PAS Musings

The ORIGINAL Alarm Management Company!

In several previous postings and our website, PAS is referenced as “The Alarm Management Authority” and “The Original Alarm Management Company”.

These claims were not made lightly and it now seems that some other company wishes to try and make this claim for themselves… 

Tsk, tsk – not only is this not nice, but also not true… 

Let’s set the record straight, shall we?

Back in 1996, PAS was the only company delivering alarm management software and services to rationalize and optimize existing alarm system configurations at customer sites with the goal of providing fewer and more meaningful alarms in time of need. 

We entered this business because customers found that the easy-to-configure alarm system functionality in their DCS systems was… well… just a bit too easy to do, resulting in too many alarms being configured, disabled or whatever.  The end result left the operator overwhelmed with alarms in periods of critical operation – just when he needed specific guidance and not 100+ alarms telling him the same thing.

This problem did not go unnoticed by others in the industry either – it’s just that they had alternative approaches, including electronic capture of alarms with printer port logging software as a means to reduce the paper output from the alarm printer. 

This was a great innovation at the time, since the DCS alarm printers were having a hard time keeping up with all those newly-configured alarms that were generated when things started to go bad in the plant.

But capturing data and actively doing something to improve the situation are two different things.

And now – in response to the wake-up of our marketing machine, publishing the authoritative book on the topic, and claiming our rightful position – now they want to re-classify electronic alarm “capture” as alarm ”management” so they can be first.

Nice try, guys, but let’s stick to the facts.

Alarm Management is about managing a situation, not just replacing a printer.  This is true today, and equally true back in 1996, 1994 or even 1990.

And that’s why PAS holds the title of “The Original Alarm Management Company”.  We were first to provide alarm management services and commercial alarm management software in 1996.  See my other posting on that…

I guess that’s why we “wrote the book” on Alarm Management.  

Our recently-published textbook is available on Amazon, the Emerson Delta-V bookshop, and soon to be distributed (or even republished?) by others in our industry as well.

Others may claim to be first for Alarm Data Capture, but we stand firm in our claim to the Original Alarm Management Company – supported by over a decade of both service and software offerings… and many satisfied customers.

Just thought I’d clear the air…

© Copyright PAS 2006.  No part of this blog is to be copied in full or in part without the express written permission of PAS; but references and web links are more than OK!

1-800-HOTEL-DOC Part II

In a previous blog, I wrote about my let’s-get-sick-while-on-the-road experience and how the toll-free remote doctor assistance sent me over to the local emergency room while away on business.

Well, I was back home on the weekend (part of my 100,000 mile commute) and came across the invoices from the medical care providers in that lovely city by the bay.

The total amount due just about sent me back to the hospital again – but this time with a heart attack!

Before I share the cost of my 4-hour emergency room visit, let’s re-visit the facts.

v     I arrived at 2:30 AM

v     I was seen by 1 doctor and 1 nurse

v     I was given some painkiller and anti-nausea drugs

v     I had an MRI to validate any doctor diagnosis

v     I was discharged at 6:30AM

All this treatment was a bit over the top, but remember that in America the doctor’s objectives are to (1) avoid any lawsuit, (2) minimize patient complaint, and (3) fix any problem – and probably in that order.  So the treatment I received was about as “by the book” as you can get.

Routine stuff – routine billing, right?

Not quite.

First, this west coast city is one of the highest-cost areas in the country for about anything.

Second, this country has the highest cost of health care in the world (as reported by The Economist and shown to the right).

So what was the total damage for this 4 hour visit?

Not $1,000.

Not even $2,000.

Why, even $4,000 would be a relative bargain.

$5,000 might pay for a tropical vacation, but would not be enough to cover this treatment.

And although $7,000 would pay 1-year’s tuition at most public universities in this country where university fees are already about the highest in the world, even that would not be enough.

$8,000 buys a car, but not a 4-hour emergency room visit.

No, the two invoices that I received so far – I say so far, because more may still be forthcoming – total to the princely sum of….

$8,195.98

No wonder health care consumes over 15% of GDP!!.

In this case, my insurance will probably receive and 80% trade discount and then I end up paying maybe 10% of the remainder – which translates to 2% of the total, or the much more manageable amount of $178.12.

My closing tip? 

Make sure your health care insurance premiums are paid in full.

