Sunday, June 8, 2008

The power of the people

I find myself frequently trying to convince industrial professionals to be active in their communities! Besides trade shows, I'm referring to forums. Specifically, MrPLC and PLCTalk. If you're not registered, go there! If you're not active - post a few. Try it, it's addictive!

In this case a member got a little voting help for a free home makeover. His place looked pretty bad and he deserved it, but it was the PLCTalk folks that made it happen.

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=38863

2 comments:

eGen Team Blog said...

Hey Nathan, was wondering are there any noted forums/discussion groups/blogs for specifically MES solutions?
Vipul Shah
http://www.egenietech.com
vipul@egenietech.com

Nathan Boeger said...

I do spend time looking and haven't really found much that addresses what you're looking for. You have the general forums where some people have experience. Control.com probably has the most technical users, who'll tend to push Linux and rolling your own applications. You have each vendors specific product area - like the Inductive Automation Forum. There are industry mags that fight for legitimacy with directories and articles (links below). The above mentioned general PLC forums (mrplc.com, plctalk.com) are an appropriate area for discussion, but you'll find limited experience in that area compared to their vast "plant floor" knowledge.

I have links to the "best industrial bloggers" that I've found. To answer your question - I have not found any really good consolidated resources on MES solutions. Lots of bits and pieces that indicate the emerging need, but the legwork seems to fall on the person who implements it - regardless of vendor or industry.

My $.02 - I'd love to be corrected with good links.

http://prod.managingautomation.com/knowledgecenter.aspx?channel=147868

http://www.automation.com/suppliers/automation-product-manufacturers/product-category/manufacturing-execution-systems-mes-software

http://resource.controleng.com/article/CA6547255.html