The economy is making it inevitable for better positioned system integrators to expand and attract high quality talent that the larger players in the industry cannot afford right now. This will position niche companies like Batchelor Controls much better for growth in the coming economic expansion.
Why should end users care about all this musical chairs business? Pay attention to who moves, and where they move. For example, the recent moves of Bryan Singer and John Cusimano herald a completely new set of services to the end user community.
Singer joined Kenexis, and Cusimano (until very recently a senior manager at Siemens Energy and Automation) joined Kenexis competitor exida. Both are attempting to establish "industry firsts"-- combined security and functional safety consulting practices.
Schreiber is similarly positioned at Bachelor Controls. Manufacturing intelligence has been long the exclusive purview of the big vendors. Now, even a medium sized system integrator and machine builder can realistically expect to offer a consulting practice in manufacturing intelligence.
Economic dislocations offer a significant opportunity for smaller, niche vendors to expand, and in turn that offers end users new, innovative and unique services.
So watch the milling about the chairs...and see who's where when the music stops.
Philip Schreiber Joins Bachelor Controls, Inc.
Schreiber to lead BCI’s manufacturing intelligence initiative
SABETHA, Kan. (February 19, 2009) — Philip Schreiber has joined Bachelor Controls, Inc. (BCI) – a leading provider of control and systems integration solutions and 2008 Control Engineering System Integrator of the Year. BCI attracted Schreiber to spearhead the company’s expanded efforts in providing manufacturing information management solutions using analytical and intelligence software tools.
“Our clients rely on us to play a lead role in helping them address their needs in the manufacturing information space,” said Ray Bachelor, president of Bachelor Controls, “and Phil’s technical and business development experience will make him well-suited to lead that effort, concentrating particularly in the food and life science industries.”
Schreiber comes to BCI from Northwest Analytical (NWA) – a provider of software for manufacturing analytics – and was previously with Rockwell Automation, working within both the Process Engineering and Information Solutions business units. He has worked with the World Batch Forum since its inception, and has co-authored articles and designed training courses on the application of the ISA-88 and ISA-95 standards. Schreiber graduated from Kansas State University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.
“Bachelor Controls has shown a commitment to excellence in providing clients with business-level solutions that utilize both market-available tools and in-house domain expertise,” said Schreiber. “I am thrilled to be a part of this organization. I look forward to helping BCI clients build solutions that will enable them to make more proactive process improvement decisions, driven by measurable business results in their manufacturing operations.”
Bachelor added, “We pride ourselves on making our customers more successful through the application of appropriate control and data management technologies. Phil’s experience and consultative approach will enable BCI to become a true business partner with our customers, identifying their needs and solving their problems, providing them with critical decision support analytics and operational improvement intelligence.”
