August Newsletter Vol 4 Issue 8

 

InSource Solutions Employee Spotlight!  Learn More About the People Dedicated to Serving You!

 

Introducing Duct Tape Jim!

 

Jim Blackstone, one of InSource Solutions’ veteran Account Executives has been working with factory floor automation and SCADA software since 1989.  If you are down around South Carolina, you may very well know Jim. But here are some little known facts about our own Duct Tape Jim!

He is affectionately known as “Uncle Jim” to all in Tech Support and is perhaps the World’s leading expert on duct tape.  Why, only this week he was asked if it was “duck” or “duct” tape and he responded with a treatise on the subject.  In fact, he is widely known as Duck Tape Man (or Duct Tape Man) to all his friends!  Jim is able and willing to fix anything with a roll of duck tape at a moment’s notice.  Ask anyone in his territory!

Thanks to the InSource Paparazzi, we now have some insight into Jim’s “fixation”.  The following photo of the very young Jim “Duck Tape” Blackstone has come to our attention, and may explain Jim’s penchant for whipping out the duck tape faster than a speeding tape dispenser.

When being interviewed for this article, Jim quickly pointed out that, “my adhesive skills are not limited to duct tape, but also electrical tape, Velcro, epoxy, and tie wraps.”

Jim is 43 years old, has been happily married for 14 years, and has three daughters ages 10, 9, and 7.

Jim’s hobbies and interests include Genealogy, Disaster Relief with Mobile Ham Radio Communications/Logistics & Chainsaw Teams, Camping with family in the “Griswold Mobile”, and Catfishing at Santee.

One of Jim’s favorite quotes is by Sir Winston Churchill:  "I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us.  Pigs treat us as equals."

Our Jim is quite the original!  So if you are ever in need of help down in the back woods of SC, just break out that radio, tune to channel 17, and send out the S.O.S. to “Duck Tape Jim”.  Just make sure to shout out in a southern drawl and he’s a sure to come a runnin’, duck tape in hand!

 

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WonderWorld 2008 Early Bird Discount Extended through September 8th!!  Register Now!

 

Wonderware has extended their Early Bird Discount through September 8th.  Register now for less!

 

An all new format for the 2008 North America WonderWorld Conference brings an exciting and rich assembly of forums to a single venue – offering each member of your team precise information based on individual roles and interests.

Real Time Operations Management Forum
Management Perspectives from experts like:

      • Peter Martin, Invensys
      • Charles Johnson, Microsoft
      • Cindy Jutras, Aberdeen
      • Gary Freburger, Invensys

 

Who Should Attend:

      • Executive Management
      • Operations Management
      • Information Technology Professionals
      • Engineering Professionals

 

WonderWorld Innovation Expo
Catch the latest innovative solutions in our industry theaters and talk with experts in our “collaboration lounge”.

My Wonderware
The forum for “everything you wanted to know about Wonderware” products, services, and solutions, with over 50 sessions plus hands-on labs.

WonderWorld Technical Training Institute
Get the technical know-how you need. In-depth technical training opportunities, both concurrent and post-conference.


To register for this event, please visit: www.wonderware.com/wworld08na, or contact the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com.

 

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Thin Clients - Less Energy, Longer Life

 

As energy prices rise, reducing consumption becomes an important way to cut costs. Increasingly, companies are turning to Thin Clients as part of the solution. In addition to being cost effective, the lifespan of Thin Clients is two or three times the lifespan of a PC, and when it finally is replaced there are far fewer parts to dispose of.

Energy Savings

Consider that most blade servers consume roughly the same energy as a PC, and then realize that with Thin Client technology one of these servers can host from 15 to 100 Thin Clients. That means that for every one server you add, you can replace up to 100 PCs with Thin Clients, consuming, by some estimates, 90 percent less energy. All without having to change any of your existing applications!

If you could replace 1,000 PCs in a year, you could probably save over $10,000 in energy costs alone. This does not even take into account the reduced cooling requirements and CO2 emissions savings!

