Control Engineering

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Out in the real world again
May 18, 2007

Yesterday I was in Atlanta at a gathering of plant automation people from a famous salt company. This is their Operation Technology Advancement Team. They invited me to come and discuss directions in plant automation technology, as we cover in the pages of Control Engineering and online. The fact that I made the trip is not the newsworthy bit of this story, it's more about what they're doing.

This company has many plants where they make high grade salt for water conditioning and food grade applications. This meeting was a gathering of plant managers, plant engineers, technical supervisors, etc., at senior and junior levels, who are all involved in making their plants run better. They gathered to share best practices and brainstorm about how they can improve production, reduce costs, and maintain high quality levels. The atmosphere was of collaboration in its truest manifestation. Everyone contributed to the discussion and ideas were kicked around in a way that was supportive and encouraged participation. They have ambitious and quantifiable goals for the work of the team. The objectives are clear and management apparently supports their charter. Based on what I saw, this group has tremendous potential to succeed.

You might read this and say, "Where's the 'but'?"

After laying out this wonderful sounding scenario, there has to be a "but it will never work," or "but they'll never get funding," or "but internal politics will never let them succeed." There is no but in this case. I think this team will be successful and their thoughtful suggestions will be implemented. I would like to come back in a few months and check in again. For competitive reasons I can't tell you any more, but I wish them luck. That's the kind of company any conscientious control engineer should want to work for.

Posted by Peter Welander on May 18, 2007 | Comments (0)