Free [MC]2 Pass For MTAG Member Who Registers Five Customers

 I sent this out today to the MTConnect Technical Advisory Group (MTAG) and wanted to share it here as well.


Paul Warndorf and I were talking at lunch today with John Turner about [MC]2.  John said, "why don't you offer one free pass for every MTAG member that gets five customers to register for [MC]2?"

We quickly agreed that John Turner is a genius and that we should do this.

So, for every five customers that an MTAG members gets to register that MTAG member will get one free [MC]2 pass to use as they see fit.

To make it easier to track, please have your customers put your company name in the [MC]2 conference code box.  If they forget to, just let us know which customer(s) registered and we will verify it.  How this will work is we will reach out to you when we see it in our daily registration reports.  We will then reach out to see how you want to use your free [MC]2 pass.  If you like, you can give us a heads up so we know that you have five customers that will be registering soon.   The five customers do not have to be from the same company, they just need to be customers and not MTAG members.

Attached is a very nice two page [MC]2 Flyer you can send to your customers.   Also attached are two html files you can put on your website as well as jpg of the [MC]2 extremely cool logo.  

We also have sponsorships available as well!

 

Let's get as many customers as we can to [MC]2!  

Thanks,

--Dave

Dave Edstrom

President and Chairman - MTConnect Institute 

  MTConnect: Different Devices, Common Connection

  MTConnect: To Measure Is To Know

Baltimore Gran Prix 2011

On Saturday, my father and I went to the first ever Baltimore Gran Prix.  Above you can see that my father had other interests besides just checking out race cars :-)  

This was a learning experience year for us as I waited too late and did not have grandstand seats.  Here are my personal lessons learned:

• This strategy worked out fine in 2002 when we went to the DC Gran Prix that was in the RFK parking lot where there were no buildings and the site lines were fine.  At Baltimore, the course went through the Inner Harbor area in the city where the site lines were very limited except for the straightaways.    Getting grandstand seats as high up as possible near the main straightaway and in front of a large screen would be good.  You basically need to pick your viewing point and this would be the best.
• We parked at the Port Covington parking lot which worked out really well since it was free and a 10 minute ride to the C gate.
• We went up into the bridge over the convention center to watch the cars come by on the main straightaway as well as a nice view of the large screen showing the race - plus it was air conditioned.
• Go visit the Corvette Racing area that is past Camden Yards and to the right after you walk by the stadium and the long building.
• Go over the bridge and checkout the actual paddocks would be cool.
• Walk around the entire inside paddock area to check out the different views
• No need getting there too early.  Get there an hour or so before the ALMS GT race would be a good plan.
• Bring the Boise noise canceling headphones and extra of the ear plugs for anyone with you as they sell out.
• Buy any merchandise ahead of time as they sold out of everything there.
• Bring a packback with whatever water size they will allow and something to eat that is not too obvious when you get searched.
• Bring a nice camera
• Try to figure out what station it is being broadcast on so you do not have to pay for one of the expensive rental racing headsets
• 
  

Above is me and my father in front of a C6R Corvette race car.

 

 Above is Danica Patrick signing autographs.

Above is the ZR1 100th Anniversary Edition.

 The above two pictures are the text for the ZR1 supercharger and the supercharger itself.

 Above and below is the ZR1 frame.

On the photon below right is Zora Artkus Duntov (white hair on the right), Corvette's first Chief Engineer.  At the bottom of the picture below is the famous #3 Corvette that won the 1960 24 Hours at LeMans.

