Automation education
Everything starts with education. Consider training in the US: there are excellent engineering classes, supported by local and state schools, colleges and universities. However, after graduating, engineers do not get more respect; there are no immediate high-paying jobs, no new exciting openings that develop than were available before their training.
It is evident that ISA's 'Certified Automation Engineer' does not mean any additional status or pay. Till that is corrected, the problem remains. One of the initiatives Dick Morley is working on is linking automation training with the education at MIT, Cal Tech and other well-known education centres, to derive additional status. This would have the advantage of being 'brand connected', and will eventually bring more status, and correspondingly higher compensation.
The lack of interest is that there is no money at the end of the engineering rainbow, as perceived by the student; there are no adequate teachers as perceived by the university; there is just no fun, no money and no reward for either the instructors or the students.
Talent and innovation
Just two things are left in the US - talent and innovation. These should be encouraged, stimulated and rewarded. The solution is to encourage entrepreneurship and talent to thrive in the manufacturing sector. Today, innovation only costs money and has no reward. The recent law suits on intellectual property, and the perceived ideas of openness, have certainly dimmed the inventiveness of many of the innovative people.
It is significant that science and engineering professionals are dangerously absent from all levels of policy and decision-making in the US. Somehow, we have allowed lawyers and professional politicos to take over everything by default. As a result, government is manipulated by lobbying interests and the business climate becomes a political football. Among other ills, this has become a direct threat to our jobs and innovation tendencies.
The short-term financial mind-set must change. Business needs to realise that continual quarter-to-quarter increases in revenue and profits cannot be sustained with manipulation of work that is done elsewhere. Wall Street must stop manipulating company value by demanding short-term, quarterly financial performance. The media covers high paying jobs, seldom paying attention to society contributions.
Losing the knowledge base
In part as a result of the rapid dissemination of technical information via the Web, the knowledge base that was once the advantage in the US and Europe is being lost. In many, large end-user companies long-term process experts and instrumentation engineers, with deep and intimate knowledge of key equipment and processes, have been eliminated and have become 'independent contractors', available to competitors in the US and worldwide. The proprietary edge is frittered away, a casualty of short-term financial thinking.
At this stage, recognising the need for engineering expertise to keep equipment and processes up-to-date, some end-user companies have partnered with major automation suppliers to take complete responsibility for all automation systems. It seems like a mutually beneficial arrangement.
But, this raises many questions: how do you choose the primary automation vendor/partner? Simply select one of the major automation suppliers (from a handful of global contenders) and exclude bright, up-and-coming companies? Abandon the multitude of system integrators and other significant suppliers of materials, instruments and equipment, to rely solely on one source? Will the relationship be profit based, or on a cost-plus basis? After settling on a primary supplier, internal engineering talent soon becomes non-existent; so, who will negotiate upgrades and contract changes? If the selected automation supplier flounders financially, how will the situation be corrected?
Competitive differentiation
Think on this: quality, price and availability are all becoming commodities in the fast-moving new global business environment. To succeed, you need a competitive differentiator - the proprietary edge. And this cannot come through short-term 'consultants'. It can only be developed by consistent, long-term investments in people and leadership. It requires sustained development budgets for automated processes and plant equipment - which requires strong and committed in-house engineering talent.
Jim Pinto is an industry analyst and commentator, writer, technology futurist and angel investor. His popular e-mail newsletter, JimPinto.com eNews, is widely read (with direct circulation of about 7000 and web-readership of two to three times that number). His areas of interest are technology futures, marketing and business strategies for a fast-changing environment, and industrial automation with a slant towards technology trends.
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