J
This term was recently used by a contributor to the list.
As an employee of two different integrators for over 7 years, I'd like to respond, as to what causes these things.
First of all, this term might be used in relation to the perceived cost of assembling a control system. Rather than go on and on about what things cost, lets just say that the integrator is generally powerless to control the cost of ANYTHING in a control system. Customers and end users are making ALL the big decisions about the
really high cost components of a control system. The PLC, MMI, Inverters, and even operator interface devices (pushbuttons). At this point in the project, the words, "Can't we save a little money by substituting components?" ring a
little weak.
Another reference to the subject term might be those things in a project that cause the end result to be less than successful. The cause of these things can usually be traced,
('blamesmanship'), and, sadly, the best guy to blame is the guy who is not in the meeting. Integrators become the whipping boys for poorly executed projects, sometimes out of political
posturing.
Finally, the mentioned headaches are sometimes self-inflicted. When an integrator says "In my experience...", he's actually applying the knowledge that caused the end user to go to
him in the first place. Instead of a listening ear, this phrase is generally answered with a string of things that, to us integrators, sound a little self-serving. Believe it on not,
regardless of how much time you've wasted generating a stack of programming directions for us, at the end of the day, 1 + 1 still equals 2. The rules of physics are not suspended in your plant, just because you want them to be.
We (integrators) may not be experts at the process of doing whatever processing the end user is doing, but one thing we sure do know is that TTL is different from mADC. Please understand
that when you say "All <whatevers> should be made by <however>", that you are limiting the technology used to solve your problems, and the solution will be limited to the capability of the best-of-breed within the family of 'things' YOU'VE specified.
Finally, we have to talk about time. When drawings take 2 weeks to get approved, whose time just got used up? That's right
I know these words will fall on deaf ears, and also find others cheering. Regardless, until something DOES change, the integrators will ALWAYS be the bad guys. ('Last one to touch it wins')
Jeffrey D. Brandt
[email protected]
http://users.supernet.com/jdbrandt/
As an employee of two different integrators for over 7 years, I'd like to respond, as to what causes these things.
First of all, this term might be used in relation to the perceived cost of assembling a control system. Rather than go on and on about what things cost, lets just say that the integrator is generally powerless to control the cost of ANYTHING in a control system. Customers and end users are making ALL the big decisions about the
really high cost components of a control system. The PLC, MMI, Inverters, and even operator interface devices (pushbuttons). At this point in the project, the words, "Can't we save a little money by substituting components?" ring a
little weak.
Another reference to the subject term might be those things in a project that cause the end result to be less than successful. The cause of these things can usually be traced,
('blamesmanship'), and, sadly, the best guy to blame is the guy who is not in the meeting. Integrators become the whipping boys for poorly executed projects, sometimes out of political
posturing.
Finally, the mentioned headaches are sometimes self-inflicted. When an integrator says "In my experience...", he's actually applying the knowledge that caused the end user to go to
him in the first place. Instead of a listening ear, this phrase is generally answered with a string of things that, to us integrators, sound a little self-serving. Believe it on not,
regardless of how much time you've wasted generating a stack of programming directions for us, at the end of the day, 1 + 1 still equals 2. The rules of physics are not suspended in your plant, just because you want them to be.
We (integrators) may not be experts at the process of doing whatever processing the end user is doing, but one thing we sure do know is that TTL is different from mADC. Please understand
that when you say "All <whatevers> should be made by <however>", that you are limiting the technology used to solve your problems, and the solution will be limited to the capability of the best-of-breed within the family of 'things' YOU'VE specified.
Finally, we have to talk about time. When drawings take 2 weeks to get approved, whose time just got used up? That's right
I know these words will fall on deaf ears, and also find others cheering. Regardless, until something DOES change, the integrators will ALWAYS be the bad guys. ('Last one to touch it wins')
Jeffrey D. Brandt
[email protected]
http://users.supernet.com/jdbrandt/