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Message from the CEO

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Posted on behalf of Jose Rivera, CEO of the Control System Integrators Association. By Jose Rivera The situation we are facing is unprecedented and of epic proportions. I write this article during the “shelter in place” ordered by the governor of our state (Illinois), just like many other states and countries have done or will be doing soon. My wife and I had already been working from home for the past several years and adjusted to it. We have now added two young kids, who are receiving their education remotely for the rest of the school year. The “shelter in place” is set to last until April 7 , 2020. I personally expect it to be extended and am ...
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With Spring in-person events getting cancelled and/or postponed (thanks COVID-19!), it’s more important than ever to ensure your digital presence is rock solid. Because with fewer F2F opportunities, potential buyers will double down on their online research efforts. Bang head here But if I’m going to be honest, I have to admit that, even in business-as-usual times, a little part of me dies any time I hear about a company passing up the opportunities available via the Industrial Automation Exchange. (As a side note, if you are a CSIA member, you automatically get an upgrade to Bronze level , so for the love of baby Yoda , please, at the very least make ...
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Here is his story in his own words. Possibly, to loud applause, Diana and I are retiring back to England, hidden within the town of Chipping Norton. If you want to visit and can find us, you will be very welcome. Some 50 years in the insurance industry does not encourage honesty. I have been asked to write a few words regarding my very happy 20 years working with the CSIA membership. I started work in July 1964 and happened upon insurance in 1965. The National Employers Mutual had decided to centralize their claims departments and employed around 50 of us to work in the new department. Meanwhile, apart from creating and betting on the results of a very large ...
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By Jose M. Rivera As I have done for many years, dating back to my days at Schneider Electric, I attended the ARC Forum in Orlando, Florida, in February along with over 800 attendees. This event attracts many end users who are very open to sharing their views through presentations, panel participation and direct interaction in the multiple provided networking opportunities. ARC works to remain relevant in a changing market. The targeted audience has evolved from their traditional process automation group to much broader automation (discrete and all what goes in it these days like AI, cybersecurity, digital twin, etc.) and, in recent years, also smart cities. ...
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By Jose Rivera and Jim Campbell Benchmarking is critical for the success of any company or organization, including those of system integrators. That’s why CSIA has historically offered its members essential SI benchmarking programs that are not available anywhere else -- CSIA Pulse, Salary Survey and EZ Stats. CSIA is committed to evolving and improving these programs while continuing to ensure data confidentiality. To that end, here are some important updates to these valuable member programs. CSIA Pulse Pulse and its predecessor program (KPICs) have provided participating SIs with quantitative benchmarks on SI company KPIs. Through dedicated work, ...
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Effective January 2019 the automation team of Pieper Electric, Inc. will be branded as Pieper Automation. The change reflects the exponential growth and strength of the division, while effectively identifying the group’s capabilities. In 2016, the automation division doubled in size when Pieper Electric, Inc. acquired HiTech Control Systems and HiTech Manufacturing Solutions. The division is now one of the largest automation integrators in the Midwest, boasting a team of over 100 professionals - and still growing. Today Pieper Automation is a leading automation integrator, headquartered in New Berlin, WI with offices in Neenah, WI and Green Bay, WI. ...
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The convergence of Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT) systems may help manufacturers embrace new service offerings using web-based business models. Many years ago one of my distributor partners took me to do an automation demo for a very large industrial OEM. Afterward we went into a stockroom, where she noted on a clipboard all the components she supplied to them that needed to be re-ordered. The form was dropped into the inbox of a Purchasing Agent on our way out. Increased business intelligence This memory came back into my mind as I was thinking about new business models for manufacturers that may result from the Industrial ...
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Hello from the CSIA Board of Directors! It has been a busy quarter, with lots of buzz after the wonderful annual Executive Conference in San Francisco! For those of you who were able to attend, it was a pleasure meeting many of you in person. And, I hope you found it very informative and were able to take some ideas home to better your business. What a great venue we had this year to hold the conference and you came out in record numbers! Thank you for your support in attending, and I hope you mark your calendars for next year now, so you can attend again in 2019. The dates are April 30 - May 3 in Asheville, North Carolina. The board and Jose have been very ...
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CSIA offers its members a unique insurance program that combines professional liability insurance coverage with general liability coverage in a single insurance policy. This combination presents a number of benefits to system integrators. One of those benefits is that it avoids an expensive coverage fight between two insurance companies over whether a claim should be covered under a professional liability policy or a general liability policy. One consequence of combining the two coverages into a single policy is that the policy has two different coverage bases, as the professional liability portion of the policy covers losses on a claims made basis and the general ...
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Felicitamos a Kamati Ltda de Colombia por recibir la Certificación CSIA. Representan la quinta empresa certificada que gana la distinción en la región. ¡Felicidades de nuevo! Nuestros socios y miembros continúan apoyando nuestros esfuerzos de crecimiento en América Latina. El 5 de junio, tuvimos nuestro evento Q2 patrocinado por Bosch Rexroth, con una asistencia de 24 personas de 14 compañías de integración diferentes. Tuvimos un gran panel de discusión liderado por Roberto de Hoyos y Ricardo Vázquez, Directores de Proyecto para Gersa y ECN, dos de nuestros integradores certificados en México. Los expertos impartieron una presentación interactiva sobre Project ...
