Mr. Boyes,

I read your article Users want an industrial wireless standard with enthusiasm since I've struggled with the promise of this technology in the workplace for several years. As I read through the discussion I realized that perhaps I'd missed the boat on wireless. Working with colleagues in house we've as much as dismissed that application of wireless as outlined for the very reason you eluded to - it's just not mature enough at this time and we are too risk adverse to experiment with it. Instead we've focused on where and how wireless can help, and what protocol to use.

Our internal customers were asking us for a solution to allow high value information such as offsite analytical, or Marine Vapor Recovery Unit (MVRU) information to find its way into our data historian. Typically the cost to run traditional 'conduit and wire' infrastructure far exceeds the cost of the primary application (one example is an estimated cost of ~$300M in order to see the flow rate of purchased nitrogen into the plant from a skid at battery limits, later done for ~$5M using wireless). We began to see products aimed at these types of applications using FHSS (frequency hopping spread spectrum) radios. However, some of our own group found major objections to connecting these devices to our 'control platform'.

Security is a major concern with not only our IT group, but our controls group as well. The idea of introducing an 'external' source of data onto our controls platform ran firmly into a brick wall, and that was okay as it turned out. As a group we agree that wireless isn't ready to plug-in to our DCS or other controls networks. Since this is the primary way to make process data available to our data historian so that staff could view the data, we had to find another pathway.

Working with our IT group we placed the 'gateway' unit directly onto an Ethernet hub. The gateway is able to talk various protocols and ours was enabled to allow information to be available to our data historian (a driver was required for the historian) and data was made available to all with access to our historian. With the installation of the gateway unit additional outlaying equipment with 'high value' information became incrementally inexpensive to install. Additionally, our IT group has dedicated a fiber for this application providing isolation from other network devices and improved security risk.

Using this type of equipment and architecture we are now proposing the installation of a 'maintenance network' for our tank gauging and inventory control system. This would allow the technicians to troubleshoot and configure any device on the tank gauging network from their shop instead of in 100 degree plus heat or in the rain.

Additionally, our instrument technicians are now using a pair of FHSS radios for troubleshooting in place of the old locally installed chart recorder. This is for systems or applications where sufficient information isn't available, or more information is desired. The receiving radio is set up in the instrument shop where data is recorded and analyzed.

The focus of your article is on the development and adoption of a wireless standard which can be implemented for process control. We will watch this development with interest in the coming years and perhaps even try it out at some point. For now we'll continue to capture these high value applications our customers are asking for while balancing both security issues and our risk profile with the integration of wireless into our business.

Regards,

Mike Lovett
Sr. Eng. I&PCR Group
Flint Hills Resources
Corpus Christi, Tx.

From Dan Hebert, Senior Technical Editor:

Maverick Announces Acquisition of GE Energy’s Automation Services business

Acquisition Expands Maverick’s Market, Service Offering, and Customer Base

Maverick Technologies , a U.S.-based global systems integration and operational consulting company, announced today the acquisition of the Automation Services business of GE Energy.

“We are very excited about this acquisition,” said Paul Galeski, PE, Maverick chairman and CEO. “The purchase of GE Energy’s Automation Services represents a strong strategic addition to our mix of automation, business, and reliability solutions, and is an integral part of our long-term strategy for sustained growth. Also, the acquisition will allow us to take advantage of the many cross-selling opportunities to our expanded customer base, broaden our national footprint, and enhance our global presence in the Semi-Conductor, Power Generation, Water and Wastewater, Pulp and Paper, and Automotive markets.”

“The primary benefit of this acquisition, however, is the talented group of engineering, management, and administrative professionals who will be coming on board as part of this transaction. This acquisition places Maverick as the largest independent systems integrator in North America servicing numerous Fortune 500 clients,” added Galeski.

GE Automation Services employs over 300 associates in sixteen facilities throughout the U.S. offering expertise in such areas as batch and continuous processes, packaging and material handling, motion control systems, electrical systems, installation, and maintenance/repair. “After reviewing numerous options, we felt that the financial track record, strong management team, and compatible service offering all pointed to Maverick Technologies as the best fit for this acquisition,” said Ricardo Artigas, president of Energy Services for GE Energy.