Best User Conference Presentations

This blog is to report that the customer presentations are finally posted up on the website for download. 

Unfortunately, we don’t have any videos or recordings for viewing this time around (it was our very first time, after all!), but don’t hesitate to contact us or the presenter directly if you want to know more.

As for the actual presentations themselves, you might want to check out the presentation by Mr. Ian Nimmo of User-Centered Design Services! 

Ian is a top-notch speaker and he gave an especially moving presentation, the end of which had many in the audience moved to vow “never again”. 

If you’ve ever heard Ian speak, you’ll not be surprised that he took top honors as best speaker at the conference.  He’s in a league of his own and I recommend you try to catch him next time you see him on an agenda at any conference…

© Copyright PAS 2006.  No part of this blog is to be copied in full or in part without the express written permission of PAS; but references and web links are more than OK!

Amazon has it!

The Alarm Management Handbook recently published by PAS and first scooped on  this blog, is now available on Amazon.com by clicking this link.

Originally, the plan was to make the book available directly via our own website, but in the end the overhead associated with individual order processing and sales tax accounting nixed that idea.

But you still have two ways to get the book:

1)     buy it on Amazon.com

or

2)     negotiate to get yours as part of an alarm management project from PAS  (don’t tell your salesperson that I told you that!)

Either way, the book is worth more than its weight in gold (currently just $689 an ounce – far less than the value of well-functioning alarm management system).

Or get it now for $69.95 on Amazon and spare the gold.

Happy reading!

 

© Copyright PAS 2006.  No part of this blog is to be copied in full or in part without the express written permission of PAS; but references and web links are more than OK!

Users Conference II

I recently reported on the success of our inaugural Users Conference.

Reflecting on the success of our conference, I realize that I completely forgot to thank our customers (some shown to the left, others listed on our website or in the conference agenda)

Despite the wondrous works of our secret weapon, our customers are the ones who really made it successful – for even with the best organization, the conference would amount to nothing if it weren’t for them sharing their success stories. 

And it’s that kind of sharing that led more than one attendee to say:  “I’ve been to many conferences like this, and PAS’s was the most valuable I have ever attended.”

The conference had three themes that seemed to work well: 

           Share!   Learn!   and  Network!

Customers presenting at the conference were very generous to “Share!” their experiences with PAS solutions.  It was a great learning experience for me, too, as I tried to catch as many of the sessions as possible.  It was fascinating to see the wide variety of problems users solve using PAS’ products. 

And even more humbling was to “Learn!” how critical our solutions are to the day-to-day profitable operation of our customers’ plants.  Many customers gave great talks that helped me understand how they use our software to operate their plants, improve safety and drive up profits. 

And to be sure that we met the “Network!” objective, we took all the speakers, attendees and spouses out on a dinner cruise.  That was perfect as well - forced networking and socializing, avoided only by jumping overboard (which nobody did!). 

In short, lots of fun, lots of learning and enough sharing to make this the “best conference ever” for many attendees.

We’ll be hard-pressed to top that next year – even with our secret weapon!

© Copyright PAS 2006.  No part of this blog is to be copied in full or in part without the express written permission of PAS; but references and web links are more than OK!

Look Out World!

Another milestone at PAS! 

After some months of effort, we now have a complete business management team in place.

Tomorrow it will be 7 months to the day of my starting at PAS, and I am pleased.  Our global business leadership team is now complete!

We have a full complement of line-of-business managers for each of our key business areas:

>> Advanced Control & Optimization

>> Critical Condition / Alarm Management

>> Automation Asset Management

>> DCS Configuration Services

(growing but still with no web page of its own…)

We also now have a Marketing Manager to complement our secret weapon. 

This means that the marketing machine – which has only just warmed up with a book publication, users conference, and various other items – is ready to crank up to the next level and bring the good news of PAS solutions to all sorts of new customers hithertofore – don’t you love that word, it sounds so great! – unreached by PAS.   Our history of growing by word-of-mouth and localized sales activities is about to change in a big way.

And, of course, you’ll remember our recent hiring of Matrikon’s leading VP of Sales… 

Well, our senior sales exec is booked solid strengthening the sales force to deliver some serious benefit to those customers in the many sectors hithertofore lacking the privilege of using our solutions.

