‘Outsourced Integration’ Webcast to assist partnerships, projects

Oak Brook, IL—To help control and automation professionals get the most out of their relationships with system integrators, Control Engineering is presenting a free "Outsourced Integration" Webcast at 11 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Dec. 3.

By Control Engineering Staff December 2, 2003

Oak Brook, IL— To help control and automation professionals get the most out of their relationships with system integrators, Control Engineering is presenting a free “Outsourced Integration” Webcast at 11 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Dec. 3. The event will also focus on what system integrators do for manufacturers, and show how users can find integrators with the right business and technical skills for their automation projects. The Webcast is sponsored by the Wonderware Business Unit of Invensys plc, the Control and Information System Integrator Association (CSIA) and GE Fanuc.

Partnering with system integrators is becoming increasingly important to the success of automation projects. As manufacturing environments become more complex, and with fewer staff engineers on the plant floor, outsourcing factories’ system integration functions is becoming essential.

System integrators are basically any engineers who apply their time, talents and technology to automating manufacturing operations. They’re usually adept at connecting manufacturing equipment to the automation system’s disparate computing and communications devices, and then programming them to perform required control and data gathering tasks. However, the generic definition of a system integrator also applies to many engineers, and some of them

Control Engineering consulting editor Vance VanDoren, Ph.D., P.E., will moderate the Webcast’s panel of experts, and will draw from his own experience as a system integrator. He will offer advice on how to choose and work with a system integrator, especially how to use the various search engines available to locate automation system integrators with specific qualifications. Dr. VanDoren’s guests will include Norm O’Leary, the executive director of the Control and Information System Integrator Association (CSIA); Harry Merkin, director of commercial programs, GE Fanuc Automation; and Jay Jeffreys, P.E., system integrator program manager for the Wonderware and ArchestrA business units of Invensys.

O’Leary will offer his views on what constitutes a bona fide system integrator, focusing on the CSIA’s audit program, which integrators can undertake to become officially registered.

Merkin will explain how GE Fanuc’s Solution Provider program is helping system integrators provide more powerful, flexible and versatile solutions to their customers, from supporting large-scale integration projects to finding a single solution that meets their needs most effectively.

Jeffreys will discuss key measures for a successful system integration initiative from the perspective of end-users; system integration firms and their individual expert developers; and software suppliers and their distribution channel affiliates. He will provide illustrations from Wonderware’s own system integrator channel processes, and explain how they relate to an integrated manufacturing enterprise.

The Dec. 3 Webcast will also include an overview of the current system integration industry with facts about who the players are and what they’re doing. Topics will include industries that system integrators serve most; areas where they’re concentrated; skills they possess; and product lines they prefer.

For more information or to register, visit https://web1.media.globix.net/client/ce/120303/launch.htm .

Control Engineering Daily News DeskJim Montague, news editorjmontague@reedbusiness.com