With this transaction, Maverick will also be acquiring the controlling interest of C.F. Picou Associates, Inc., a leading global provider of advanced process control design and implementation services based in Baton Rouge, LA. "Maverick's specific experience in control systems and their overall automation marketplace involvement are a perfect fit for our APC offerings," according to Dr. Jim Ford, president of C.F. Picou Associates. "We are very excited about joining the Maverick team," added Ford.

This latest strategic move follows Maverick’s recent announcement of the company’s formation of and participation in the Global Systems Integrator Alliance (GSIA), a worldwide alliance of leading business consulting and integration firms. With this acquisition and the GSIA formation, Maverick claims to be the largest independent provider of integrated automation, business, reliability, and service solutions for the manufacturing and distribution industries.

The systems integration market has traditionally been divided between small local independent companies and large worldwide vendor service organizations such as ABB, Emerson Process Management, and Rockwell Automation. Maverick is attempting to redefine the competitive landscape by becoming large enough to compete head on with vendors.

If executed properly, this Maverick initiative could be very successful. As an independent, Maverick should be attractive to end users wanting truly unbiased consulting and implementation services. As a relatively small low-overhead player as compared to vendor service organizations, Maverick should be very cost competitive. Maverick should also be able to offer more stability, geographic coverage, and range of expertise than smaller independent system integrators.

Thanks to CRC Press, ISA Press, and Bela Liptak, we are pleased to announce that the infamous "Directory of Lost Companies" which I have been keeping for the past six or seven years, has a web-home at ControlGlobal.com. Temporarily, you can find it at The All-New Directory of Lost Companies , but eventually we'll make it a searchable department on the web.

Feel free to send me changes, corrections, and additions at any time.

From a press release from ISA:

* * * * * * * About ISA * * * * * * *
Founded in 1945, ISA (www.isa.org) is a leading, global, nonprofit organization that is setting the standard for automation by helping over 30,000 worldwide members and other professionals solve difficult technical problems, while enhancing their leadership and personal career capabilities. Based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, ISA develops standards; certifies industry professionals; provides education and training; publishes books and technical articles; and hosts the largest conference and exhibition for automation professionals in the Western Hemisphere.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Some commentary. First, this is one of the best statements of what ISA actually does that I've ever read. And I don't even mind the inflating of the membership numbers (last real number I heard was 26,000).

What I find interesting and compelling here is that THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN THIS POSITIONING ABOUT MEMBERS, OR DIVISIONS, OR SECTIONS.

As I started saying about 1995 or so, ISA can certainly survive as a 501C3 (that's the US Internal Revenue Service designation for not-for-profit educational foundations and similar charities) without any members at all. In fact, all they need to do is to send a simple letter to the IRS saying they are changing their status from a 501C3 Membership organization to a 501C3 Non-Membership one.

They'll be treading a well-worn path already followed by the National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian Associates, and even the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Association, among others.

All ISA has to do is to get the members to give up membership at the Council of Society Delegates meeting and change the bylaws.

If this is the way things are tending, why not get it over with and put it on the agenda for this year's CSD meeting in two weeks in Chicago?

Walt

Emerson's recent purchase of the Mobray line from Roxboro appears to be ready to bear fruit already, with the announcement today of "Rosemount's first point level switch" by Emerson PR Guru Jerry Moon.

Well, not exactly.

Back in the day, Rosemount owned a company called Kay-Ray, which started out in nuclear gauges, but was pressured by Rosemount executives to diversify into ultrasonics. So Kay-Ray bought a blivet named Wesmar, and then Emerson, having bought a number of other blivets at the original Envirotech fire sale (not the one in the early 1990s, the one in the early 1980s), merged one of those blivets, National Sonics, with Kay-Ray.

Kay-Ray's financial performance approximating a perfect vacuum, Emerson sold it to its number one competitor, what had once been known as Texas Nuclear, in the late 1990s.

So now, once again, Rosemount has tuning fork type level switches.