So the other day my wife told me the water in the shower didn’t seem as hot as it normally does. “Maybe something wrong with the water heater?” she said. I did all the normal checks: no water on the basement floor, pilot is lit, check, check. All seems ok.
We happened to go to Home Depot to buy some other stuff, but we ran into the water heater guy. His diagnosis: water heater going bad. (Full admission, it is 11 years old)
I kind of buy his story, it makes sense. Here is an appliance that is 11 years old that I never maintained. Expected life is 10 years, so I am already plus one, right? And maybe a new one would be more efficient, right?
But isn’t that the sort of internal argument manufacturers go through every day? Sunk cost (what they already paid for) vs. Maintenance vs. Replacement? How efficient are the machines you bought 10 or 15 years ago? How do you know? How much does it cost you for a shutdown for two to three days while you secure a replacement machine and install it? Wouldn’t that information be valuable to you if it was visible? How do you know?
Energy management/awareness is certainly a big part of this sustainability issue. Check out this video from Chet:
Let me tell you about a great opportunity if you’re an executive or professional in the Manufacturing or Industrial sector. Cisco is hosting a special ‘Industrial Intelligence Day’ on the 12th July 2011 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas held in conjunction with Cisco Live.
The event is especially tailored to bring together manufacturing, controls, operations and IT executives and professionals. The theme of the day is ‘Industrial Intelligence’, and will cover the subject of converging industrial automation systems based upon standard IP networks with business applications including voice and video to more responsively and cost-effectively manage industrial operations globally.
The day is packed with information, training, and industry best practices and is sure to be one of the smartest investments you can make in your career—and one of the smartest investments your employer can make in you.
By attending Cisco Industrial Intelligence at Cisco Live, you can:
Learn how Industrial Intelligence brings production closer to IT and converges industrial automation networks with business systems to improve the efficiency, safety, agility, and utilization of your production assets.
Receive training in architectures specific to industrial automation from Cisco and alliance partner Rockwell Automation including wireless and wired technology advancements, availability, security, sustainability and energy management.
Engage Industrial Intelligence and IT Networking thought leaders from our partners and the industrial analyst community via a live panel discussion plus join a community of manufacturing executives and IT and Control professionals deploying and operating Industrial applications and networks.
From joint reference architectures to education webcasts, the collaboration between Cisco and Rockwell Automation benefits manufacturers. The partnership has empowered corporations globally and now industry experts from both companies are ready to share their best practices and lessons learned.
Thursday, April 28
9:00 a.m. PST / 10:00 a.m. MST / 11:00 a.m. CST / 12:00 p.m. EST
Growing demands for greater information access accelerate the convergence of manufacturing and enterprise networks and help manufacturers make better business decisions. As critical control systems link to company-wide infrastructures and beyond, new risks emerge that can affect productivity, operational efficiency and functional safety. To ensure the benefits derived from plantwide convergence outweigh risks and threats, it is imperative to follow contemporary architecture design practices that can enhance network resiliency and help protect key assets and information.
Learn From Industry Experts
Speakers Scott Johnston, Principal Consultant for Network & Security Services, Rockwell Automation and Bryce Barnes, Enterprise Vertical Solutions Architect for Manufacturing, Cisco, will discuss the solutions from Rockwell Automation and Cisco to address the challenges of network convergence. Learn the fundamentals and best practices for:
Securing manufacturing computing and controller assets
The value a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) brings to your manufacturing framework
How FactoryTalk Services and Applications such as FactoryTalk ViewPoint and FactoryTalk
Transaction Manager can be deployed within the manufacturing framework to leverage the DMZ
Coke fork-lift truck drivers Use these Cisco phones with headsets to pick products more accurately and drive more safely.
For years Coke used a manual pick system Then they moved to a semi-automated one that could deal with full pallets, but then, with more and more products being added, Coca-Cola Refreshments U.S.A (CCR) found that it needed a better system to handle mixed pallets and make less shipment errors. Enter Cisco and Datria.
As their order profile changed CCR could no longer rely on a manual system to deal with mixed cases (80% of the order volume is now mixed pallets). CCR needed to have order accuracy rates of over 99.5% to get preferential supplier treatment from customers like Walmart. The Voice picking solution gives CCR 99.8% overall accuracy and 100% in some locations. And there’s more… Read More »
So here we are, at the end of March Madness. I saw a news story today that said out of 500,000 people that picked a bracket only 2 picked the existing Final Four.
I heard other statistics about how many times the top 1 and 2 seeds didn’t make it to the Final Four. This was a very unique season.
So, OK. This week baseball season opens. And by the way, the Brewers will rock the league.
We know you are reading our blogs. Some of you comment on them. Some of you comment privately to others. Some of you probably read them and think whatever your thoughts are.
Here is your opportunity:
Peter and Chet and Paul and Kevin and I will continue to write blogs about whatever “we” think is the relevant topic of the week.
But, we would far rather write about what you think is important. Let us know that. What do you want us to do with this blog, and what do you want us to talk about?
By the way -- my Final Four choices got broken pretty early. And it was a pretty great season, yes? I picked the top 1 seeds from each group, so hey, I was wrong. But I had good rationale for my choices. As does the rest of our Cisco manufacturing team. Try us, ask away, engage us. You won’t be sorry.
