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Thursday, March 14, 2013
Just One Day Left for Early-Bird [MC]2 2013 Registration!
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Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Open Systems For Open Minds
Open Systems for Open Minds: That phrase was my all-time favorite slogan at Sun Microsystems. While it might seem obvious that of course everyone would want an open system, it turns out this does not always prove to be true. An open system is open or closed depending on the industry, the time period, and context, as well as the organization supporting the system.
In the computer industry, open or closed is better defined than manufacturing. If you ask someone in the IT industry what it means to be an open system, the answer you will receive likely will be along the lines that is one that has an operating system that has its source code out in the open and public, uses the most popular and open programming languages and uses standard interfaces that are open and royalty-free that makes it portable between architectures. If you were speaking to someone who has been in the computer industry a long time, the answer would be very short and simple, such as a Unix or Linux box.
What about the time period? If we were to go back to the 1960s and early 1970s, open computing would not have been a common term. Terms such as “IBM plug compatible” would have been the definition of open. Plug-compatible means that you could take a board from an older main frame and use it in the backplane of a new computer of that same vendor. In 1981 IBM announced the IBM PC and created, some would argue by mistake, an open hardware platform where the terms IBM PC compatible and PC compatible meant it could run the same OS and software as the IBM PC, but would be, typically, a less expensive system. The IBM PC was viewed as an open system in the 1980s with Microsoft’s DOS. In the 1980s, Sun Microsystems redefined open systems with the introduction of the SPARC platform where other companies could not only make systems that could use the SPARC processors, but companies could manufacture their own SPARC processors. In the 1990s the Linux operating system redefined the word “open” in a way that still stands today.
How about context? This gives meaning to both the industry and the time period discussions. For example, is Apple an open system? Is Microsoft an open system? Is Oracle an open system? How about Google? How about iOS versus Android? It could be argued that Microsoft is more open than Apple in 2013. Apple’s Mac OS X is based on Unix, but no one considers Mac OS X an open operating system such as Linux in 2013. Not too many individuals call Oracle open, but they own MySQL and Java. Those technologies are open. Most of what Oracle owns is not open. Oracle might argue that they publish their interfaces, so they are an open platform. Many think of Google as being the anti-Microsoft and being open, but are they really? It depends. Is Facebook open? Not from a data standpoint, and it should not be open. That model works for them because they have a closed garden approach that makes sense. How about Twitter? OneI can search Twitter at http://twitter.com/search — does access to data make it open or closed? As you can see, context changes everything.
The other aspect of context is the organization behind the system. AMT has been the key driving and supporting force behind MTConnect from the very beginning. Specifically, Paul Warndorf, VP of Manufacturing Technology at AMT, has been the key person driving MTConnect. No Paul Warndorf, no MTConnect. Don’t get me wrong — lots of folks, yours truly included, have helped out a great deal, but you must have the singular driving force that has control of the money and the vision. AMT has invested literally millions in MTConnect not because of any hidden revenue stream for AMT, but rather because it was the right thing for their members and more importantly, it was the right thing for manufacturing. Sun Microsystems had Scott McNealy as the guiding visionary for doing things the right way at Sun. It was impossible to overstate the importance of Scott to Sun Microsystems. When companies and individuals look at a given technology, the organization and the individuals in that organization play a large role in the determination of the overall motive behind a given system. While motivation can sometimes be difficult to ascertain, when it is a 501( c ) ( 6) non-profit as both AMT and the MTConnect Institute are, the questions become less probing on real intentions. This, however, does not mean that we do not receive probing questions at the MTConnect Institute, but they are usually more quickly accepted when the person realizes we are a nonprofit.
Manufacturing is moving to open systems with MTConnect, but there is still an ocean of different definitions of what an open system really is in the world of manufacturing. For example, I was at IMTS 2012 and asked this question of those who came to the Emerging Technology Center (ETC) and when I walked the floor visiting other exhibitors. The answers I received were quite interesting. In the software area, if I was talking to a vendor who was a member of the MTConnect Institute, the answers were more in line with what you would expect in the computer industry. However, if I spoke to someone who was not a member of the MTConnect Institute, the answers gave me flashbacks to the 1970s. This is not meant to be a derogatory statement, just a reflection of the importance of industry, context and time period for manufacturing. One of the more common examples of the answer to my question, “What is the definition of an open system in manufacturing,” was defined as, “the ability to pay for the manual, license and software development kit in order to access the proprietary Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).” There is no one in the computer industry who would define open in that fashion in the year 2013.
