Grow Grow Grow !

Wednesday Jan 29th @ Wonderware, Irvine, CA: "Grow! Grow! Grow!" -  Jean-Pascal Tricoire [JPT] as CEO Schneider Electric spoke eloquently about how in just 100 days or so, we Invensys were to become Schneider-Electric.  Just days before, my laptop logon screen had already gone Green and I was already feeling the love. Daft Punk won a Grammy with 'Get Lucky' which is how I feel right now.  I feel that Invensys 'gets lucky' becoming Schneider Electric.  JPT explained just how Global Schneider Electric really is and introduced us all to some of the new top management.  It felt good actually.  I liked the language of welcoming into the Schneider 'Citizen'.  One almost feels that with over 100K employees globally, large companies take on a certain 'citizenry'.

We make Automation Systems at Invensys.  Very large systems which operate to optimize and stabilize the control of high energy processes like refining, power generation, LNG production, Oil and Gas Production. It was refreshing to hear of the large number of engineers already in Schneider Electric which will get to know some of us Invensys people as we start to work alongside them, become their world so to speak.  It isn't going to be just one way.  When one thing becomes the other, both lose an element of their former identity and evolve through change to be something greater and better than before.  This is the change we are about to embark on.

An objective command to 'Grow' has to have a rationale that would appeal to the massive customer base as well as the teams of distributed engineers who have to make it happen.  One concept which resonated was the idea of being the 'sustainable' engineering company. You can see this goes deep - if you just check out the Schneider Electric / About page.  Making state of the art technology to effect the sustainable aspirations and plans of customers.  We make automation technology and we build large systems which either use transform or create large amounts of energy.  It looks like we, becoming Schneider Electric we will have access to a much wider range of technology and will be able, with imagination, provide higher levels of sustainable automation - and be more becoming to our customers.

Invensys is running at a higher energy level now - lets see how we do as we become Schneider Electric.

PS: Check out the Schneider Electric ICL - International Customer Lounge - What a concept !
International Customer Lounge

A Tale of Two Genius

2 genii speak key notes at automation events next month.

Whether you get your 'Spurs' on for the  Foxboro Triconex Global User Conference, San Antonio, or swing with the 'Saints' down at the ISA Sales and Marketing Conference in New Orleans. You just can't decide ? Never mind !.  Come to both events. Two great industrial automation events in one week. It's tough but it can be done.  Automation, once the province of enlightened engineers and university research bodies, now extends to professionals and amateurs in myriads of plants and small enterprises world wide. We've all become part of a global community alike through the ubiquity of the Internet.  We all can share information, ideas, translations and comment on progress of ideas daily.  Social networking has allowed people like myself in far flung corners of the world to connect and interact immediately with nearly anyone who can speak the language.  So how then do user groups and conferences play out in relation to their new online world ?

SCADA is Elephants and Turtles all the way down

We had just moved some of our SCADA engineering to the Invensys facility in West Durrington, Worthing, UK. Worthing is down by the beach not far west of Brighton on the English channel. Not far from Worthing, if you go up past Arundel, is Goodwood, the home of the famous racing circuit among other things.  I found the Cass Sculpture park there and wandering around on a weekend. I stumbled across Tony Cragg's public sculpture. I like this one in particular for it's topology, and for today's post I think it relevant in the discussion on the general form of SCADA systems. This post includes a Turchin style dialog on SCADA, what is it and what does it mean. It also includes a general discussion on metasystems and holons and how SCADA architectures themselves include aspect of these higher level concepts.  So if you are brave... read on...

Christmas Wishes

CHRISTMASTIME SYDNEY HARBOUR 2012

Dear Readers,

Wouldn't you like to get away from the office, down to Sydney Harbour for a few hours in the sunshine ? Yes folks, down-under it is summer in Sydney at Christmas.

These days, I am sure you would agree it is hard to get all the office people together, with the kind of hectic travel schedules that modern corporate engineering demands.  Some in our office, including yours truly have spent up to 150 days travelling this year, and we as is customary each year, we planned to get our local office colleagues together and chat one on one about how things worked out.

The Invensys Sydney team, put away the laptops and tablets during the week and boarded "The Southern Swan" for a Christmas lunch.  This ship, a tall ship originally from Denmark c 1922, but still cruising around Sydney Harbour some 90 years later, is a fully rigged ship [with an engine] and sails and ropes and interesting bits and pieces nautical.

It had been raining hard in the days prior and there was a worry that our team combined with about 60 other tourists might have to cram down in the hold below deck or scramble under a kind of tarpaulin if the rain continued to pour down. Some of our team came to the dock sporting large brightly colored branded nylon jackets [souvenir's of long completed SCADA projects].

But the seagulls were flying and we ended up on a sunny afternoon, a few clouds, light breeze and a place down the stern of the boat to swap yarns about fish that got away.

With this simple postcard, would like to wish all the people that interact with us at Invensys Operations Management in any way, a happy and joyful Christmas time and we will be back with more entertaining, enlightening, and educational blog stories in the New Year.

Sincerely,

Chris J Smith


Invensys SCADA portfolio