Service Dynamics Products & Services

Inherent Conflict
The dynamics of a service business and innovative product business are dramatically different. Established product companies tend to emphasize the practices and culture they know best when they move into services. The tendency is to find synergies based on their products that become the recommended solutions for customers. Additionally, it can be more difficult for a product company who provides services to be the champion for the customer when there is a problem with the product being implemented.

Ideal Product Company Focus

I believe that product companies should always be striving to eliminate implementation and operations labor with improved and innovative automation technology. There is an inherent conflict by having a company that provides services and products.

Innovation

I believe that companies who aspire to grow from services are in a sense making a statement that product innovation cannot be achieved to further automate. I think a major goal of product companies should be to use technology to compete with service providers. Consider the history of copiers where Xerox dominated the market and had a massive service organization. A group of Japanese companies changed this with copiers that could be installed and serviced by the user. In the automation industry, open network protocols have certainly enabled systems to be applied using best of breed sensors.

Is it possible?

Is it possible for an automation vendor to be effective at products and services? Maybe, but there have been a number of large computer companies that tried to offer services and products eventually becoming total service providers or went out of existence.

On balance, the use of a totally independent service provider may be in the best interest of the user.

refer to:http://www.automation.com/portals/factory-discrete-automation/can-automation-vendors-serve-two-masters-products-services

 

Acrosser unveils its ultra slim fanless embedded system with 3rd generation Intel core i processor

acrosser Technology Co. Ltd, a world-leading industrial and Embedded Computer designer and manufacturer, announces the new AES-HM76Z1FL embedded system. AES-HM76Z1FL, Acrosser’s latest industrial endeavor, is surely a FIT under multiple circumstances. Innovation can be seen in the new ultra slim fanless design, and its Intel core i CPU can surely cater for those seeking for high performance. Therefore, these 3 stunning elements can be condensed as “F.I.T. Technology.” (Fanless, Intel core i, ultra Thin)

The heat sink from the fanless design provides AES-HM76Z1FL with great thermal performance, as well as increases the efficiency of usable space. The fanless design provides dustproof protection, and saving the product itself from fan malfunction. AES-HM76Z1FL has thin client dimensions, with a height of only 20 millimeters (272 mm x183 mm x 20 mm). This differs from most embedded appliances, which have a height of more than 50 millimeters.

The AES-HM76Z1FL embedded system uses the latest technology in scalable Intel Celeron and 3rd generation Core i7/i3 processors with a HM76 chipset. It features graphics via VGA and HDMI, DDR3 SO-DIMM support, complete I/O such as 4 x COM ports, 3 x USB3.0 ports, 8 x GPI and 8 x GPO, and storage via SATA III and Compact Flash. The AES-HM76Z1FL also supports communication by 2 x RJ-45 gigabit Ethernet ports, 1 x SIM slot, and 1 x MinPCIe expansion socket for a 3.5G or WiFi module.

Different from most industrial products that focus on application in one specific industry, the AES-HM76Z1FL provides solutions for various applications through the complete I/O interfaces. Applications of the AES-HM76Z1FL include: embedded system solutions, control systems, digital signage, POS, Kiosk, ATM, banking, home automation, and so on. It can support industrial automation and commercial bases under multiple circumstances.

Key features:
‧Fanless and ultra slim design
‧Support Intel Ivy Bridge CPU with HM76 chipset
‧2 x DDR3 SO-DIMM, up to 16GB
‧Support SATA III and CF storage
‧HDMI/VGA/USB/Audio/GPIO output interface
‧Serial ports by RS-232 and RS-422/485
‧2 x GbE, 1 x SIM, and 1 x MiniPCIe(for3G/WiFi)

Product Information:
http://www.acrosser.com/Products/Embedded-Computer/Fanless-Embedded-Systems/AES-HM76Z1FL/Intel-Core-i3/i7-AES-HM76Z1FL.html

Contact us:
http://www.acrosser.com/inquiry.html

Business Transformation Through Remote Collaboration

Staffing is also a challenge for these companies. With operations located in remote areas, it is difficult and costly to attract and retain a talented workforce. This leads to a high degree of staff turnover, which in turn drives up training costs. Moreover, in many disciplines, an aging workforce shrinks the available talent pool even further, and makes the need to leverage expertise more acute.

So, where do these industries go from here? Simply put – operating companies really have no choice but to leverage their human capital in a unified way across their assets in order to succeed in today’s market. Automobile organizations must adopt new thinking in order to Solutions in an increasingly complex and distributed environment.

To enhance operations, it is necessary to connect the production and enterprise levels and ensure the availability of real-time information, not simply data across multiple sites. This, in turn, will enhance decision-making, enabling improved asset performance.

Transformative Business Strategy

The level of business transformation associated with the implementation of a remote collaboration, optimization and operations strategy cannot be achieved by technology investments alone. Rather, this is a large-scale change for companies that goes to the core of their operations. To ensure success, they need to take into account the following key elements (See Fig. 2):

Vision: The overall strategy for a remote initiative must be driven at the highest level of the organization in order to ensure alignment and accountability across business units and functions
People: As personnel and their roles evolve, care needs to be given to the human element and appropriate change management must be adopted. The change must be meaningful and actionable for all involved
Processes: Organizations must have a keen appreciation of roles at the task-level, and re-associate them to work processes, to ensure continuity in operations.

refer to:
http://www.automation.com/business-transformation-through-remote-collaboration-optimization-and-operations

Open hardware from kindergarten to Kickstarter

The “maker” movements of the past few years quickly gained traction in the education and hobbyist markets, as organizations began producing open hardware boards with a “less-is-more” architecture at a price to match. DIY boards like the Arduino, BeagleBoard, and Raspberry Pi provide “known state” programming platforms that allow easy exploring for novice developers, and enough flexibility for advanced hackers to create some pretty remarkable things – which they have solutions.

Now, Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com) projects like Ninja Blocks are shipping Internet of Things (IoT) devices based on the BeagleBone (see this article’s lead-in photo), and startup GEEKROO is developing a Mini-ITX carrier board that will turn the Raspberry Pi into the equivalent of a PC. Outside of the low barrier to market entry presented by these low-cost development platforms, maker boards are being implemented in commercial products because their wide I/O expansion capabilities make them applicable for virtually any application, from robotics and industrial control to automotive and home automation systems. As organizations keep enhancing these board architectures, and more hardware vendors enter the DIY market, the viability of maker platforms for professional product development will continue to increase.

 

refer to:
http://embedded-computing.com/articles/diy-pushes-open-hardware-kindergarten-kickstarter/