Tips to Design Engineers:

Machine Controls for the Next Millennium

by Thomas B. Bullock

Think mass customization.
Ask yourself, "How can I design my machines and controls to mass produce one-of-a-kind products?" This is the culmination of the major move toward flexibility in manufacturing.

Recognize the power of the Internet.

Embedded web servers will revolutionize the way one keeps in touch with the plant floor. They will allow remote monitoring, diagnosing and changes. For those engineers whose presence is critical should a problem occur, embedded web servers will allow them to accomplish from Acapulco what they now do at the control.

Learn more about servos.
Servos are critical to flexible automation of machines that now position from limit switches or other on/off type devices. They offer unlimited positions and speeds.

Software is king.
The building of hardware is becoming more and more automated, just as farming has been for many years. Despite the fact that the U.S. is the greatest exporter of agricultural goods in the world, employment in agriculture has fallen from 70% of the work force in 1850 to 2.4% today due to automation. This pattern is now being experienced in manufacturing; software is what will get the job done in the next 50 years.

Computers are here to stay. Learn them and work with them every chance you get. Don't look at them as the enemy, but as the knowledge worker's tool of the future. Get a PC and use it!

Move toward distributed control.

Networking will dramatically cut wiring costs and complexity while increasing communication at all levels.

Encourage the use of intelligent peripherals, including motor drives.

The closer you get to the device you are controlling, the more knowledge exists about that device. For instance, with motor drives, who knows best how to automatically tune them, diagnose them, extract information from them? The answer is the drive and motor manufacturers themselves.

Recognize the increase in SystemsIntegrators.
OEMs are outsourcing more and more of their engineering because they cannot afford to keep a staff of people who know how to integrate all the various technologies. Become a systems integrator if you see your engineering job disappearing.

Keep your options open and your resume attractive. Loyalty and long term service to a company are giving way to mobility and opportunity.

Buy low and sell high!

Tom Bullock is president of Bull's Eye Marketing, Inc. and its Industrial Controls Consulting (ICC) division. Bull's Eye provides strategic planning, market research and sales and marketing planning in the business-to-business arena. ICC does general servo training and motion control consulting. Tom spent 31 years in industry before forming this company in 1990.

For more information, contact Bull's Eye Marketing Inc, 104 S Main St, Ste 320,
Fond du Lac, WI 54935. 920-929-6544.
Circle 727.