27 DaysDays Until Early Bird Registration Ends For [MC]2 MTConnect Connecting Manufacturing Conference

Since its introduction to the manufacturing industry, the MTConnect standard has been revolutionizing the way manufacturing equipment and devices "talk" to each other on the shop floor. Anyone in the manufacturing industry can benefit from learning about this important standard. That's why you must attend [MC]2 MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference, November 8-10, 2011, in Cincinnati, Ohio. This conference will have something for everyone, from distributors to end users, to manufacturing technology builders, to software developers, to C-level executives, to professors, to students, and to anyone who just wants to really understand MTConnect. [MC]2 offers both business and technical tracks, hands-on technical workshops, panel discussions on the use and benefits of the standards, as well as a showcase of commercially available products utilizing the MTConnect standard. Conference attendees will have the opportunity to learn from the experts to really understand how MTConnect, as Modern Machine Shop said, is enabling tremendous productivity gains in manufacturing.  Those attending will return with new knowledge and skills so they can engage in a deeper dialogue on manufacturing productivity, as well as a much better understanding on what it takes to compete in 21st century manufacturing. Register now! This is an event like no other.

The Passing of Mary Gardner - John Gardner's Wife of 43 Years

You can not find a better friend or a better person than John Gardner.  It was with great sadness when we all heard that John's wife of 43 years passed away on August 31st.    John worked together at Sun Microsystems for a long, long time.  I am posting this on my blog as I know a number of former Sun Microsystems employees read this blog and I am hopeful to see a large contingent of Sun employees this Saturday the 10th at 11am at St. James’ Episcopal Church, 1020 W. Lafayette Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21217.

Below is what Joy Warfield passed on from John.  Please share this with anyone who knows John to help support him and his family during their time of need:

Mary Antoinette Kidd Gardner, daughter of the late James Ammons and Alice Young Kidd, died peacefully on August 31, 2011.   Mrs. Gardner, a retired Microbiologist with Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC and active community advocate, leaves to cherish her husband, John E. Gardner, of 43 years:

• daughters, Dawna Gardner and Krystyll Gardner
• grandchildren Alexis Gardner Wood and Nicholas Edward Gardner
• sister, Cynthia Alexander
• brother, Keith Kidd
• and a host of family and friends.

A celebration of life service will be held Saturday, September 10, 2011 at St. James’ Episcopal Church, 1020 W. Lafayette Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21217. The family hour begins at 10:00 am, the service begins at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, contributions maybe made online or mailed directly to Spelman College – In memory of Mary Kidd Gardner, Class of 1967).

Directions to St. James' Episcopal Church

---

From the South:
Take I-95 to Exit 53 (I-395 -- Downtown Baltimore.) Follow the signs to Martin Luther King Blvd. Go about 1.5 miles on MLK Blvd and turn left onto Rte. 40 West/Franklin Street. Stay in the right lane, i.e. do not take the underpass to Rte. 40 W. At the second light, turn right onto N. Arlington Ave. Go four blocks to the church at the corner of N. Arlington and W. Lafayette Avenues.

From the North:
From I-95, take I-695E to I-83 S. towards Baltimore). Take the North Avenue/Mt. Royal Ave exit. Cross N. Avenue and proceed straight on Mt. Royal Ave. to Lafayette Avenue and turn right. Proceed approximately one mile to the church at the corner of W. Lafayette and N. Arlington Avenues.

From the East:
Take Route 40W into Baltimore (Orleans St.) Continue on Rt. 40W across Martin Luther King Blvd. Stay to the right on Franklin Street. At the second light, turn right onto Arlington Ave. Go four blocks to the church at the corner of N. Arlington and W. Lafayette Avenues.

From the West:
Take Route 40E towards Baltimore. Where Rte. 40E and Edmondson Avenue split, stay to the left on Edmondson Ave for approximately one mile. Turn left onto N. Arlington Avenue and drive three blocks until you reach the church at the corner of W. Lafayette Avenue.

