NEWS

Tony Veroeven and Jose Rivera are in Chicago this week attending the Automation Conference. Rivera is also speaking as part of the Conference program.  If you're in the area, stop by the CSIA booth and say hi

Autoware The digital supply chain Automation World   Bachelor Controls, Inc. Essentials of a secure ICS network Automation World   Concept Systems The remarkable future of industrial robotics Automation World Robotics now and in the future Food Engineering   Cross Company Six questions to ask when choosing an open- or closed-loop hydraulic system Control Engineering Determine safety integrity level for a process application Control Engineering   Interstates Control Systems, Inc. Your plant is talking to you—Are you listening? Automation World   O'Brien & Gere Achieving pilot-scale process control flexibility and agility InTech Panacea HMIs are multiplying, diversifying, and gaining flexibility Control   Skkynet Cloud Systems, Inc. Share remote data, not the network Remote Magaz

The CSIA Board and staff have been working with a non-profit trade association attorney in Pennsylvania to clean up the CSIA Bylaws, since CSIA is incorporated in the State of PA. These changes will be presented to the membership for a vote at the annual business meeting on Tuesday, May 4 from 11: 00am 12: 00pm . To keep things simple, two sets of changes will be presented: Vote 1: Housekeeping Changes and Organizational Change o The majority of these changes were made back in 2015 with the hiring of a CEO and approved by the membership at the 2015 Executive Conference in Washington D.C. However, since there was not a 30-day notice given for the changes, these changes need to be formally approved. These changes are summarized and redlined here and will also be available in the conference mobile app. Vote 2: Partner Vote and Voting Procedures o This version assumes housekeeping changes from Vote 1 pass ...

Gracias al amable patrocinio de Rockwell Automation y de los Integradores afiliados en Colombia, Kamati y Omnicon, el CEO de CSIA viaj a Colombia en Marzo. Asisti a un evento para integradores locales de Rockwell Automation Colombia en Bogot. Hizo una presentacin sobre CSIA y acompa a Eduardo Acosta CEO de Omnicon, Integrador certificado, en su presentacin Tips para una compaa exitosa de Integracin de Sistemas de Control . Un desayuno fue organizado al da siguiente del evento de Rockwell Automation , en Cali en las oficinas de Omnicon en un esfuerzo conjunto entre Omnicon y Kamati y el gentil patrocinio de Phoenix Contact. Como un reflejo del espritu de colaboracin de CSIA contamos con la participacin de otros integradores de Sistemas y de algunos Partners como Siemens, y prospectos como Melexa (parte del Grupo Sonepar) y Rittal. El formato del evento capitaliz lo que hemos venido haciendo en Mxico en los eventos trimestrales all realizados. Habiendo demostrado el espritu de colaboracin ...

The subject of the Executive Conference is hard to avoid this time of the year. Not only are we in the final stretch towards our conference; the weather (particularly for those in northern latitudes) keeps teasing us about warmer months ahead. It is hard to ignore the fact that the weather is already nice and warm in Florida. The lead indicators for our conference look good: Our Expo is sold out, income from sponsorships are at an all-time high, and registration numbers keep hinting at a possible attendance record. If you are planning to join us, dont delay your registration. We have developed a program that emphasizes two things: Best Practices, with an emphasis on smaller, up-and-coming companies. Transformative business models, and the emerging opportunities they provide to SIs. The Executive Conference is the culmination of months of work by staff and an extensive number of SI and Partner member volunteers. In an effort to keep our conference relevant we regularly ...

First there were two, then there was one better, faster, stronger, more nimble! Okay, that may be a little exaggerated, but you get the idea. In the past, we have had two CSIA marketing committees. The Integrator Marketing Committee supported the CSIA staff to execute marketing initiatives to reach out to integrators and achieve brand recognition and growth in the CSI industry. The Client Marketing Committee was focused externally to market CSIA membership and Certification to our partners and to the clients of our CSI members - the end users. These two committees have merged, bringing together our initiatives for a more cohesive and dynamic Marketing Committee. Co-chaired by Jessica Mlinaric of DMC, Inc. and Georgia Whalen of Rivergate Marketing, our new Marketing Committee is devoted to supporting the CSIA staff in connecting with CSIA's two key audiences: integrators and clients. We are welcoming new members to join our new team; please let us know if you are interested! ...

As a reminder, we need the primary contact from your company to respond to this electronic survey to affirm two new director candidates for the CSIA Board (you will also have the opportunity to write in candidates if desired). Responses should be received no later than Wednesday, April 5, 2017 . The two new candidates, who have been nominated by the Leadership Development Committee and approved by the Board, have each described their qualifications and shared their ideas for the future of CSIA. The compiled responses are here . The full Board is listed below. If you have any questions, please contact CSIA staff at 608-310-7851. CHAIR Jeff Miller, Interstates Controls 2017-2019 elected by the Board of Directors TREASURER TBD 2017-2019 To be appointed by the Board of Directors PAST CHAIR Mike Miller, ESCO Automation 2017-2018 DIRECTORS Luigi De Bernardini, Autoware nominated for a term of 2017-2021 by the Leadership Development Committee Stephen Malyszko, Malisko ...

