« July 2007 | Main | September 2007 »

August 2007

Alarm Management... just like Baseball

Craig Biggio, Houston Astros baseball player, recently achieved his 3000 hit.  His hustle and determination to win is obvious when you watch him play.  But those traitsCraig_biggio_astros  are not what led to his milestone… 

Exercise, training, diet, and focus over many years put Biggio in a position to reach his goal.

And that required commitment to his goal and years of perseverance to the regimen needed to achieve that goal.

The same is true for the health and safety goals at a operating plant. 

A commitment to these goals requires perseverance in the areas of operator effectiveness, equipment health, work processes, and more.

An effective alarm management is one important part of that regimen.

But like Craig’s dedication to training and diet, effective alarm management is a process, not an event. 

In fact, alarm management is one of the most important components to help the improve operator effectiveness, and helps prevent the tragic loss of life such as we have seen in the industry – even in recent years.

So is alarm management software like baseball? 

Not exactly.  But for every lesson in life, there is an analogy in baseball. 

And in this case, commitment and perseverance that make a difference.

Just as Craig would not have achieved his record without focus on all the key aspects of his training regimen, no plant will achieve their best health and safety goals without some focus on alarm management.

And like baseball, its all about the statistics – beginning with the number of alarms per hour per operator.

Alarmmgmtscreenshot200px What are the statistics for your plant? 

You can’t afford not to know.

Especially when finding out can take less than 2 hours of your time.

Want to know more?  Contact us and we’ll run the numbers for you.

Commitment, dedication and statistics.

Just like baseball.

© Copyright PAS 2007.  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!

Unemployment = Good News!

Happyretirement My wife joined the ranks of the unemployed this weekend as our youngest went off to university.

She's now a former stay-at-home career Mom with the question of "What's next?".

But there’s two pieces of really good news in this message of unemployment….

1) My wife will join me in Houston and end my 100,000 mile commute.

2) My daughter is on a path to join the industry as a chemical engineer

Last year, I posted an entry called “The Mathematics of Integrity” which touched on the looming and even-greater shortage of engineers than we face today and how the PAS Integrity software might help ease the pain…

Erikaugust2007_3 I also posted an entry called “Grandfatherhood & the Retirement Wave” which touched on the same topics and opportunities ahead for grandson, Erik – who’s just turning 1 this month but still has some 20 years to go before he can help solve the world’s engineer crisis.

But today, I am honored that the last of my 4 children is entering university to study engineering – chemical engineering just like the old man at that!

The world desperately needs many more kids to study engineering…

So how is it that my youngest chose to study engineering? 

Was I such a good example?  (No)

Thinking back, it was likely that conversation we had one day about what subjects she liked and did well at in high school (Math & Science), and which ones she would prefer not to do more of (English & History).

And then when she found out that most engineering programs are so packed full of math and science that there is little room for the “softer” studies,Collegegirl the deal was done and “engineering” started appearing on her college applications.

So off she goes to college – to do her bit to solve a problem that she may not even know about.

Hopefully, most of her class will stick with it so that the industry can welcome them aboard in 4 years…

Stay tuned!

Until then, it’s up to the leaders of our industry to start doing something to help solve the problem and not just talk about it….

Any suggestions?  Email me…

And if unemployment in our industry becomes a reality, not because of the economy, but because there are too many young graduates, then we’ll really say…

“Unemployment = Good News!”

© Copyright PAS 2007.  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!

Power Market Leadership II

Earlier this year, I shared our surge into the power market with a competitive victory Growtharrow at Ameren, displacing embedded competitive technology with the PAS Alarm Management Solution.

That was big news and just the tip of the iceberg.

Click here to read that posting.

Now some 6 months later, there’s more big news and more success.

Our success in the power industry has continued since the Ameren win, and to help ensure its continued growth, we’re setting up a Power Industry Center of Excellence.

Right next to our new favorite power industry customer, Ameren, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Powerplant And we’re seeding our new Center of Excellence with five leading experts – all of whom are intimately familiar with the power industry, power industry software solutions, alarm management, etc., etc. – all the skills we dream of finding in key employees.

These 5 new hires have worked together for years as a core team of experts in power. And I’m pleased and flattered that they’re now joining PAS en masse. 

Wow!  What a beautiful day!

A new office.

A Center of Excellence.

A happy customer and ideal reference site.

And a growing business in a surging power market.

© Copyright PAS 2007.  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!

Like I wrote last week, PAS is Hot! And our efforts are paying off big time.

For those of you wanting more details, come back next week and visit our website to read the press release – it comes out on Monday, August 20.

PAS is HOT!!

Our efforts are paying off. 

Big time…

In addition to our solid business growth, check out the increased dialog by independent third parties on PAS…

Last week…

Isalogo…the ISA posted a web seminar called “Highly Effective Alarm Management: The Seven Steps” on their website.   The ISA hosted this web seminar specially to promote the ISA text on Alarm Management by PAS’ own Bill Hollifield and Eddie Habibi.

Click here or go to www.isa.org/websem.cfm?id=8970 to attend a recorded version of the web seminar. Haven’t’ yet seen the ISA Alarm Management book?  Click here to see it.

The week before last…

Arclogosmall …Industry-leading analysts ARC Advisory Group posted a podcast called “Automation Configuration Management Risks and Benefits”.  This podcast highlights the importance of the Integrity software from PAS to plant reliability and safety – something we’ve been preaching for a while now, so it’s really pleasing to see this message get picked up.

Click here or go to www.arcweb.com/C17/Podcasts/default.aspx to hear a recorded version of the podcast.

A few weeks ago…

…ARC posted a web survey on Automation Configuration Management.  The survey is helping ARC incorporate customer opinion into their research.  If you haven’t taken this yet, click here to help set industry direction.  Shouldn’t take you more than 5-10 minutes…

And before that…

5star …The unsolicited Amazon reviews keep coming in.  The PAS publication on Alarm Management continues to be a best-seller and draw in positive feedback.  Check out the latest from Bob Blackwood, whose company just bought 40 copies of the book.

And for every 5-star review from a guy like Bob, there are 99 more just like it left unwritten.  Click here to read Bob’s review.  I especially love how their provision of the book to “the boardroom, control room, SCADA backroom, and field technicians.”

Still haven’t bought a copy of THE BOOK for yourself – click here to get one now!

PAS is hot! 

And we are making an impact – just like Bob says – from the backroom to the boardroom!

If you have any doubt about our progress – just watch our website and this blog over the coming weeks!

© Copyright PAS 2007.  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!