29 Days Early Bird Registration [MC]2 MTConnect Connecting Manufacturing Conferece

Since its introduction to the manufacturing industry, the MTConnect standard has been revolutionizing the way manufacturing equipment and devices "talk" to each other on the shop floor. Anyone in the manufacturing industry can benefit from learning about this important standard. That's why you must attend [MC]2 MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference, November 8-10, 2011, in Cincinnati, Ohio. This conference will have something for everyone, from distributors to end users, to manufacturing technology builders, to software developers, to C-level executives, to professors, to students, and to anyone who just wants to really understand MTConnect. [MC]2 offers both business and technical tracks, hands-on technical workshops, panel discussions on the use and benefits of the standards, as well as a showcase of commercially available products utilizing the MTConnect standard. Conference attendees will have the opportunity to learn from the experts to really understand how MTConnect, as Modern Machine Shop said, is enabling tremendous productivity gains in manufacturing.  Those attending will return with new knowledge and skills so they can engage in a deeper dialogue on manufacturing productivity, as well as a much better understanding on what it takes to compete in 21st century manufacturing. Register now! This is an event like no other.

31 Days Early Bird Registration [MC]2 MTConnect Connecting Manufacturing Conferece

Since its introduction to the manufacturing industry, the MTConnect standard has been revolutionizing the way manufacturing equipment and devices "talk" to each other on the shop floor. Anyone in the manufacturing industry can benefit from learning about this important standard. That's why you must attend [MC]2 MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference, November 8-10, 2011, in Cincinnati, Ohio. This conference will have something for everyone, from distributors to end users, to manufacturing technology builders, to software developers, to C-level executives, to professors, to students, and to anyone who just wants to really understand MTConnect. [MC]2 offers both business and technical tracks, hands-on technical workshops, panel discussions on the use and benefits of the standards, as well as a showcase of commercially available products utilizing the MTConnect standard. Conference attendees will have the opportunity to learn from the experts to really understand how MTConnect, as Modern Machine Shop said, is enabling tremendous productivity gains in manufacturing.  Those attending will return with new knowledge and skills so they can engage in a deeper dialogue on manufacturing productivity, as well as a much better understanding on what it takes to compete in 21st century manufacturing. Register now! This is an event like no other.

Flashing Your Headlights aka Warning Drivers of Speed Traps

This is from autoblog.com and has always bugged me.  How can the police give you a ticket for flashing your headlights to warn traffic there is a speed trap ahead?

"Florida is facing a class-action lawsuit from drivers who have been ticketed for attempting to warn other motorists of hidden speed traps. According to WTSP 10 News, Eric Campbell was recently cited for just that, despite the fact that there is no law against using one's headlights to communicate with other drivers. The officer who ticketed Campbell used Florida State Statute 316.2397, even though the courts ruled that the police were wrongfully applying the law to crack down on vehicle-to-vehicle communication in 2005. Now Campbell wants his $100 ticket refunded and $15,000 in damages.

Since 2005, over 10,429 drivers have been cite for flashing their high beams, and if Campbell wins his case, Florida could be facing over $1 million in ticket refunds. But that's nothing compared to the $156.4 million the state could have to pay out if each driver is awarded $15,000 each. Hit the jump to take a look at news report on the lawsuit."

 Don't get me wrong, I DON'T think people should be speeding, but unless there is a specific LAW against flashing your headlights, I don't think the cops should be able to give you a ticket...

33 Days Until Early Bird Registration Ends For [MC]2 MTConnect Connecting Manufacturing Conference

Since its introduction to the manufacturing industry, the MTConnect standard has been revolutionizing the way manufacturing equipment and devices "talk" to each other on the shop floor. Anyone in the manufacturing industry can benefit from learning about this important standard. That's why you must attend [MC]2 MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference, November 8-10, 2011, in Cincinnati, Ohio. This conference will have something for everyone, from distributors to end users, to manufacturing technology builders, to software developers, to C-level executives, to professors, to students, and to anyone who just wants to really understand MTConnect. [MC]2 offers both business and technical tracks, hands-on technical workshops, panel discussions on the use and benefits of the standards, as well as a showcase of commercially available products utilizing the MTConnect standard. Conference attendees will have the opportunity to learn from the experts to really understand how MTConnect, as Modern Machine Shop said, is enabling tremendous productivity gains in manufacturing.  Those attending will return with new knowledge and skills so they can engage in a deeper dialogue on manufacturing productivity, as well as a much better understanding on what it takes to compete in 21st century manufacturing. Register now! This is an event like no other.