Whether you attend the CSIA Executive Conference annually or are making your first appearance this year, we want to make sure your experience surpasses your expectations. The key, weve found, to a successful meeting, is in the preparation. Here are a few tips that will ensure you get the most out of your attendance at the 2017 CSIA Executive Conference in Fort Lauderdale and help make your business the best it can be. Download the mobile app. The app is really your bible for the three-plus days youll be at the conference. It gives you a full line-up of programs and a list of everyone who is coming, including integrators, partners, speakers and exhibitors. Be sure to update your profile on the app well before you get to the conference and start using it in anticipation of the meeting, on-route and when you arrive. Build some excitement! More information about accessing the app will come your way at least a week before the meeting. Review the program. As our attendees have come ...

Here comes the highlight of the year, the CSIA Executive Conference, held this year in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from May 2-5, 2017. As usual, the Insurance Program will be well-represented, and we will have a room allocated where current or prospective insured can receive a private consultation. Additionally, in the same room, we will hold our annual Insurance Lunch from noon until 1:30 pm on Wednesday, May 3. I will be emailing all attendees all the details, including room name, closer to the conference. 2016 was an interesting claim year, with more than its fair share of insurance losses. Thanks to our ability to build the collective monetary pool over time, all insured are being renewed in 2017 and generally without any rate changes. This is an excellent example of why people join groups of like-minded insured. Your individual premium volume is increased and provides you with substantial additional security of coverage and premiums. We will be discussing the losses at the ...

Mark Voigtmann and I are looking forward to seeing you all again at the 2017 CSIA Executive Conference! We hope many of you will be able to attend one or both of the presentations we are providing regarding the legal needs of integrators. Here are the details: After lunch on Wednesday, May 3, Mark will discuss How to Manage Legal Risk on a Shoestring . He will explain a strategy for minimizing your legal fees while still meeting the unique risk management needs that integrators face each day. This presentation will include information on the CSIA Legal Plan an automatic benefit included with your CSIA membership which provides a bundle of free and discounted legal services oriented to the special concerns of CSIA members. At 3:30 on Thursday, May 4, I will host the presentation What Do I Do When the Customers Terms and Conditions Conflict with Mine? Almost every integrator has faced the same age-old problem: a proposal was sent and accepted with certain terms, but the purchase ...

The International Academy of Automation Engineering (r) (IAAE (r) ) is a not-for-profit automation education, certification and membership based organization. The IAAE (r) has recently deployed a new automation program through Villanova University, College of Professional Studies in Pennsylvania, U.S. This four-year Bachelors degree in Applied Information Technology has a concentration in Automation. In addition, we have established a Life Sciences Advisory Board. This board is the first of several planned industry-sector boards, and currently consists of four of the largest pharmaceutical companies, each of whom have significant global reach. Why did we do this? We are aware of how difficult it can be to hire good talent when relying on details in a resume. Additionally, we are acutely aware of the declining numbers joining as well as the increasing numbers retiring from the workforce. As System Integrators, there is a common challenge and cost of sourcing, developing and ...

The past four years have seen a rapidly changing landscape in terms of potential buyers and investors in the controls and automation and internet of things (IoT) segments. The business world continues to focus on methods to improve productivity through the adoption of software, monitoring and connectivity tools, robotics, etc. The result has been rapid growth in the controls and automation and IoT markets. This is attracting a new group of private and growth equity investors, as well as increased participation by industry buyers, also known as strategic buyers, focused on taking advantage of this new trend. Whether a company is a pure control systems integrator, a controls and automation product manufacturer or provider of technology-focused applications, the options available to owners for growth capital and/or business sales have increased substantially in the past few years. Private and growth equity Private equity groups are private pools of capital, managed by investment ...

At CSIA, I have a unique opportunity to speak with partner suppliers, system integrators and end-user clients. Rockwells Automation Fair extends the opportunity to meet all three in person. The Automation Fair, held in Atlanta in November, was a great place to not only see so many of our members, but also to continue our outreach to clients. When I showed the many clients I met with that we have a shopping mall of qualified system integrators (CSIA's Industrial Automation Exchange) and their supplier partners, many exclaimed, Where has this been all my life!? In fact, during one such booth interaction, we used the Exchange to find an integrator. After filtering by industry, specialty and city office location, our laser-focused search found an integrator that was also exhibiting at the Automation Fair. I walked the client over to our member and introduced them. Both the client and the booth staff were grateful. I followed up with the client last week and found that they are ...

The delivering of customer solutions for system integrators (SI) has traditionally used the waterfall approach to project management. In general, a customers requirements are set and agreed to up front using a signed-off functional requirements document (FRD). In this scenario, all requirements are considered to be not negotiable. Once developed, tested and met, they form the basis of practical completion. Unless it is a time and materials project, time and cost are the variables. Any cost variables are absorbed by the SI and the customer wears the time or the project manager spends time on variations to renegotiate deliverables, costs and time. Agile is a project management methodology that has been used extensively in the IT industry for many years. Contrary to popular belief, the methodology is far more rigorous than one may imagine. Using agile, time and cost are not variable they are considered to be fixed. Customers' requirements are generally expressed in terms of user stories. ...

At the most recent Executive Conference in Puerto Rico there was an interesting unconference on IoT. The room was packed with a good mix of SIs and Partners, and the expectation of a deep dive into the topic was high. Like any unconference, the discussion started with What do you want to talk about? and surprisingly the most interesting topic was What is IoT? It was a little confusing for me that many of the SIs in the room were anxious to understand what that buzz word was about, and if and how it could affect them. It was clear that most of us had only a partial understanding of how, not just IoT, but all the new technologies, could impact our traditional business. We are engineers and we love any new technological challenge. Thats our comfort zone! But this is not a technological problem - How this convergence of different technological opportunities is rapidly changing the business models in almost every industry and consumer market. There are many business trends that are ...