Webcast: Tips for automation system integration project management

Automation system integration project management, when done right from project inception, can mean the difference between a successful implementation that adds value, and one that doesn’t.

By CFE Media September 10, 2015

Automation system integration project management, when done right from project inception, can mean the difference between a successful implementation that adds value, and one that doesn’t. 

Learning Objectives—Expert speakers offer practical advice about:

  • Determining if project management be handled internally or is outside help needed.
  • Deciding the best time to bring in a system integrator to help with project management.
  • Discovering project examples of do’s and don’ts to minimize risk, including project methodology types.
  • Identifying if process redesign is needed as part of the project, or if applying automation to the current process is enough.
  • Distinguishing how project management positively influences technology selection.
  • Justifying how to determine when a project is beyond help and needs to end.
  • Understanding trends on Control Engineering system integration research as they relate to project management.

A professional development hour (PDH) is available for this webcast for those who pass the quiz after the webcast and question and answer session. The webcast meets the standards and requirements of the Registered Continuing Education Program (RCEP).

Speaker: Don Roberts is an auditor for the Control System Integrator Association (CSIA) and a consultant and principal of Exotek LLC, a management-consulting firm focused on the engineering and systems integration industry. He works with owners and senior management of hundreds of system integration companies, including facilitating strategic planning and executive coaching. He serves on the boards of a number of companies and performs business level audits globally to assess companies’ compliance with the CSIA Certification program. He has served on advisory councils for several automation firms and one of Canada’s leading high-tech universities, the University of Waterloo. He is a regular judge in the Control Engineering System Integrator of the Year award contest.

Speaker: Dennis Brandl is founder and chief consultant at BR&L Consulting Inc., specializing in helping companies use Manufacturing IT to improve production, laboratory, and logistics processes. He is an active member of the ISA 95 Enterprise/Control System Integration committee, is co-author of the MESA B2MML standards, is a member of the ISA 99 Industrial Cyber-security standards committee, is the former chairman of the ISA 88 Batch System control committee, contributor to the OPC Foundation and IEC 62541 standards, and has participated in the development other industrial standards. His column on manufacturing IT in Control Engineering magazine covers IT aspects that are critical to modern manufacturing.

Moderator and speaker: Mark T. Hoske, Control Engineering content manager, presenting some Control Engineering research results on system integration.


Author Bio: Since its founding in 2010, CFE Media and Technology has provided engineers in manufacturing, commercial and industrial buildings, and manufacturing control systems with the knowledge they need to improve their operational efficiency. CFE delivers the right information at the right time around the world through a variety of platforms.