PlantSuccess Newsletter
Volume II, Issue 2
1/23/02
Dear Subscriber:
Three years ago, after 20
years of providing services to the plant and process industry as a vendor,
editor/publisher and consultant, we launched PlantSuccess as a means of getting
the business drivers of the process manufacturers – increased return
on invested capital and improved plant performance -- better understood by the
users and providers of information technology. With lots of help, we have made
progress.
Less than four months ago,
many of you joined us at the PHL Airport Marriott for the third edition of a
unique conference focused on the owner/operators in the process industry and
their successful implementation of information technologies to manage the
physical assets and the all-important information asset.
Keynoter, Kirk Wilson,
VP of engineering services for Bayer Corporation, led presentations by senior
managers from many leading companies in the process industry, including: BASF
Corp, Black & Veatch, CDI Engineering, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Fluor Corp,
Kellogg Brown & Root, Lyondell Chemicals, Mustang Tampa Engineers, Rohm and
Haas, and Washington Group International. Industry experts from consulting
companies and national publications actively moderated these sessions -- the
Q&A was very productive.
The terrorist attacks, just
three weeks earlier, limited attendance so we have decided to bring
PlantSuccess and its unique presentations by senior owner/operator personnel to
many more of you. Between now and the end of May, we will conduct four regional
PlantSuccess conferences in centers where there is a concentration of process
plants, many with budget constraints placed on travel and lodging which will
not be needed.
The first regional
conference is scheduled for Thursday, 28 February, at the PHL Airport Hilton. Following conferences are slated for the
general vicinity of Decatur or Mobile, Ala, Baton Rouge and Houston. We are
targeting plant management personnel within an hour's drive of the conference
site. We believe these conferences will become an important part of the broad
range of efforts made to increase the effective utilization of current
technologies within the process industry.
We are encouraged by
the reception received from all the appropriate sources -- owners, contractors
and technology providers – for these regional conferences. Details will be
available on the revised version of our website www.PlantSuccess.com when launched next
week. Additional information will be presented in future issues of the
PlantSuccess Newsletter.
For more information sooner,
please call 770-565-3282.
Regards, Carl Howk.
Chairman
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Current Links
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Several professors from
Wharton’s Graduate Business School offer their predictions about issues and
trends in four key economic areas: the stock market, employment, international
trade and technology.
READ FULL STORY.
Improving ROI Valuation for
all business investments is a difficult, on-going task and a subject where we
seek current information. Brian Sommer, in his “A New Kind of Business
Case,” has written a comprehensive, thought provoking piece. When
completed, another worthwhile article, “DuPont ROI Model Yields Business-case Results,” is just a click away. READ FULL STORY.
Rules for Application
Integration
The lead-in to the article “Gartner’s
Ten Golden Rules for Application Integration” reads:
To service customers
effectively online, a company must be able to pull information from anywhere in
its organization in a fraction of a second. For many companies, that means the
greatest challenge to effective e-business is internal application integration. READ FULL STORY.
Even the venerable Investor’s
Business Daily has ventured into writing about supply-chain management
with a common-sense piece and cost-savings ideas that can be implemented by
most of us. READ FULL
STORY.
America's
Free Enterprise System
Since 9/11, many have
claimed the twin towers of the World Trade Center were the greatest symbol of
America’s Free Enterprise System. That may be true but everyday our corporations
deal with much more than just symbols and others keep watch.
Eastman Chemical Company was
honored recently for its contributions to America's free enterprise system at a
dinner hosted by The Newcomen Society of the United States. The Newcomen Society
was established in 1923 to preserve and promote the free enterprise system.
Each year, the Society
honors 20 or more organizations. Eastman joins a long list of distinguished
corporations, including Air Products & Chemicals, General Motors and Dow
Chemical, who have been recognized by the Society. READ
FULL STORY.
The PlantSuccess Newsletter
generates a substantial number of visits to our website, we welcome the
interest and the access to previous issues of the Newsletter which are
available there. If you'd like to share this newsletter with a colleague, just
forward a copy. Subscribe or cancel by sending a request to Carl.Howk@PlantSuccess.com
Full links to Volume 2, Issue 2 Newsletter articles:
1.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/whatshot.cfm
2.
http://www.optimizemag.com/issue/003/roi.htm
3.
http://www.eyeforpharma.com/index.asp?news=24757