New Addition To The Edstrom Family - Nero

From left to right   Spike age 13, Nero 5 months and Photon age 7   The name Nero means black in Italian.  I ok'd a puppy in a moment of mental weakness while in Italy this summer :-)    I forgot how much work puppies can be. Nero is a good pup with a great personality.   He loves to follow Photon around and just pester him.  Nero and Tim have a lot in common :-)

Please Donate to Dave Patterson's Great Cause - Waves To Wine Ride 2011 to Fight MS

I would encourage everyone to sponsor Dave Patterson on his upcoming Waves To Wine Ride 2011 that helps combat the crippling disease - MS.  The ride is coming up September 17th and 18th.

As Dave states on his "Accept The Challenge" Waves To Wine Ride 2011 page:

Why I Ride

My wife was diagnosed with MS in 2006, which brought home the impact of this disease. Fortunately, she did not really have it, but I was inspired to try harder to raise funds to help find a cure so that other families wouldn't face this daunting lifestyle. In the process, and I learned that MS has struck children, brothers, sisters, nieces, cousins, and close friends of my friends, making the disease much more widespread than I'd realized.

You can go here to donate to sponsor Dave and his two sons for this VERY IMPORTANT cause.  Please do!

Best of Luck Steve Jobs

Hopefully, Steve Jobs health will turn around for the better.

I had the great fortune to hear Steve Jobs speak on few occasions while at Sun Microsystems.  I remember when he told the story about walking through Xerox PARC and seeing the first window system graphical user interface and a mouse.
Steve said, "all of you would have realized that this was the future of computing and did the same thing I did."  I remember saying to the person next to me, "no we wouldn't, we're not Steve Jobs".  The one thing that is true, is that Steve Jobs has a a reality distortion field around him when he spoke.  He is without peer when it comes to talking technology in a clear, concise and compelling way. 

Below is my favorite commencement address of all time by Steve Jobs at Stanford.

TechSolve Visit and MTConnect

This past Thursday the 25th of August, Paul Warndorf, VP of Technology and CTO for AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology, and I visited the Hyatt Regency in Cincinnati as a walk through for the first ever [MC]2 MTConnect Connecting Manufacturing Conference.  The Hyatt Regency will be perfect for our needs.  Our flight back Thursday evening was canceled.  Paul asked me if I had ever been to TechSolve.  When I mentioned that I had never visited TechSolve, Paul gave Ron Pieper of TechSolve to see if we could visit.   Ron was very busy, but luckily for us, he was able to give us a tour of TechSolve.

Ron is a Senior Project Engineer at TechSolve who wears many hats.  Ron and TechSolve have been HUGE supporters of MTConnect from the very early days.  We had a chance to say hello as well to Amit Deshpande of TechSolve.

Ron, Amit as well as Sri Atluru are all leading sessions at [MC]2 MTConnect Connecting Manufacturing Conference.  TechSolve is also a sponsor and exhibitor at [MC]2.  Sri is a Technology Lead at TechSolve.   At the MTConnect Institute we are very, very fortunate to have TechSolve's support with MTConnect.

Below is a video that Paul took with Ron and I discussing TechSolve.  Since we were around a bunch of machine tools, please turn up the volume on your computer to hear what we were discussing.  Thanks Ron!

Corvettes at Carlisle 2011 With John Meyer

Today John Meyer and I went to Corvettes at Carlisle again this year and we met Steve and Mike Ferry.  Above is a 180 degree view from the hill at the fairgrounds.