Put it all together and the PAS business is going to be just like one of those little foam pills that I wrote about recently– just add water and **POOF!** – instant success!

Yes sir, the +52% growth rate of 2006 is becoming ancient history – real fast!

Stay tuned…

© Copyright PAS 2006.  No part of this blog is to be copied in full or in part without the express written permission of PAS; but references and web links are more than OK!

1-800-HOTEL-DOC

Well, it used to be 1-800-Hotel-Doc.  After falling ill while on the road last week, I discovered that they changed their number. 

Of course, none of this happens, until after you give them your credit card number.

Still the same great 24x7 service, though – you call the number and a doctor calls you back and then comes charging over to your hotel room to check you out and administer whatever drugs he deems necessary.

This time, though, the doctor said my symptoms dictated that I needed to get over to an emergency room.  So at 2:24 AM – right around the time college students go to bed – I got dressed and hauled my carcass down to the hotel lobby to catch a cab. Was mindful enough to even take along my phone so I might call home in case it got bad (or do emails in case it got boring!).

The cab driver, whom I thought might be happy to see anyone at that time of night, did nothing but complain. Such a short fare, he says, and after waiting 2 hours to make it to the front of the cab line too. Seems quite like an ungrateful fellow, I think.

About a $5 cab fare later, I get to the hospital, doubled over in pain from his rather rough (retaliatory?) cab ride, only to find that I left my wallet in my hotel room. And no way was I going back in my condition, so I offered the cabbie $20, if he would be so kind as to write his address down for me.

And what was his reply? 

“I waited #@&* hours for this!!  I am calling the police!!!

Go ahead I said, as I stumbled out of the cab, hoping not to get run down…

Well, to make a long story short, I got inspected, poked, IV’d, drugged, prodded and given some ambiguous diagnoses about possible appendicitis, small kidney stone, flu and whatever and released to the street (without my wallet) at 6:43 AM. 

What a great medical system we have!  Even better though is the way God designed my body to deal with such systems!

Feeling somewhat better, I followed the doctor’s advice to get home and rest.

Once back home and having rested a day, I put in a special-purpose visit over and above my weekly round to the chiropractor. (Been doing that for a couple of years now with the whole family – probably the best preventative care you can get, since it keeps all those brain-to-organ communications flowing as best as possible – but that’s a whole other story…)

So what did my chiropractor say?

“Drink a 6-pack of Classic Coke a day for the next 3 days. Guaranteed to dissolve all kidney stones and minimize any related discomfort.”

My kind of doctor!

OK enough said.  Time for me to grab another coke…

© Copyright PAS 2006.  No part of this blog is to be copied in full or in part without the express written permission of PAS; but references and web links are more than OK!

Apple, then Google

The numbers are out.  BusinessWeek recently ranked Apple as the #1 innovative company in the world. 

   

We like that.

   

At PAS, we have used the iPod as an example to follow in our industry as of late.  I’ve referenced it in the blog and made it a focal point at our Users Conference.

   

But we also like #2 on the BusinessWeek list of innovators: Google.

   

If you think Google is still just a search engine company, look again. 

   

In the last 12-18 months, Google has rolled out a long list of impressive new web based applications.  Some, they’ve developed on their own.  Some they’ve acquired.  Check out the “more >>” link at the top of the Google search page to see some of these, including Google News, Froogle, Gmail, Google Earth, Maps,  Desktop, Calendar and more.

   

Google clearly holds simplicity and innovation in the same high esteem as Apple. 

   

For example, Google’s Gmail application beats out all other web- based email offerings and even many client-based email applications.  It is simple and highly functional – all in a browser-based mail client.  And, it’s not just simplicity at work here.  Google has made truly innovative use of core technologies, primarily AJAX, is playing a very important behind-the-scenes role.   

   

Why should we all be paying attention? 

   

Because customers tell us they want web access.  And we want to listen to customers.

   

Some time ago, we debated the web-based vs. no-touch windows deployment approaches.  There are still advantages for each approach, but the web approach looks to win out with each Google innovation….

   

iPods might be nice, but there is more long-term value in what Google is doing for the applications in our industry.

   

Our applications may already have much in common with Google, but I think we can still learn more – and bring even more benefit to customers…

   

© Copyright PAS 2006.  No part of this blog is to be copied in full or in part without the express written permission of PAS; but references and web links are more than OK!