leading companies from which 93 were selected as winners by the Ethisphere Institute. Doug Hagerman, Rockwell Automation senior vice president, general counsel and secretary, accepted the award at a joint conference, Driving Profit through Ethical Leadership, sponsored by Ethisphere and Forbes, in New York on June 3.
Rockwell Automation was evaluated on seven categories: corporate citizenship and responsibility, corporate governance, innovation that contributes to public well being, industry leadership, executive leadership, integrity track record and reputation, and internal systems and ethics.
It also recently released its 2007 Corporate Responsibility Report. Titled "Growing Responsibly," the report reviews how Rockwell Automation's products and services help customers meet their sustainability objectives. Additionally, the report provides metrics on Rockwell Automation's own performance, which included reducing electricity, liquid fuel and natural gas usage; direct and indirect carbon emissions; and solid waste generation.
One of the things we've tried to document at Automation World is a company's return on automation investment. Almost all the systems companies have been active in looking for ways to help their customers figure out the return (so they can buy more/invest more, of course). Rockwell Automation has worked out a new model for calculating the tangible business value of long-term automation investments that is said to be more comprehensive and accurate than traditional ROI measurements. Detailed in a recently released white paper, the Rockwell Automation Total Value Assessment (TVA) methodology is a proprietary tool that systematically measures and validates the total value-add earned through automation partnerships and solutions.
The white paper, titled "A Strategic Perspective on Value: Using a Total Value Assessment to More Accurately Quantify Long-Term Business Benefits," outlines the definition of "value" in manufacturing. The paper also provides examples of the tangible results achieved by manufacturers who have shifted from price-focused buying to implementing value-focused decisions. For example, the average reduction in engineering turnaround time for manufacturers who apply the TVA method in their purchasing decisions is approximately 18 percent. In the case of one manufacturer, an 18 percent reduction meant an increase in value, or revenues earned, of $250,000.
3:28:19 PM
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Several years ago someone asked me how I could blog so much. I told him that I'm an early riser and don't have kids. Well, my productivity hit the skids this week. Babysitting a one-year-old grandson in Florida. He's a good kid, but he also absorbs a lot of time. I only had to tangle with him once. He's like his dad. Thinks "no" is a game, then gets mad when he discovers I'm serious. <sigh> Well, he got over it. Heading home tomorrow.
3:02:29 PM
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Watching the Euro Championship. (Football of course) The MLS game, DC United v LA Galaxy, was entertaining, but hardly top flight soccer. Is it just me, or has Landon Donovan just turned into a huge whiner? Certainly there was not much chemistry between him and David Beckham. Their supporting crew barely did.
US Soccer has raised fees for referee registration for the first time in many years. I think my Grade 6 fee goes up $20 or so. What hurts is the increase from $10 to $100 to certify as a assignor. I'm well paid for my high school assigning work, but I don't charge a lot for USSF. That'll have to change ;-) Just got some documentation that made me realize this is my 20th year of assigning referees to high school soccer matches. I just lost another good referee who worked a lot of games for me to some bad knees. I've outlasted a lot of people. Looking over the roster, I think there are only two of us from the original 13 who started our association in 1987 still working. And I don't do many high school games anymore. Assignors are no longer allowed to work regional and state tournaments in Ohio because of two guys trying to cheat the system a few years ago. So I worked my third and last state final last November.
2:57:08 PM
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© Copyright 2008 Gary Mintchell.
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