PlantSuccess Newsletter

Volume II, Issue 9

4/4/02 

Dear Subscriber: 

PlantSuccess Comes to the Midwest  –  Sheraton Chicago Northwest  –  April 11^th  –  Register Here 

PlantSuccess has built a reputation for outstanding content – “best practices” presented by innovative managers from leading process companies speaking to the successful implementation of IT, the business drivers satisfied and the work practices impacted. The Chicago conference continues this trend.  

Vlad Djuric, senior reliability engineer, will discuss the strategic initiative employed by Dofasco Inc. that aligned business objectives with equipment reliability and turned the company around to become the most profitable steel producer in North America. Any company in any industry can improve productivity and increase ROI with the adoption of these “best practices.”   

Dale Jarvi, manager of mechanical engineering and information systems, Marathon Engineers/Architects/ Planners, LLC, a Jaakko Poyry company, will discuss use of current technologies to build, document and utilize paper machine models for improved operations and maintenance.  

Dave Belonger, staff consultant to AIChE's Chemical Center for Process Safety (CCPS) will lead a discussion of a major process industry initiative that will determine how we manage security in the environment after the terrorist attacks.  

Charlie Gillard, consultant and advisor to Verticore Technologies, Inc, will share the experience of 35 years in plant operations, engineering and IT, and a career that culminated as VP Continuous Productivity Improvement and CIO at Shell Deer Park Refining Company. Gillard’s presentation will detail the shift from average plant operating performance to pacesetter performance for an increase in annual value of US$15 to 25 million through lower variable costs, fixed costs, improved reliability and increased capacity utilization!  

Wayne Staats, CEO of Information Solutions, Inc, an experienced user and consultant, will lead a discussion of the most important factor in the implementation of all information technologies – Management of Change.  

Leading technology providers sponsoring the Chicago event include: J.D. Edwards Company, Rebis Industrial Workgroup Software, A/E/C SYSTEMS International, Chemical Engineering magazine and FIATECH

Attendees to this unique conference will represent the broad range of process manufacturers – chemicals, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, water treatment and pulp and paper -- in the Chicago area. 

Join us at the Sheraton Chicago Northwest, 3400 W Euclid Avenue, Arlington Heights, IL 60005. Visit http://www.plantsuccess.com/ to register online. If you have any questions or need additional information, please call 770-565-3282. 

Regards, Carl Howk.

Chairman 

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Current Links   

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·         Riding the Corporate Knowledge Curve  

“For a corporation, knowledge includes intellectual assets, best practices and training content. The total sum of corporate knowledge is far more valuable to a business than its individual parts,” claim Accenture Chemicals Group partners Tommy Mann and Marc Vrouenraets. 

They continue, “The concept of corporate knowledge is not a novel idea. Today's challenging business environment requires executing strategy faster, more cheaply and more effectively to survive in a global business world. Corporations are under constant pressure to improve performance in every facet of their operations.“

An important question: If the tangible benefits are so clear-cut, why is it that so few companies are getting it right when it comes to corporate knowledge creation and sharing? 

Their answer: “… many companies are approaching it as an Information Technology problem that requires tools to solve it rather than as a business issue. The organizations that get it right will be the ones that recognize that corporate knowledge is about the way business is conducted, a culture change and a shift in mindset. 

This is an important issue. READ MORE

·         What’s Ahead for Wireless Data, Internet Security and ASPs? 

An interesting view on a wide range of technologies and issues, all of which are or will become important to most of us. 

An example, Bruce Claflin, CEO of 3Com, offered this advice: Remember, he said, that while technology categories improve at predictable rates, product categories don’t. "Think about Moore’s law from the 1980s: The power of a microprocessor will increase by 50% every 18 months. It’s still true." Similar reliable laws exist for bandwidth, storage, and software. But product categories are unpredictable, he said, because a product has to pass a critical threshold of combinations of technologies that makes it useful. READ MORE 

·         What’s right With the US Economy? 

There seems to be no limit to the views and pronouncements on the US economy. One of the more comprehensive and understandable views can be found in The McKinsey Quarterly. According to the authors: “The secret behind the new economy isn’t information technology but old-fashioned competition and managerial innovation.“ READ MORE 

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 II, Issue 9 Newsletter articles: 

http://www.dofasco.com/

http://www.marathon-eap.com/

http://www.aiche.org/ccps/

http://www.isiweb.com/

http://www.verticore.com/oe_summary.html

http://www.plantsuccess.com/

http://www.accenture.com/xd/xd.asp?it=enWeb&xd=industries/resources/chemical/chem_know.xml

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/articles.cfm?catid=14&articleid=532

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_page.asp?tk=446384:1151:19&ar=1151&L2=19&L3=67

http://www.jdedwards.com/

http://www.rebis.com/

http://www.aecsystems.com/

http://www.che.com/

http://www.fiatech.org/