Recent News

CSIA unites behind the Association of Industrial Automation of Ukraine
One Hour for Ukraine complements humanitarian efforts

 
Chicago – In solidarity with Ukrainian industrial automation peers, the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) Board of Directors unanimously voted on April 19, 2022, to award complimentary memberships for the years 2022 and 2023 to members of the Association of Industrial Automation of Ukraine.

“Our goal is to provide the space for Ukrainian members to network with other CSIA members and explore possible outsourcing opportunities,” explains CSIA CEO Jose Rivera. “The war in Ukraine has disrupted regular local peacetime work opportunities. This contrasts with the explosive business growth benefiting SIs of many other geographies currently. Outsourcing can also help other SIs alleviate the serious talent shortages they are experiencing,”

Rebuilding Manufacturing Industries
Beside outsourcing, CSIA and its members hope that new relationships support Ukrainian SIs in their efforts to contribute to the rebuild of their manufacturing industries.

“It is worth mentioning that several Ukrainian SIs and engineering companies have experience working with Western companies and delivering projects beyond their borders,” notes Rivera. “A few of them have offices in Germany, the United States and United Arab Emirates. Language does not create a barrier.”

Alexandre Yurchak, CEO of the Association of Industrial Automation of Ukraine, has been leading the collaboration from the Ukrainian side as part of his efforts to help his members during a wartime economy.

“It is a big honor and a great opportunity for our community to have such a relationship with CSIA,” says Alexandre Yurchak. “Our best engineering companies and system integrators are ready to work with their counterparts around the world. And we really need this work as never before.

“What we appreciate even more,” he continues, “is the friendly and fast response of CSIA to our situation. It shows a new kind professional solidarity that drives our community to be together and to hold the line on the economic front.”

One Hour for Ukraine
CSIA is also encouraging its members to provide humanitarian support to Ukraine. One Hour for Ukraine (1H4U) is an original approach piloted by Autoware, a CSIA certified SI based in Italy.

Autoware encourages its employees to engage by donating work hours. Their contribution gets matched (2x) by Autoware and, on a periodic basis, the company donates to the bank account of the Association of Industrial Automation of Ukraine.

The intention is for other companies to replicate this model with the Ukrainian cause of its choice.

“All of us were touched by what happened in Ukraine,” says Luigi De Bernardini, CEO of Autoware and past Chair of the CSIA Board of Directors. “We Europeans probably were more sensitive, since it happened so close to us, and we were powerless.

“Everyone has their own reasons for actions in support of Ukrainian people. Where I believe we have a lot of room to improve is in leveraging the power of our professional associations and acting as professionals supporting colleagues,” he continues.

“This is why we decided to donate time and effort and not just money,” he concludes. “If our colleagues in any part of the world are in trouble, we can help as professionals. This is something that I don’t see happening many times, and I thought this was a good opportunity to start. If we put our efforts together, we can do a lot. From professionals to professionals!”


About CSIA: Founded in 1994, the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) is a not-for-profit, global trade association that seeks to advance the industry of control system integration. Control system integrators use their engineering, technical and business skills to help manufacturers and others automate their industrial equipment and systems. CSIA helps members improve their business skills, provides a forum to share industry expertise and promotes the benefits of hiring a certified control system integrator. CSIA has more than 500 member companies in 35 countries. CSIA also hosts the Industrial Automation Exchange to connect manufacturers and others with the system integrators and industry suppliers who can meet their automation needs.



System integrators show industry growth in payroll and headcount
Exclusive survey offers glimpse into hiring and retaining trends

Chicago – The 2022 Talent Retention Toolbox (TRT) survey shows that the latest hiring rate for system integrators was above 25%   ̶  better than the total turnover rate of 16.5%   ̶   indicating gains for employees in the industry.

The annual survey was recently released by the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA), a not-for-profit, global trade association that seeks to advance the industry of control system integration.

These results signify that system integrators are growing in headcount and payroll. In addition, the hiring rate rose significantly from last year, when it was 14.2%.


Other select findings:

  • The average annual salary increase was 4.6%, significantly higher than the 2.3% CPI inflation, and slightly higher than last year's growth rate of 4.1%.
  • The voluntary separation rate jumped from 8.5% in 2020 to 12.9% in 2021.
  • The termination rate dropped from 4.5% in 2020 to 3.5% in 2021.
  • Paid sick days also crept up year over year.

“The perennial issue viewed by many SIs as keeping them up at night is attracting, developing and retaining talent,” says CSIA CEO Jose Rivera.  “The TRT is our response to this need.”

Other Findings Available in the Full Report

The 2021 TRT survey is an invaluable report that provides answer to questions such as:

  1. What type of benefit programs are offered by my peers?
  2. What is average percentage of annual raises?
  3. Is my turnover higher than the industry average?
  4. What recruiting tools are the most effective for the industry?
  5. How much compensation should I offer to be competitive in attracting the best talent?

