PlantSuccess Newsletter
Volume I, Issue 8
8/29/01
Welcome to the PlantSuccess
Newsletter. We are pleased to bring you articles about the management of
companies and technologies, about companies that deliver technology and
management and odds and ends.
PlantSuccess is about the
successful management of technologies that improve the ROI on invested capital
and increase productivity in process plants. Learn what the leaders are doing
to build a competitive advantage. Visit www.PlantSuccess.com
to view the current agenda and to register on-line to attend PlantSuccess 2001.
Take advantage of
substantial discounts and discounted room rates at the Philadelphia Marriott
Hotel.
Previous issues of the
Newsletter are available at www.PlantSuccess.com
If you'd like to share this
newsletter with a colleague, just forward a copy, he or she can request a
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This Week's Links
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The EDG OIL PATCH
NEWSLETTER is an interesting read and appropriate to all segments of the
process industry. An example is the view from then-chairman of one offshore
driller, “We’re missing two generations of people. We gave early retirement to
one generation, the graybeards, who should have been training the next
generation, the one we didn’t hire.” It’s in .pdf format and requires an
Acrobat reader.
A New Operating
System for Construction: A Call for Reform
Greg Howell, a leader of the LEAN Construction Institute,
begins a recent article with the following introduction: In 1790, a speaker
before Parliament predicted a 100-fold increase in the output per worker was
possible. Following his declaration, the debate focused on whether he was crazy
or possessed—or both. He was of course wrong. The real increase in 70 years was
closer to 200 times. We now call that the “Industrial Revolution” because it
changed the way things were designed and made. Read the balance of this
article…
This mantra for effective
communication may soon be easier to achieve on the plant floor and a
significant contributor to increased productivity. In the article, “Instant
Messaging: The Sleeping Giant,” the authors build a good case for the
potential value of this new technology.
Implement this five-step plan for more positive, more
productive thinking.
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Sponsor Insight: Cadcentre
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Cadcentre’s flagship 3-D
modeling and design system, PDMS, has been in continuous use designing
petro-chemical facilities in the US for more than 20 years. The company claims
that its customers consistently achieve savings of 50 per cent in the design
time and 15 per cent of the total project cost compared to their previous
engineering IT systems.
With more than 500 customers
in 50 countries using in excess of 10,000 installed systems, Cadcentre is an
established leader in its market and recently announce a new “pay-per-use”
licensing scheme adopted by Foster Wheeler USA. For more: http://www.cadcentre.com/press/headline0.htm
The company recently acted
upon the value of services related to the implementation and support of its
engineering IT products by establishing a consulting arm, Aveva Consulting, and
by changing the name of the UK-based parent company to Aveva Group.
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PlantSuccess Close-up --
Only 34 days
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What’s Important?
In business, building a
competitive advantage that can be sustained is important. In large companies,
this means multiple competitive advantages. In all companies, this means honing
existing advantages, building new ones and focusing on sustainability -- all of
the time.
Publicly held companies face
the additional demands of investors and analysts who want short-term results
maintained for the long haul.
The consistent improvement
in required performance demands a strong management team and the successful
implementation of current technologies by those companies producing the goods
and services – the owners and operators.
PlantSuccess attracts the
innovative, successful managers from the process industry’s leading companies
to discuss their business drivers and the impact on their company’s work
practices and culture. These are not just presentations. They are discussions
led by moderators skilled at getting the best out of the speakers and the
audience. The result is a sharing of knowledge and an improved understanding of
the requirements for success.
One of these “don’t miss”
sessions features Rick Olson, DuPont’s vice president of eBusiness, and John
Voeller, Chief Knowledge Officer for Black & Veatch, a leading
engineering and construction firm based in Kansas City.
Olson, a 20-year DuPont
employee, educated as a chemical engineer, is guiding one of the world’s
largest and longest-operating companies to competitive, sustainable advantages
from the implementation of current and developing technologies. DuPont ranks
#56 among the Fortune 500 with revenues of almost $30 billion and carries a
market cap of $43 billion. DuPont enters its third century of operation next
year.
Voeller is an inventor,
holds several patents and numerous awards for technology related
accomplishments. He is a member of the
corporate management team and has responsibility for all strategic technology
decisions. Voeller is currently focused on creation of a completely new
knowledge management approach that is termed decision-centric and designed to
enable the fifth generation of engineering and construction advancement for the
firm. He is a popular speaker and a noted technologist
Visit www.PlantSuccess.com and register
online. Take advantage of an early registration discount of $100 and another
$100 discount if your company is one of 120 companies listed as a member of
FIATECH, PIP or CII. Take advantage of discounts for multiple attendees from
the same organization and/or call Carl Howk at 770-565-3282 if you have any
questions or need additional information.
Full links to Volume I, Issue 8 Newsletter articles:
1.
http://www.edgweb.com/pdf/jannews.pdf
2.
http://www.aeccafe.com/AECVision/opinion/new_os.php
3.
http://www4.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=100299
4.
http://www.sellingpower.com/sp_magazine/dailyarticle.asp?aid=motivate