Walt Boyes' Blog

Charlie Piper, Foxboro product manager for fieldbus programs, believes that the coverage of the controversy over use of EDDL versus FDT-DTM in CONTROL and other magazines has been very one-sided, and that FDT has been getting short shrift. I asked him what his opinion of Fieldbus War II was, and he was off and running. The big change, the big paradigm shift, he noted was the … [Read more...] about Invensys' Charlie Piper had a bone to pick with me…

CONTROL's Rich Merritt reports from the Emerson Exchange: EMERSON AGOG WITH SUCCESS Emerson Process Management expected 1500 attendees at its Global User Conference in Orlando, but 1800 people showed up. Although Jerry Moon, spokesman for Emerson, was elated, the registration people are worried that they'll have enough conference materials if too many more people appear. Every … [Read more...] about Emerson marches on, and on…and on!

The keynote speaker for the Invensys User Group was Gordon Bethune, former Chairman and CEO of Continental Airlines. Bethune, like Herb Kelleher, his colleague from Southwest, understands clearly what it takes to run a functional airline, or any business, for that matter. "People want to get where they need to be, on time, and with their underwear," Bethune cracked. Basically, … [Read more...] about Gordon Bethune on how to turn around a business

Emerson Global Users Exchange announced today that members turned out in record numbers to open its 2005 conference. This year’s pre-registration of more than 1500 attendees is nearly a 20% participation increase over 2004. “Emerson Global Users Exchange members will choose from more than 300 courses and workshops, and engage in open discussions with experienced management and … [Read more...] about Meanwhile, in Orlando, Emerson marches on…

Mike Caliel (who gets my vote as one of the five best CEOs in this industry) gave a stirring sermon about the vicissitudes of life ("Who'da thunk it?" he scatted on the Katrina and Rita disasters, and what they'd done for the process industries.) "This meeting serves to show you the progress we've made and to solicit feedback," he said. "For us, this meeting is about … [Read more...] about Sermon from the Mike