Above is a 360 degree view with John Meyer to the left of the orange C6.
One of the cool things that John and I did was get in the autograph line of Corvette legends.  What makes Corvettes so cool are the people.   Here, in 2009, I am talking Tadge Juecther, Corvettes Chief Engineer,

These engineers who make and have made Corvettes love them as much as we do.  I got a chance to talk with Tadge Juecther, Corvettes Chief Engineer, Dave McLellan (the C4 Chief Engineer) Lance Miller, son of Chip Miller.  Chip Miller and Bill Miller (no relationship) were the two that started Corvettes at Carlisle.  Lance Miller and Michael Brown (Writer, Producer and Director of The Quest) were there signing DVD copies of the movie The Quest. As Corvette Racing stated:

"Last year's 24 Hours of Le Mans marked the 50th anniversary of Corvette's first participation in the world's most celebrated sports car race. Fifty years after Briggs Cunningham's No. 3 Corvette finished first in the large displacement GT category, the restored race car was reunited with one of its legendary drivers, John Fitch, at the fabled French circuit. Now the remarkable story of this milestone Corvette's return to Le Mans is told in a new documentary film, "The Quest."

The film recounts how the No. 3 Corvette disappeared into obscurity after winning its class at Le Mans. It follows the quest of renowned Corvette enthusiast Chip Miller to find, restore, and ultimately return this milestone automobile to France to celebrate the golden anniversary of its historic victory. Following Miller's untimely death in 2004, his dream of returning the No. 3 Cunningham Corvette to Le Mans lived on through his son Lance and the Miller family."

 
Below is the trailer. This is a classic and maybe the classic Corvette story.

This is me at the top of the fairground hill.

A big problem that John and I have every year are the young woman who follow us around and want their pictures taken with us :-)   Behind us was the new 2012 color that GM calls Carlisle Blue to honor the 30th anniversary of Corvettes at Carlisle.

5.8 Earthquake in Washington Area Today

A very, very interesting day in Washington, DC with the 5.8 earthquake.

I was with Paul Warndorf, VP of Technology and CTO for AMT, and a member of AMT in the Board Room when the earthquake hit.  The first rumble, I said "must be construction."  When things started to really move, the AMT member said, "I have been in Japan, this is an earthquake."   We got at out AMT pretty quickly at that point.

I immediately blamed Pat McGibbon, but later I was told Pat was not responsible for the earthquake :-)

The first earthquake I was in was in the Philippines in 1968 that was 7.3.  I have been in a few earthquakes in California when I worked for Sun Microsystems.  Once, I was driving a rental car and I thought, "I am going to return this rental tomorrow because the suspension is crap."   The next morning I was told by a friend that I was driving when the earthquake hit.

Below is from the USGS on the earthquake:

"The Virginia earthquake of 2011 August 23 occurred as reverse faulting on a north or northeast-striking plane within a previously recognized seismic zone, the "Central Virginia Seismic Zone." The Central Virginia Seismic Zone has produced small and moderate earthquakes since at least the 18th century. The previous largest historical shock from the Central Virginia Seismic Zone occurred in 1875. The 1875 shock occurred before the invention of effective seismographs, but the felt area of the shock suggests that it had a magnitude of about 4.8. The 1875 earthquake shook bricks from chimneys, broke plaster and windows, and overturned furniture at several locations. A magnitude 4.5 earthquake on 2003, December 9, also produced minor damage.

Previous seismicity in the Central Virginia Seismic Zone has not been causally associated with mapped geologic faults. Previous, smaller, instrumentally recorded earthquakes from the Central Virginia Seismic Zone have had shallow focal depths (average depth about 8 km). They have had diverse focal mechanisms and have occurred over an area with length and width of about 120 km, rather than being aligned in a pattern that might suggest that they occurred on a single causative fault. Individual earthquakes within the Central Virginia Seismic Zone occur as the result of slip on faults that are much smaller than the overall dimensions of the zone. The dimensions of the individual fault that produced the 2011 August 23 earthquake will not be known until longer-term studies are done, but other earthquakes of similar magnitude typically involve slippage along fault segments that are 5 - 15 km long.

Earthquakes in the central and eastern U.S., although less frequent than in the western U.S., are typically felt over a much broader region. East of the Rockies, an earthquake can be felt over an area as much as ten times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the west coast. A magnitude 4.0 eastern U.S. earthquake typically can be felt at many places as far as 100 km (60 mi) from where it occurred, and it infrequently causes damage near its source. A magnitude 5.5 eastern U.S. earthquake usually can be felt as far as 500 km (300 mi) from where it occurred, and sometimes causes damage as far away as 40 km (25 mi)."

