Improvement

• Agile Myth – No Documentation Required

  Agile Myth – No Documentation Required People sometimes believe “It’s agile, so there is no documentation” or “Agile is anti-documentation.” Neither of these statements is correct. Instead, the incremental and iterative nature of agile software development brings an opportunity to create, leverage and improve documentation in new and refreshing ways that bring new value to […]

  Read MoreJeff Panning, PMP, ACPAgile / Information System Engineering / Manufacturing Operations Management / Process Design / Scrum Framework / Software Design / Management / Improvement /

• Successful Teamwork Using the Scrum Framework

  Teamwork Using the Scrum Framework Matrix Technologies is working with a steel company to co-develop a software application to solve key business problems. This engagement has been a long-term, information system engineering project in which Matrix provides two developers and a scrum master to the client in a staff augmentation time-and-expense manner. The client is […]

  Read MoreJeff Panning, PMP, ACPAgile Software Development / Industrial Automation Engineering / Information System Engineering / Manufacturing Operations Management / Process Design / Scrum Framework / Software Design / Management / Improvement /

• Building a Business Case

  Building a Business Case – How to achieve that Go/No-Go decision and avoid killing a project before it begins Problems are the driving force behind projects that demand business solutions. Company leadership recognizes this need and relies heavily upon cross-functional teams to study feasibility and determine if a business case can be developed. Management uses […]

  Read MoreRyan Courtney, MEM, PMPFeasibility / Industrial Automation Engineering / Manufacturing Operations Management / Process Design / Planning / Improvement /

• How an effective kickoff meeting sets the stage for a successful project

  How an effective kickoff meeting sets the stage for a successful project Getting the right people together to discuss the right topics is key to success An important part of any project – one that can sometimes be taken for granted — is the initial kickoff meeting. With nearly 40 years of project management experience, […]

  Read MoreRob GoldsmithIndustrial Automation Engineering / Kickoff Meetings / Manufacturing Operations Management / Manufacturing Process Control / Project Management / Management / Improvement /

• Design and Implementation is Product of Automation Life Cycle Planning

  Design and Implementation is Product of Automation Life Cycle Planning After creating the roadmap during the automation life cycle planning process, the next step in the journey is the design and implementation of the plan. For smaller systems the design and implementation stages of a system upgrade can take weeks or months and not all […]

  Read MoreTony FergusonAutomation Planning / Engineering Consulting Services / Industrial Automation Upgrades / Life Cycle / Maintenance / Manufacturing Operations Management / Pre-Engineering / Process Automation Engineering / Retrofit / System Upgrade / Improvement / Planning / Upgrade / Improvement / Upgrades /

• Understanding and Preventing Fault Masking

  Understanding and Preventing Fault Masking It’s critical that industrial machinery stops safely when a system fault occurs.  However, older safety systems and complex systems with multiple safety switches may be prone to fault masking. Fault masking is a dangerous condition in safety circuits.  It results from daisy chaining multiple safety devices in a safety circuit, […]

  Read MoreCarl Bohman, PEDaisy Chain / Fault Masking / Industrial Automation Engineering / OSSD / Safety Limit Switch / Safety Relay / Safety Switch / System Fault / Safety / Improvement / Upgrades /

• HTML5 is Here: What Industrial Manufacturers Need to Know

  HTML5 is Here: What Industrial Manufacturers Need to Know One of the newest technology buzzwords to penetrate the industrial manufacturing space is HTML5. HMI platforms are beginning to be based on HTML5. Analysis tools for MES, configuration software, and other products are touting their HTML5 compliance. HTML5 is getting a lot of attention. But what […]

  Read MoreEric Lauber, PEAutomation Integration / Automation Solutions / HTML5 / Industrial Automatoin Solutions / Manufacturing Operations Management / Manufacturing Process Control / Process Design / Upgrade / Improvement /

• 10 Best Practices of Preparing for a Machine Risk Assessment

  10 Best Practices of Preparing for a Machine Risk Assessment One of the best ways to promote manufacturing plant safety is a task-based machine risk assessment. But conducting an effective assessment requires taking plant personnel away from their jobs, sometimes for as long as 4-24 hours. This is by far the most common complaint about […]

  Read MoreTim Lemoine, PEIndustrial Automation Engineering / Industrial Plant Management / Industrial Plant Safety / Industrial Safety / Industrial Safety Service / Machine safety / Manufacturing Operations Management / Manufacturing Plant Safety / Risk Assessment / Safety / Improvement / Upgrades /

• What is a Task-Based Machine Risk Assessment?

  Task-based machine risk assessment is a proven, methodical tool to identify, assess, and document the hazards of operating machinery in an industrial plant. Learn how task-based machine risk assessment can improve safety in your facilities.

  Read MoreTim Lemoine, PEIndustrial Automation Engineering / Industrial Plant Management / Industrial Plant Safety / Industrial Safety / Industrial Safety Service / Machine safety / Manufacturing Operations Management / Manufacturing Plant Safety / Risk Assessment / Safety / Improvement / Upgrades /