NMW 2002: NI’s ceo stresses savings with intelligent software in keynote

Chicago, Ill. - James Truchard, president and ceo of National Instruments (NI, Austin, Tex.), explained in his Mar. 19 keynote speech at National Manufacturing Week 2002 that flexible, intelligent software and next-generation measuring technologies will likely improve the manufacturing of everything from computer hard drives and automobile electronics to medicine and food packaging.

By Control Engineering Staff March 20, 2002

Chicago, Ill. – James Truchard, president and ceo of National Instruments (NI, Austin, Tex.), explained in his Mar. 19 keynote speech at National Manufacturing Week 2002 that flexible, intelligent software and next-generation measuring technologies will likely improve the manufacturing of everything from computer hard drives and automobile electronics to medicine and food packaging.

“New technologies, such as smart sensors, commercially available real-time software, new networking technologies, and other measurement advances, can help manufacturers lower costs and reduce downtime,” said Dr. Truchard. “To efficiently bring measurements to the production floor, manufacturers need intelligent software frameworks that they can use to quickly and easily adjust their entire distributed measurement and control systems to these new innovations. Proprietary systems do not offer this same flexibility, leaving them outdated and inefficient.”

Dr. Truchard pointed to web-based technology, such as XML, as an example of a new technology that manufacturers can immediately leverage with commercially available measurement software. He also discussed how other advancements, such as the IEEE’s proposed smart sensor standard and evolving networking technologies, can be quickly adopted on the manufacturing floor.

“In the past, engineers had to perform quality tests at the end of the production line,” Dr. Truchard added. “With intelligent software and new measurement technologies, manufacturers now can move testing up the line to the point where it can occur simultaneously with the manufacturing process.”

Control Engineering Daily News Desk
Jim Montague, news editor
jmontague@cahners.com