The Beatles, Florence (Italy), and [MC]2

This is an article I wrote the for August 2011 IMTS Insider.

The Beatles, Florence (Italy), and [MC]2

August 10, 2011

What do The Beatles, the city of Florence, Italy, and the MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference [MC]2 all have in common? Are we moving [MC]2 from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Florence, Italy, and having Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as the entertainment for the opening reception? That would be nice, but highly unlikely. So, what is the common thread? Let me explain.

There are a number of books and articles that have been written of late attempting to quantify the age-old question of "nature vs. nurture" in determining someone's success. In Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, Gladwell quantifies just how much The Beatles played together before their "instant success" appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964. The Beatles played live in Hamburg, Germany, more than 1,200 times from 1960 to 1964. Those nights totaled more than 10,000 hours because they were playing 8 to 10 hours a night, 7 days a week.

It would be easy to misunderstand the premise of Outliers if that was the only story I shared. Gladwell discussed the concept of his book further when he was interviewed by USA Today in late 2008. "The biggest misconception about success is that we do it solely on our smarts, ambition, hustle and hard work. There's an awful lot more that goes into it than we admit." Gladwell emphasizes that if you want to understand why someone is successful, you also need to look beyond the nature and nurture argument, and take a look at other data points such as when and where they were born. Everything from current technology to societal and cultural shifts can have a strong influence on success.

In Daniel Coyle's book, The Talent Code, Coyle asks the question: "Why did so many incredible talents come from Florence, Italy, during the renaissance?" By incredibly talented, we are talking about Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dante, and Galileo, to name just a few. What was different about Florence, Italy? Guilds. What made Florence so unique were how these guilds were organized and the proven mentoring framework. Young boys were put into apprentice programs with masters that would last 5 to 10 years. The apprenticeship was very organized and emphasized a hands-on approach that would build apprentices' skills from the ground up. These young artists invested thousands and thousands of hours learning their skills under the tutelage of masters.

So, what do The Beatles, the city of Florence, Italy, and the MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference [MC]2 all have in common? While we won't have Paul or Ringo as entertainment, we will have the masters of MTConnect and manufacturing, and we will be providing days of business and technical sessions in a hands-on framework to create the virtual "guilds" that will continue to live on long after the conference. At the MTConnect Institute, we strongly believe that [MC]2 could be the best investment in your future that either you or your company could make in 2011!

[MC]2 Conference
» View the [MC}2 Schedule
» Register Now!

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By: Dave Edstrom
Director, The Office of Strategic Innovation
AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology

The Presidents Window -- Thinking Like Lord Kelvin

As President and Chairman of the MTConnect Institute, Paul Warndorf asked me to start writing a monthly newsletter article for the MTConnect Newsletter.  Great idea Paul!  Here is the first one.  For those of you who ARE not MTConnect members, please join here!

The President's Window Thinking Like Lord Kelvin Dave Edstrom President and Chairman of the Board MTConnect Institute

