Bill

Results of a just-released global study highlight several weak areas in the on-the-job application of learning, and provide suggestions for improvement. To read the results visit: Manufacturing Automation/Advanced Manufacturing

I believe its a cultural thing. I have met many Chinese people in my travels, and it is unfortunate that there are “some” that believe pirating software is a “fair game”. A game where the other guy “must always lose”. I don’t know any other company that has influenced my business, any more than Microsoft. To that end, I have no problem paying a fair price for software and consider this a “fair game”.

With regards to comments others have made on PHYSORG about “buggy” software, I would suggest their opinion is completely obscure. Please consider the millions of lines of code executing, influencing low level hardware, and the dependency on hardware across a variety of brands. I’m certain you’re smart enough to realize that due to vast amounts of “process variables” both software/hardware, its not unusual to see “any” OS crash, when the hardware environment is continually changing and out of the “compliance” framework of the software vendor.

Alekz Tumbir I happened to land on his photography blog through Empire Avenue since I signed up in the photography interest group and i was amazed with this particular photo. Looking at this photo it touched me, it brought back memories when I was a child (long time ago), I grew up let’s say in less than ideal circumstances. I was poor and innocent, and often wondered what the future will bring for me.

Thanks Alekz

A worker performs the usual lockout, and opens an access door reaching inside to do some cleaning on a rotating roller. It all sounds normal so far, however it takes time for machinery to come to a complete “safe stop” maybe one, two or even three or more seconds. In this case, the worker followed proper lockout procedures and continued by reaching in the “hazard envelope” while the machine was coasting to a stop. The worker’s hand was caught by the roller and drawn into the machine, causing serious injury.

A couple of reminders for all: A) We must ensure that as part of our documentation for lockout procedures, workers LOCKOUT & TEST to ensure ALL ENERGY SOURCES are isolated, and to ensure ZERO MOTION in order to safely perform the task and B) Consider STOP MOTION SENSORS, to ensure NO MOTION prior to engaging in any activity.

The verdict: The company pleaded guilty, as an employer, for failing to ensure that the rotating roller was cleaned or adjusted only when motion that may endanger a worker had been stopped. The judge imposed the fine and in addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-percent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Ontario Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

Please be safe…

Westlane Secondary School in Niagara Falls, Ontario, is the first high school to use 3D simulation to engage high school students and bring closer to industrial automation. This new initiative by the Niagara District School Board along with Real Games ITS PLC 3D simulation engine and a simulator designed by “yours truly”, creates a new opportunity to introduce secondary school students to the automation field.

Visit MA/AM magazine to read the article.

Hisham Serry of KCC asked this very interesting question the other day. The short answer is yes, however the success rate depends on many different factors. Attitude is a complex trait, a mental position if you like that is driven primarily by chemistry, feelings, dispositions and so on. This complex trait is dynamic, very fluid and alive, and since I believe that “nothing alive can be calculated” I would say it is possible for some people (very few from my experience) to change attitudes, impossible for others.

Bill

Some people may envy those of us who have, and continue to travel all over the world. Well, it can be fun but traveling is unpredictable and frustrating at times especially when flights get delayed.

From a business perspective it was a productive trip, but the traveler (that’s me) was worn out by the time I got home and took me almost one week to recover. From start to finish, this trip felt amazingly complex and very tiring. Flight delays (more than one), missed flights, making a Boing 777 full of people wait for me (I felt so embarrassed getting on board, while all the passengers were clapping and shouting to celebrate my arrival), lost baggage, having to make a presentation wearing a tired old pair of jeans, a sweaty Polo shirt and dockers without socks, to being stuck on a major Chinese freeway for a few hours on a very hot and humid day, to rescuing baby ducklings, to making a brief speech in a park,  all the way to arriving in NY to find out that I missed the last flight to Toronto and the airline (shall remain anonymous) that was supposed to be prepared to accommodate all connecting passengers was trying to figure out which hotel chain they actually had agreements in place so we can safely be transported to our hotels and rest for 1 hour and return back to the airport for the last flight home. I don’t know how many times I went from the bus terminal to the airline counter that night, all this while talking to a university student in St. Louis trying to assure him that “I will take care of his mom and dad” and see that they are put on the next flight to St. Louis in the morning because they they spoke NO English.

I didn’t lose my cool, just went along with the flow and actually met some nice people. Many thanks to those that helped me and those that tried to help me along the way, especially the folks at the YALONG SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY GROUP in Wenzhou whom we have now become the exclusive distributors for all their training products in Canada, US and Mexico.

Visit Manufacturing Automation/Advanced Manufacturing magazine and watch a brief video on “Confusion surrounding machine safety standards“. This topic has been misunderstood and not always taken seriously. Canadian manufacturers must take it seriously to ensure compliance, of face legal consequences.

Once again, I had the pleasure of getting together with members of the MA-AM advisory board (Manufacturing Automation - Advanced Manufacturing) for another great round table discussion. We do this at least once every year, and it is a great venue to learn, vent some frustrations and discuss the challenges facing our Canadian manufacturers. This year was no exception. Our discussions were fun, engaging and at times loud to say the least.

We chatted about a great deal of issues, exchanged a lot of ideas but sorry I can’t “let the cat out of the bag” yet… It would be better if you visit the MA-AM site to get the whole scoop. The June issue is in print production now, and soon you will be able to read it on line as well, and of course watch “candid” video snippets of our conversations.

Enjoy,
Bill