“System Integration represents a challenging industry. It is small, and it is made up for the most part of independent and privately held companies,” Rivera says. “Any improvement program requires a benchmark from which to improve upon. To set a goal it is valuable to have an industry reference to make it realistic. It is here where the CSIA’s business benchmarking programs (Pulse, TRT, EZ-Stats) come into play.”


About the Talent Retention Toolbox (TRT)

The TRT report covers responses from 46 companies and offers details on compensation for 34 different positions ranging from CEO to shop technician. The compensation data is broken out by geographic region and company size where the data is available.

CSIA members can access the full report once they’ve input their data and paid a program fee. More details are available on the CSIA website.

About CSIA: Founded in 1994, the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) is a not-for-profit, global trade association that seeks to advance the industry of control system integration. Control system integrators use their engineering, technical and business skills to help manufacturers and others automate their industrial equipment and systems. CSIA helps members improve their business skills, provides a forum to share industry expertise and promotes the benefits of hiring a certified control system integrator. CSIA has more than 500 member companies in 35 countries. CSIA also hosts the Industrial Automation Exchange to connect manufacturers and others with the system integrators and industry suppliers who can meet their automation needs.





Control System Integrators Association 2022 Executive Conference Highlighting Timely “Future of Work” Theme

CHICAGO – As system integrators and industry partners continue to feel the pandemic’s impact, the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) has chosen a fitting theme for its 2022 Executive Conference – The Future of Work.

At the CSIA 2022 Executive Conference, happening June 27-30 in Denver, hundreds of system integration (SI) professionals from around the world will gather for four days of professional development, engaging presentations, tours, networking and more. 

The event aims to address “the future of work” with its new multi-track approach. The schedule’s three tracks support the event’s forward-thinking theme by addressing current and emerging opportunities to develop and optimize business in 2022 and beyond.

  • Track #1 – People: Attracting, retaining and developing the system integration workforce
  • Track #2 – Location: Developing an approach to remote, hybrid and/or onsite work that best suits your business’ unique needs
  • Track #3 – Deliverables: Managing the digital transformation and taking advantage of its opportunities

In 2022, the CSIA Executive Conference is back from a two-year hiatus and ready to help professionals navigate the future of work. Join fellow SIs and industry partners in Denver to build connections, ‎exchange ideas and have fun by attending the 2022 CSIA Executive Conference in June.‎ For more details and to register, go to the CSIA 2022 Executive Conference website.

About CSIA: Founded in 1994, the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) is a global, not-for-profit trade association with more than 500 member companies in 35 countries. CSIA helps members improve their business skills, provides a forum to share industry expertise, and promotes the CSIA control system integrator certification. CSIA also hosts the Industrial Automation Exchange to connect manufacturers and others with the system integrators and industry suppliers who can meet their automation needs.

Media Contact:

Julie Gaier
TRG Marketing
trade media relations
julie@trg-marketing.com
262.786.5970 (office)
262-751-2534 (cell)

Machine Design and Control System Integrators Association Announce New Partnership

Machine Design and the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) have partnered to feature the association’s popular CSIA Exchange portal on Machine Design’s home web page.

The CSIA Exchange allows end-users to find potential system integrators and suppliers through a robust search engine. Manufacturers can search based on location, industries served, automation specialties, product lines, certifications, and other categories. More than 2,500 integrators -- including CSIA members and CSIA-Certified integrators -- are featured in the database.

“The importance of system integrators for automation projects has long been understood. The CSIA Exchange is a valuable resource for companies looking for skilled professionals to upgrade and develop automation solutions,” said Bob Vavra, Senior Content Director for Machine Design. “We are excited to be able to offer this free resource to our readers.”

The CSIA Exchange also provides information on more than 600 automation suppliers, content about common integration issues, and a library of additional resources.

“If recent events have taught us anything it is that the need for automation has never been greater,” said CSIA CEO Jose Rivera. “Meeting this demand is going to require that the whole manufacturing community work together to meet the challenge. This partnership between Machine Design and the CSIA Exchange is just one way we can bring integrators, suppliers and end users together to connect and do business.”

Machine Design readers will be able to access CSIA Exchange through a link on the magazine’s home page menu. The Exchange also will be featured in newsletters distributed to more than 175,000 readers each month.

New CSIA mailing address: Update your records

111 W. Jackson ChicagoCSIA has a new mailing address. To ensure timely communications, smooth transactions and, most importantly, that your member benefits continue uninterrupted, make sure you and your accounting and operations departments update their records to reflect the new address. It is:
Control System Integrators Association
111 W. Jackson Ave.
Suite 1412
Chicago, IL 60604 USA
The phone number (847-686-2245) remains the same.