into another new year...

The current issue of Read-out is the first of 2010, the last year of the first decade of the 21st century! Distributed free to nearly 2400 named automation professionals throughout Ireland and to some subscriptions abroad it is without doubt Ireland's leading source of information on the industry.

Ireland has had its share of buffeting in the current economic woes that the global economy is suffering. After almost 15 years of unprecedented growth Ireland, and its Celtic Tiger, hit the wall at the end of 2008 and great indeed was the fall. Irregular goings-on in the banking sector did nothing to soften the fall and the harsh measures needed to cope with the downturn included general reduction in salaries not to mention severe job losses. These mostly occurred in the construction industry and so have not, by and large effected the process industry though it did effect some manufacturing with some famous names falling by the wayside.

This issue of Read-out highlights Emerson Process Management's solution to the paradoxical problem of more complex technology and the shortage of experienced personnel that Signpost readers learned of in our item Conquering Complexity. Also highlighted on the front page was the new series of wireless devices marketed by Douglas Control and Automation and manufactured by Stahl. There was however a certain emphasis on pressure measuring instruments in the products highlighted in that section of the publication.

An article in the InsideFront series discusses a paper from the ARC Advisory Group on Fieldbus Foundation technology as a business value proposition. This paper was unveiled at the recent SPS/IPC/Drives Exhibition in Nueremberg (D).

As might be expected there is an item on the changes in the International Society of Automation including the early build-up to the new Automation Week and the appointment of a new editor at their magazine InTech.

In late November and early December, Ireland suffered unprecedented rainfall which lead to extensive flooding over large swathes of countryside. Read-out highlights how local supplier MeasureIT provided a round the clock service especially with the Tideflex check valves, 20 years in Ireland in 2009, which did in fact help in some areas which were prone to flood and which escaped this time.

Usually there are some books recommended in each issue of Read-out and this issue is no exception. Included are George Buckbee's book on "Mastering Split-Rang Control" and Professor Gerald Cockrell's on Practical Project Management.

In company news the big organisational changes in ABB are reported with details of the heads of the various divisions.

This issue concludes as usual with People News, people and events which occurred in the past few months.

The next issue of Read-out (Feb/March 2010) will be highlighting Calibration, Test & Measurement!

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