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We congratulate Kamati Ltda from Colombia for receiving the CSIA Certification. They are the fifth Certified company earning the distinction in the region. Congratulations, again! Our partners and members continue to support our growth efforts in Latin America. On June 5th, we had our Q2 event sponsored by Bosch Rexroth, with an attendance of 24 people from 14 different integration companies. We had a great discussion panel led by Roberto de Hoyos and Ricardo Vázquez, Project Directors for Gersa and ECN, two of our Certified integrators in Mexico. They made an interactive presentation on Project Management, involving the audience and sharing their own experiences. ...
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I would like to share my thoughts on our most recent Executive Conference, now that I’ve had several weeks to reflect on it. San Francisco is a very special city and a very desirable destination for many of our members, as indicated by the input we have received over the years through surveys and conversations with members. This year we were finally able to make it happen. I admit that I was a little concerned because San Francisco is an expensive location. I was afraid that this could impact attendance. However, I was proven wrong, and the 2018 Executive Conference was a resounding record breaker, with 599 participants, 61 more than our previous record set in ...
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One of the takeaways from Lessons From Touching a Hot Stove: Legal Edition , a webinar Brian Clifford and I recently did for CSIA, was the importance of sanitizing your employees’ e-mails. Integrators, as technically-minded as they are, typically don't think much about the effect of their correspondence until they find themselves on the business end of, say, a subpoena. But, like all lawyers, I like to be on the winning side—and what my automation clients put down in their e-mails can greatly affect whether a win (however you define that term) is even possible. Here, in a nutshell, is the issue. Because what people are saying in correspondence and memos ...
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This is the second in a three-part series on the imperative and value-add opportunity for system integrators to add cybersecurity to their toolkits when servicing the industrial and manufacturing sectors. Industrial control systems (ICS) are central to the operation of mission-critical infrastructure such as energy and utilities. Yet the increasingly complex and interconnected nature of today's ICS has rendered them vulnerable to malicious attackers who seek to compromise them for political and economic gain. However, as we discussed in the first article in this series, very few SIs are integrating cybersecurity into their offerings even though doing ...
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This is the third in a three part series on Mergers and Acquisitions topics addressing the Control System Integrators Market. Read part 1 | Read part 2 When an owner is ready to begin the sales process of a system integration firm, there are a number of pieces that need to successfully come together. In order for a company sale to occur, it is important for the owner and advisors to jointly manage the sale process. By doing so, the outcome is more likely to be orderly, smooth and lucrative for the business owner. Buyer types The advisor and the seller of a company need to determine what objectives, goals and potential buyer profiles look like early ...
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Thanks for taking the time to be interviewed. Now you should promote your interview! Here are some ways to promote your episode. Even if you've already promoted it, you can and should promote more than once, even a year from now! In other words, your episode can provide a lot of mileage. Send this plan to your marketing person to assist you. Post on your Exchange Profile via "updates" Embed on your website’s Partners/Media page Visit the “ </> ” button to access the embed code from your episode or YouTube Video. Listen, summarize and write a blog article about your interview Post on your company LinkedIn and personal LinkedIn Tag ...
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In 2012, CSIA launched its interactive Connected Community website, controlsys.org. It gave CSIA members the unprecedented opportunity to connect with one another online, search for peers in the online directory, access tools and documents from online libraries, and build discussions in both the Open Forum and a multitude of sub-communities. Today, CSIA has over a dozen online communities including those for Certified members, Committees and Best Practices Training. There are 3,700 active members on the site, 3,476 discussion posts and 229 library entries. While much of this activity is done on the computer, we know that CSIA members connect with colleagues ...
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Someone hacks into your system. They encrypt your data and hold it for ransom. You pay the ransom to minimize the disruption to your business. They then provide the key to unlock their hold on your data so you can resume operations. Cyber breaches hit the news daily. While we all focus on the privacy liabilities associated with the cyber breach, there is less focus on our own loss. We are not fully aware of the potentially uninsured costs associated with the breach. The time, resources, expense and lost opportunity costs spent can be significant. In the above scenario: Do you have coverage for the ransom that was paid? How quickly do they provide the ...
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Integrators Alliance Automation Mdjimba, QLD Australia Aqua Sierra Controls, Inc. Auburn, CA Automatizacion Avanzada S.A . San Jose, Costa Rica Avanceon Ltd - Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan BSI Engineering Cincinnati, OH Central Process Engineering Wixom, MI Descon Lahore, Pakistan Digilogic Systems Pvt Ltd Hyderabad, India Fitch Company Bangor, ME Fremont, CA Green Industrial Solutions (Pvt) Ltd Lahore, Pakistan MCC Controls Hamilton, ON Canada NV Tecnologias Grecia, Costa Rica Panelmatic Inc. Piedmont, SC Vire Control Systems, LLC Clarksville, AR Western States Controls Martinez, CA Xenon, Inc. ...
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It’s here, the revisions are done, the pilots are complete and the feedback has been incorporated – Best Practices and Benchmarks Manual Version 5.0 is ready for its final release later this month. It’s been a long journey but a worthwhile one. One of the best practices in any endeavor is a continuous review and improvement process, and CSIA’s Best Practices and Benchmarks Manual is no different. Many people put in a lot of hours and were instrumental in the revisions and new material development, notably the members of the Best Practices Committee, the auditors, our vendor partners and our clients. Once V5.0 is released later this month, the team will begin ...
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