Looking at Google v DOJ and Apple v EU, Gary draws lessons for industrial automation.Par Gary Mintchell

Many times in my career I have hired into a company during the initial surge of a market. Good jobs. Excitement. Opportunity to work on new things. Then the market matured or collapsed usually due to external forces such as technology changes or consumer behavior. I hit recreation vehicles at a high point followed by high inflation and gasoline pri…

Gary offers observations on the continuing saga of former GE executives running Boeing changing the culture from engineering-driven to Wall Street-driven. Also thoughts on good manufacturing leadership.Par Gary Mintchell

Gary discusses the current state of the automation and control market. Why it seems to be a stable market and why the media in the market are shrinking. He riffs from Seth Godin blog The Drift to Normal. As an organization grows in scale, the idiosyncrasy and distinctiveness that was originally informed by the taste of the founders moves toward the…

Gary discusses productivity, slow productivity movement, busyness or pseudo-productivity. Sponsors Inductive Automation inductiveautomation.com and Magic Mind, magicmind.com/garym and use code GARYM20.Par Gary Mintchell

I've seen successes of industry standards. I've also seen industrial standards struggle to break through the logjam of large companies drive to lock customers into their ecosystem. What is the latest of OPAF and what is the meaning of Schneider Electric's announcement of a product built with with Red Hat and IBM and development of a new computer co…

Boeing is a company that has lost its way. I have no idea why the board has not sacked the CEO. The 737MAX program was a fiasco and continues to haunt the company. The 787 program ran way behind schedule costing the company billions. This is what happens when you ignore product and serving customers instead focusing solely on financial numbers. We …

Gary gives leadership growth tips based on Dan Lyons "The Power of Keeping Your Mouth Shut in an Endlessly Noisy World" and David Brooks "How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen."Par Gary Mintchell

After attending several technology supplier user conferences this summer and fall, a colleague asked why suppliers are emphasizing software. I ponder this question in this podcast essay. And ask what the new breed of engineers will bring with new ideas. Maybe Arduino control platforms? Worth asking.Par Gary Mintchell

Do digital tools have the effect of adding more things to our plate rather than helping us get things done? Gary looks at how software helped him get productive and then seemed to bog down and still accomplish a lot, but it seems slower over all. Even more, what is more important—getting more done or doing what is impactful?…

My career spans the innovation to maturity cycle of three technology markets--PC, IT, Automation. I wonder what's next.Par Gary Mintchell

I went to this year's Honeywell User Group with many questions. They were all answered as you will hear. There were many questions begging for answers as I traveled to Florida. What was Honeywell HIVE, and how does it relate to the ExxonMobil initiated Open Process Automation group? What is Honeywell Digital Prime and what customer problems does it…

Gary talks about the successful integrations of software by Siemens since the 2007 acquisition of UGS. He reflects on early conversations with Siemens executives regarding the Digital Factory and then how far the company has traveled along that path becoming perhaps the most successful industrial automation and industrial software supplier.…

Surveying the past of automation and control tech and the tech media market over the years, then taking a look at future coverage for Gary on Manufacturing and The Manufacturing Connection.Par Gary Mintchell

Observations, thoughts, questions about automation and control market, the companion media market, and innovation. Thoughts welcome.Par Gary Mintchell

I presented a Webinar on April 5. You can find it here https://www.manufacturingtechnologytoday.com/frs/23189866/going-beyond-digital-transformation--the-real-innovations-in-manufacturing/email . I talked about how digital data isn't new, my 1978 project, how we need to watch for disruption coming from anywhere, the importance of people, and how yo…

Why is it that open systems work in IT and not OT. The work of the Open Process Automation Forum.Par Gary Mintchell

Update on the industrial metaverse essay and podcast given the Google, Facebook, and Microsoft news to AI, ChatGPT, and search ads. Thoughts on merger and acquisition including new thoughts on Emerson bid for NI. Finally, a new take on video for manufacturing. Sponsored by Ignition from Inductive Automation.…

Yes, I'm back after a long hiatus due to some projects that soaked up my time. Metaverse remains the hot topic in industrial technology discussion circles. Are we getting closer to reality than what I spoke of in episode 241? There are some interesting new concepts from both Rockwell Automation and GridRaster plus others.…

Press releases come to me from a variety of sources. The topics are often in batches. There was 3D printing, then cybersecurity, now sustainability. Check out a new book instigated by Seth Godin (check his podcast out at akimbo.link) called The Carbon Almanac (thecarbonalmanac.org). Electric is big, as in electric cars. Everything needs big enginee…

Two developers reflecting on Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference in terms of Gartner's Hype Cycle--about getting enthused at the event and then reality settling in when the amount of work is realized. I reflect on the several trips I made in May and June in the same model. I'm not saying all I got was hype, but the trip from enthusiasm to real…

Gary discusses 20 years of trying on headsets for manufacturing applications. Is the Metaverse finally upon us? Probably not.

Perhaps if President Nixon had read 500 books rather than watching 500 movies during his time in office... What happened to all the free time we were supposed to get from increased productivity? Oliver Burkeman discusses time management in Four Thousand Weeks. And no, it's not a new system. Plus Karels and Miller wrote Steel Toes and Stilettos, a s…

There was Internet of Things, IoT, then Industrial Internet of Things, IIoT, and companies formed groups to build product and exploit the area. Then they went away. What happened? What's new? Taking a look at data orchestration and data ops.

Gary discusses how to answer why spend the money, how we learned to build safety into machines and processes, and how we'll learn to do the same with cybersecurity.Par Gary Mintchell