This is a new feature story that Paul Warndorf, VP of Technology for AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, has asked me to write each month.  I thought it was a great suggestion and I hope to get feedback from you on what is interesting and topics you would like me to address.  This will not be strictly about MTConnect, even though I hope to have a thread to our open and royalty-free protocol.  I chose the name “The President’s Window” because it is concise, and I hope it conveys the open theme of these monthly articles.  Since this is thefirst article, I thought I would start off with one of my favorite themes. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was my account for 6 years starting in the mid 1980s when I was a Systems Engineer at Sun Microsystems.  I loved having NIST as an account because the institute was always doing something very interesting and pushing the limits on what Sun could provide in terms of computing power.  On one of my first visits to NIST, I was brought into a conference room and saw the following engraved in the floor: “I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely in your thoughts advanced to the state of Science, whatever the matter may be.”                                  Lord Kelvin (Sir William Thomson) That phrase is built into the DNA of computer science and science in general.  To provide a simple example of this, when you walk into a data center that houses thousands of computers in countless racks, you will find that every single one of those computers is monitored extremely closely.  But according to industry and academic experts,only 4 to 5 percent of machine tools are monitored today.  This percentage is mind-boggling to me.  How can any plant possibly make intelligent decisions if they cannot quantify what a machine tool is doing? Let’s look at some of the laws in the computer industry and see if there are similarities in manufacturing.  Bob Metcalfe, the inventor of Ethernet, made a statement that has now become known as “Metcalfe’s Law.”   Metcalfe’s Law basically states that the value of any network is the number of users or devices connected to the network squared.  If we apply Metcalfe’s Law to manufacturing, we would modify it slightly to state: The value of any manufacturing shop floor’s network is the number of pieces of manufacturing equipment that can speak MTConnect squared.  Why MTConnect squared and not just the number of pieces of manufacturing equipment squared?  Because it is MTConnect that makes these pieces of equipment able to all speak the language of the Internet, which is XML. Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld liked to say, “there are known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns.”  Stated another way, “you don’t know what you don’t know.”   The real purpose of MTConnect is to quantify the known unknowns and provide the framework to discover the unknown unknowns.  You can’t manage what you don’t know.  And unless you are quantifying what you don’t know, then you are shooting from the hip, which is never a good idea. In order to quantify how well a manufacturing plant or job shop is doing, you first must easily get the data and put it in a standard quantified form.  That is exactly what MTConnect does.  Getting the data in an open and royalty-free way is what will allow you to first monitor what you are doing and then to share the information with all your applications and all your partners.  While the most obvious use of getting common information out of a piece of equipment is monitoring, that is just the tip of the iceberg.  The real win with MTConnect is when quantified information is available anytime, anywhere to any application, to any partner and on any device, it drives up productivity.  I imagine Lord Kelvin would change MTConnect’s mantra to: “MTConnect – to measure is to know.” Please remember to get the word out on the MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference [MC]2! MTConnect: Different Devices, Common Connection MTConnect: To Measure Is To Know

___________________________

Today's Herbert Hoover Republicans

This article titled, "The Republicans’ new voodoo economics?" in The Washington Post today by Greg Ip, who is the U.S. economics editor for The Economist and the author of “The Little Book of Economics: How the Economy Works in the Real World.”

Below are two snippets from the Ip's article where I highlighted points of note.

"This is not to be confused with supply-side economics, the dubious Reagan-era doctrine that tax cuts would generate enough economic growth and revenue to reduce the deficit.   Republicans still believe in lower taxes but generally don’t claim they pay for themselves. The new GOP views actually have a much longer pedigree: They are rooted in an intellectual contest that raged during the 1930s and 1940s, and had long been settled by the opposing side."

"A shift toward fiscal and monetary austerity in the United States in 1937 helped prolong the depression. Fiscal tightening helped push Japan back into recession in 1997. "

August AMT Online [MC]2 Article

This is an article I wrote for AMT Online

08 August 2011

First ever [MC]2 MTConnect®: Connecting

Manufacturing Conference coming in 

November

 

By Dave Edstrom

On April 28 we announced the first ever [MC]² MTConnect®: Connecting Manufacturing Conference in AMT NEWS. This conference will take place November 8-10, 2011, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and will have something for everyone from end users, to manufacturing technology builders, to software developers, to C-level executives, to students — anyone who just wants to really understand MTConnect! The conference is aimed at promoting both the business and technical benefits and implementation of MTConnect, as well as showcasing commercially available products utilizing the standard.

This will be like no other manufacturing conference that you have ever attended. You’ll get a highly interactive and thought-provoking experience guaranteed to leave you inspired.

Conference Details

[MC]² will have a wide range of keynotes, technical sessions, business sessions, technical workshops, exhibits and live demonstrations. Technical tracks will have a heavy emphasis on the “hands-on” side of MTConnect, while the business tracks will emphasize quantifying increased productivity with real world examples. Attendees can mix and match attending technical or business sessions, as well as hands-on technical workshops.  