Waste Not…

Another important part of “Green Computing” is not throwing away computers. Most IT departments consider it a success when they can keep a PC for 3 years, but ACP has customers who are still running the same Thin Client hardware they installed in 1999—almost 10 years ago! The increased lifespan not only saves replacement costs, but greatly reduces the amount of hardware that has to be decommissioned.

The reason for the increased life span is a byproduct of the technology. All a Thin Client has to do is display the screens generated on the server and receive the user input. The hardware required to do this is essentially the same, whether it is showing an old application running on Windows NT 4.0 or the latest HMI programs running on Windows 2008. So while the servers may have been upgraded 3 times in the past 10 years, the Thin Clients remain unchanged.

For more information on ACP ThinManager or any other industrial hardware product, please contact your local I2 Infrastructure Specialist or the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com.

 

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IVC Introduces First All Weather, Day/Night, Power over Ethernet Pan-Tilt-Zoom Camera!

 

The PTZ-3130-10 is a high quality, high-resolution color video camera with outstanding low-light perform

ance. It has a 36x motor-driven optical zoom and a 4x digital multiplier providing 144x total zoom. The pan, tilt, and zoom functions can be controlled automatically and precisely from anywhere using the click-to-point and preset view features of the IVC Relay Server Software. This PTZ camera is a high performance low-light camera that automatically switches to black and white and removes an IR cut filter to increase sensitivity in low light conditions.

This PoE-ready camera only requires a CAT5E cable connection injected with ultra-high power (60W). Designed around the proposed IEEE 802.3at standard, this single cable connection simplifies installation thereby reducing the cost of set up. The camera includes an ultra-high power PoE injector, so no special switches or midspans are required.

The PTZ-3130-10 is housed in a weatherproof dome with an automatic heater and blower. It can accept one contact closure or TTL input from an auxiliary security or process monitoring device to initiate automatic views and video recordings of intrusions or process malfunctions.

For more information on the new IVC Pan-Tilt-Zoom IP Camera or any other INV product, please contact your local I2 Infrastructure Specialist or the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com.

 

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Advantech Launches New 17 Inch SXGA Pentium M Industrial Panel PC

 

Advantech has released a new 17 inch SXGA Pentium M Industrial Panel PC. It features a 17inch LCD screen with an Intel Pentium M/Celeron M processor (up to 2 GHz), 5 USB ports, up to 2GB DDR2 Memory, CD-ROM, 2 PCI expansion slots, Gigabit LAN support, and it supports Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/NT.

This new Industrial Panel PC features an optional touchscreen, allowing direct interface. It also features a gull-wing design and flat sealed NEMA4/IP65 front panel.

For more details about this new Advantech Industrial Panel PC, please contact your local I2 Infrastructure Specialist or the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com.

 

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Wonderware Acquires SAT Corporation to Offer Mobile Solutions

 

On August 21st, Wonderware announced that it has acquired Houston-based SAT Corporation to offer mobile solutions that will help drive operational excellence. With this acquisition, Wonderware will form a new mobile solutions group that further expands on SAT’s position as a leading global supplier of mobile workforce management and decision support solutions, used to enhance manufacturing visibility and task execution within industrial and manufacturing markets.


The acquired IntelaTrac Enterprise Suite product includes configurable software and ruggedized mobile hardware solutions that enable workflow, procedural, and general task management capabilities typically focused around plant operations, maintenance management, production tracking, and compliance applications.


“Wonderware is excited to extend its operations management offerings with these proven mobile solutions for its large customer base of more than 125,000 plants,” said Mike Pring, Wonderware’s general manager of the new mobile solutions group and vice president of Wonderware Customer Support and Services. “Wonderware will be investing in extending both the capabilities and the value of Wonderware IntelaTrac with strong support of existing customer applications, as well as adding new industry solutions that can be delivered and supported on a global basis.”


According to Alison Smith, research director at AMR Research, mobile solutions represents a fast-growing market. “Wonderware is in a position to leverage its global sales and support channel and system integration partners to deliver asset improvement solutions across a broad range of industries that incorporate combinations of instrumented and non-instrumented assets,” Smith said.