This is not to say that a closed model might not be what is best for a given company. Look at Apple. For anyone who owns Apple stock, they are very pleased to have stock in a closed system. This is true if they did not purchase Apple when it was at over $700 a share, and as I write this it is trading at $452 a share. I own lots of Apple products. I am writing this on a MacBook Pro with an iPhone 5 in my pocket. But, that is not the point of the more interesting question, which is, will iPhone still be the phone to have in 5 years or will Android be the dominant platform? There are those who argue it is today. It has been stated that Android out ships iPhone by almost 4:1 today, so what will it be in 5 years? Who knows, but the point is that Android is based on an open platform and Apple is not. Go try to create an iPhone clone and let me know how that works out for you. Customers like open systems because it gives them choice. But, why do some companies like Apple do so well? They innovate and their systems just work, as one would expect. Apple will need to out-innovate and out-integrate the entire Android cast of players. That is easy to say, but very hard to do, as we all know.
What is the best way to learn about open versus closed systems? Attending the [MC]2 2013 MTConnect: Connecting Manufacturing Conference. This conference will take place April 10-11, 2013, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The conference will feature something for everyone from end users, to software developers, to C-level executives, to students, to manufacturing technology builders, to anyone who just wants to really understand MTConnect! This conference is aimed at promotingBOTH the business and technical benefits and implementation of MTConnect®, as well as showcasing commercially available products utilizing the standard.
Who Should Attend?
- End Users – shop owners, plant managers and anyone in manufacturing interested in improving productivity
- Industry thought leaders
- MTConnect® Institute Participants
- Equipment Suppliers
- Students
- Professors
- Software Developers
- Distributors
- ISVs
- Integrators
- Consultants
- Anyone wanting to learn more about MTConnect
What does the future for manufacturing hold in terms of open systems? There have been other attempts at open systems in manufacturing besides MTConnect that had very limited results. Those efforts might have been affected by limited resources and limited vision. I do believe we will continue to see manufacturing embrace open systems. Not because of any altruistic reason, but because it makes good economic sense. The challenge with entirely closed systems is that you must place all the bets correctly. If you do, then you can win big. If you miss any of those bets, changing platforms might be your death knell. Open systems are on a continuum and the industry, the time period, context, as well as the organization supporting the system all matter when coming to the conclusion whether the system is truly open, partially open, basically closed or completely proprietary.
Hang on folks, because the next 5 years will be quite interesting in manufacturing. I am going to borrow one of Sun Microsystem’s best slogans and say, “Open Manufacturing for Open Minds.” Sounds like something I need to put on a t-shirt!
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Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Just Three Days Left for Early-Bird [MC]2 2013 Registration!
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Monday, March 11, 2013
The Seven Edstrom Cars
John told me to sell his 2001 Honda Accord EX now that he is out in San Francisco and sharing his girlfriend's Janet's car. Tim wants to sell the 1999 Buick LeSabre for a new car for him his sophomore year at JMU. I thought it was time to get all seven Edstrom cars in the driveway and get a picture of these one last time.
Julie's 2005 MINI Cooper S 168hp, 135mph top end and 0-60 in 6.8 seconds.
On the left is my 1998 Corvette with 430hp, 0-60 in 4.1 seconds and a top end of 187, in the middle is Tim's 1999 Buick LeSabre with the GM 3800 V6 that has 205hp[ that is legendary for its reliability, on the right is my 2011 Corvette Grand Sport with 445hp, 0-60 in 3.95 seconds and top end of 192mph
Above is a video of all seven of Edstrom's cars
Just Four Days Left for Early-Bird [MC]2 2013 Registration!
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Sunday, March 10, 2013
BlueRed Shift - When Blue Shift Quickly Moves Toward Red Shift
I was looking for Red Shift when I found myself on this topic :-) Here is a post on Sep 08, 2008 on my blog when I was at Sun.
Sun's CTO, Greg Papadopoulos, has coined the terms Red Shift and Blue Shift as it relates toapplications that customers have that are growing faster or slower than Moore's Law.
But to steal from Senator Barack Obama, we do not have Blue Customers, we do not have Red Customers, we have Sun Microsystems Customers who have a variety of computing needs - some blue and some red. I am going to discuss what I call BlueRed Application Shift.
Red Shift, of course, comes from the astronomy definition of a shift in the spectra of very distant galaxies toward longer wavelengths (toward the red end of the spectrum) which is generally interpreted as evidence that the universe is expanding.