Each morning will start with a keynote and then break into parallel technical and business sessions. An example of the quality of [MC]² is the first keynote. Mike Geldner of Google will present, “Inside The World of Google.” 

Business sessions will present a wide range of topics such as Getting Started With MTConnect – Where Do I Begin, Connecting Legacy Machine Tools, and Panel Discussion On Monitoring Your Shop Floor Using The MTConnect Protocol. 

Technical workshops will include important topics such as MTConnect 101:  Fundamentals of MTConnect, MTConnect Architecture: Understanding and Building MTConnect Agents and Adapters, and MTConnect Hello World:  Building Your First MTConnect Application. Exhibitors will be demonstrating how the MTConnect protocol is being utilized to save both time and money.  

Conference ROI

I wrote in the May IMTS Insider that the true ROI of [MC]² will not be just what happens during the business, technical or general sessions, but what happens before, between and after those sessions, at the exhibits in the hallways, the breaks, and anyplace where [MC]² attendees are together. These impromptu conversations and meetings are where you meet folks who are doing the same thing you are trying to do but have a different approach. It is these discussions that cause you to think differently and ask questions that you would have never thought of prior to the conference. The individuals who you meet and then continue to have ongoing conversations with beyond the event are absolutely priceless. It is meeting customers in a setting where you are both searching for creative solutions that can be the petri dish for future collaborations. It is grabbing the speaker of a session and going out for lunch together to discuss some of the finer points of the session. It is adding lots of new contacts that will save you time and your company money when you run into future challenges. 

Who will benefit by attending?

• End Users
• Tool Builders
• ISVs
• Integrators
• Distributors
• Industry Thought Leaders
• MTConnect® Institute Participants
• Equipment Suppliers
• Students
• Professors
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[MC]² is your chance to learn from the experts to really understand how this game-changing technology is making tremendous productivity gains in manufacturing. You will go back to your company with new skills and a much better understanding on what it takes to compete in 21st century manufacturing. 

And don’t forget the hidden ROI from attending these types of events: Meeting people who are trying to do the same things that you are.

Don’t miss the [MC]² MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference! Questions? Contact Dave Edstrom at davidallenedstrom@gmail.com.

Contact(s):

David Edstrom  phone: 703-827-5211

Jon Huntsman's Controversial Tweet

WOW!  Who would have predicted another one of the Republicans running for President would actually take a stand for science?  

"In the past week, with the entry of Texas Gov. Rick Perry in the race, Huntsman’s candidacy has become something of an afterthought, yet he gained some buzz this week over Twitter by taking Perry to task for doubting the science of evolution and global warming.

On Twitter, Huntsman declared: “To be clear, I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.”

Huntsman also made the statement below:

"When we take a position that isn't willing to embrace evolution, when we take a position that basically runs counter to what 98 of 100 climate scientists have said, what the National Academy of Science has said about what is causing climate change and man's contribution to it, I think we find ourselves on the wrong side of science, and, therefore, in a losing position," Huntsman told ABC's "This Week."

Huntsman said he couldn't remember a time when "we actually were willing to shun science and become a party that was antithetical to science. I'm not sure that's good for our future and it's not a winning formula," according to interview excerpts released Saturday ABC. The full interview is set to air Sunday.

It should be fun watching Fox News attack Huntsman for being in favor of science.  Maybe the Fox News actors and actresses that do the news should read this Joint Science Academies Statement?

I have to give Mitt Romney credit for this back in January:

"MANCHESTER, N.H. — In the first town hall of his freshly announced presidential campaign, Mitt Romney yesterday reaffirmed his view that global warming is occurring and that humans are contributing to it, a position that has been rejected in recent years by many Republicans as the issue has taken on a greater partisan tinge."

Thanks mfrtech.com [MC]2 Article

HUGE thanks to mfrtech.com for running a great article on the first ever [MC]2 MTConnect Connecting Manufacturing Conference!