“We are very excited to be a part of Wonderware,” said Don Frieden, former CEO and president of SAT Corporation and vice president of mobile solutions for Wonderware. “We are very confident that our current and future customers will be even better served by the depth and breadth of the Wonderware development, sales and support channel, third-party system integration partners, technology partners, and the full range of real-time operations management software solutions.”


The former SAT organization, now the Wonderware Mobile Solutions Group, will report to Mike Pring. Mike will ensure that effective working relationships are established between the mobile solutions group and existing Wonderware functions. The office will continue to be maintained in Houston.


For more information on this new acquisition or any other Wonderware product or service, please contact your local Wonderware Southeast Account Executive or the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com.  

 

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New Wonderware Software Patches and Device Integration Releases

 

      • Application Server 3.0 Service Pack 1
      • InTouch 10.0 Terminal Services Edition Service Pack 1
      • InTouch 10.0 Service Pack 1

 

Registered users can view and download this and other patchfix releases on the Wonderware eSupport website at http://www.wonderware.com/support/web/secure/downloads/esdownload.asp.

 

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New Wonderware Tech Alerts and Notes

 

Tech Alert 112: Omron FINS Ethernet and Serial DAServer Version 1.5 can potentially write incorrect I/O Real Values to the PLC

 

Tech Note 546: Rebuilding a Corrupted InTouch Managed Application 
Tech Note 547: Configuring the Factelligence Service for Consistent Middleware Communication

 

Registered users can view and download archived Tech Notes and Alerts from the Wonderware website at http://www.wonderware.com/support/web/secure/selfsupport/estechalerts.asp.

 

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Upcoming Events

 

WonderWorld 2008!!

 

Early Bird Discounts Extended through September 8th!

 

October 6th - 9th
The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino
Las Vegas, NV

 

Please visit www.wonderware.com/wworld08na to register!

 

 

ThinManager 2 Day Basic Training

 

September 8th and 9th
Courtyard by Marriott Atlanta Airport North
Atlanta, GA

 

For more information,please contact your I2 Infrastructure Specialist or the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com. 

 

 

West Virginia Rural Water Association Snowshoe Conference

 

September 7th - 10th
Snowshoe Mountain Resort
Snowshoe, WV

 

InSource Solutions will be in Booths 41 and 42 - Come out and see us at the Conference!  Please visit www.wvrwa.com/conference/conf_info.htm for more details, or contact the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com. 

  

 

 

Virginia Water Environment Association Water Jam 2008

 

September 7th - 11th
Virginia Beach Convention Center
Virginia Beach, VA

 

InSource Solutions will be in Booth 215 - We hope to see you at Water Jam 2008! 

 

Please visit www.vwea.org for more details, or contact the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com. 

  

 

 

 

 

Wonderware Southeast and Global Automation Partners present - The Real-Time Enterprise: ERP to MES Integration Lunch and Learn Seminar

 

September 12th
Global Automation Partners
300 Executive Drive, Suite 301
Greenville, SC  29615

 

SPACE IS LIMITED!!  Please RSVP by September 8th to Paula Waddell at pwaddell@insourcess.com. or 1.443.683.8040. 

  

 

 

 

South Carolina Rural Water Association 32nd Annual Technical Conference and Exhibit Show

 

September 15th - 18th
Myrtle Beach Convention Center
Myrtle Beach, SC

 

InSource Solutions will be in Booth 33 - Come see us at this year's Conference!

 

Please visit www.scrwa.org/2008conf.htm for more details, or contact the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com. 

 

 

 

MESA 2008 North American Plant-to-Enterprise Conference: Delivering on Strategies

 

September 21st - 23rd
Orlando, Florida

 

Please visit www.mesa.org for more details.

 

 

 

 

 

The Advantech eAutomation Express!  More Details Coming Soon!
Features a Product Display Area and Interactive Demos!

 

 

Tentative Schedule:
Mid-Atlantic Region: October 20th - 22nd
Carolina Region: October 22nd - 24th
Atlanta Region: October 27th - 29th
Western Region: October 29th - 31st

 

 

For more information, please contact your I2 Infrastructure Specialist or the marketing department at marketing@insourcess.com. 

 

 

 

 

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