Please note that the "Universe is expanding" is the same reason the young Alvy Singer in Woody Allen's 1977 picture of the year "Annie Hall" gave for not studying at school. "If the Universe is expanding, what's the point?" he told his mom and the school official :-) But I digress...
Blue Shift from an astronomy definition (this is from Wikepedia) is the shortening of a transmitted signal's wavelength, and/or an increase in its frequency, due to the Doppler Effect, which indicates that the object is moving toward the observer.
As Greg defined it, "Red Shift" are those applications that customers a have that are growing faster than Moore's Law - ie Web 2.0 companies. Greg also defined "Blue Shift" as those applications that companies have that are not growing as fast as Moore's Law, so by definition, those companies need less square feet of computers because speed of computer processing is faster than their business is growing.
So, what am I calling a BlueRed shift? A BlueRed shift are those applications that companies that have been historically blue shift and now because of a significant event, have moved quickly out of Blue part of the spectrum, raced through green and yellow and orange part of spectrum heading towards Red. I expect that with MTConnect, we will see companies that have been historically classic blue shift applications, will become BlueRed shift applications as they see their compute and storage needs start to take off. This is not a risky prediction as we have seen this happen again and again when markets embrace open and royalty-free standards.
Why do we need the term BlueRed Shift? Because we need to indicate that Blue Shift applications with customers do not have to be slow growing forever and events do change industries.
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Saturday, March 9, 2013
Thursday, March 7, 2013
March's Big Nothing Snow Storm
What was supposed to be an 8 to 14 inch wallop turned out to be a wimper because of high ground temperatures and the "March sun" as the weather people backed away from their forecast. Here is a movie of the heavy snow falling that barely got to three inches in Ashburn.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
LAST chance … save on [MC]2 registration until March 15!!!!
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Saturday, March 2, 2013
Facebook's Boot Camp
This was an interesting episode on Bloomberg.com regarding Facebook's Boot Camp. Plus, my son John, who was going through Facebook's Boot Camp, comes on the screen at the 40:48 mark :-) It also shows the old Sun Microsystems Campus that Facebook purchased.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
God Bless Mike Abramowitz of Sun Federal
Lesley Lawrence of Sun sent this out regarding Mike:
"Dear Friends and Former Colleagues of Sun:
It's with deep sorrow that I relay the news of Mike Abramowitz's passing on Wednesday, February 20th.
Mike was a superb negotiator, a great mind and had a mighty acerbic wit! I, for one, learned much from this industry legend - please note your condolences in the guest book embedded in the Washington Post obituary here:"
My deepest condolences to Mike's family. Mike was truly a one of a kind individual and I loved being around him because he was able to analyze opportunities better than anyone I have ever met in my life.
My wife Julie and I ran into Mike in Singapore at a Sunrise event. Mike asked if we would like to have dinner together. My wife and I remember that night because of how kind and interesting Mike was in our discussions that evening.
God bless you Mike. You were one of a kind and will be truly missed.
My wife Julie and I ran into Mike in Singapore at a Sunrise event. Mike asked if we would like to have dinner together. My wife and I remember that night because of how kind and interesting Mike was in our discussions that evening.
God bless you Mike. You were one of a kind and will be truly missed.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
MTConnect and Task Force Tips on Why [MC]2 2013 Is Key
Below is from an email blast we just sent out on [MC]2 2013.
At many manufacturing companies, MTConnect is bringing immediate access to better shop floor data. Those companies are reaping the rewards. You can only gain this insight through shop floor monitoring. [MC]2 MTConnect: The Connecting Manufacturing Conference is the place where you’ll learn all the benefits offered by MTConnect, which is growing in usage every day.
At many manufacturing companies, MTConnect is bringing immediate access to better shop floor data. Those companies are reaping the rewards. You can only gain this insight through shop floor monitoring. [MC]2 MTConnect: The Connecting Manufacturing Conference is the place where you’ll learn all the benefits offered by MTConnect, which is growing in usage every day.
“We thought we knew what was happening on our shop floor better than anybody. MTConnect has opened our eyes that maybe we knew 10 percent…it’s invaluable for seeing patterns with not just machines but also the operators running them, to watch how often they’re adjusting their offsets. It’s allowed us to coach our operators to help them get the most out of the machines they run.”
— Stewart McMillan, Task Force Tips
— Stewart McMillan, Task Force Tips
Stewart McMillan and Task Force Tips is just one of many MTConnect success stories.
Are you ready to add your name to the list?
Join us at The Millennium in Cincinnati, OH, April 10-11 to start writing your success story. Register today!
Friday, February 15, 2013
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