Well, what a whirlwind introduction to the world of publishing and editing. At the beginning of March I would not have known a sidebar if I had fallen over one and now I even know how to pull quotes!
Jokes aside, I have new respect for the people who choose to work in publishing. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind ride with the massive amounts of correspondence and editorial and numerous functions to attend coupled with deadlines for reminders, editorial, bookings, layout, mailing and everything in between. Working with such a professional and understanding team at Technews has helped.
Even though some aspects of the adjustment have been stressful, it has been exciting to reacquaint myself with old faces - whether over the phone, by e-mail or face-to-face. And I have had the opportunity to meet with new faces too.
As the saying goes, "The more things change; the more they stay the same." Many people have raised the subject of skills shortages. Looking at foreign shores may not be an option - technical bodies on both sides of the Atlantic are bemoaning the dearth of technically qualified job applicants.
However, I have been encouraged over the last couple of months to find that most suppliers are doing something about the problem.
When I visited Terry Rosenberg at Robotic Systems I saw professionally laid out training rooms and robots for training. Alan Wynn at Vega told me about the courses they run, IIG initiatives and efforts to bring in new skills from other industries. At Festo, Richard Teagle took the time to show me around their didactic facilities. In the hydraulics and pneumatics field Russell Gill took the time to brief me on the initiatives of the SA Fluid Power Association (SAFPA) to set group standards and submit standards to MERSETA.
Because this skills problem is global, manufacturers are responding by building in improved levels of diagnostics, self-calibration, device descriptor interfaces and remote access capabilities.
Each of us has a part to play. I see my job as getting the communications going. I would like to hear from you and share the conversation with your peers. In my role as editor of SAI&C I hope to help by communicating what others are doing - the awards, sponsorships and bursaries and the application of technical solutions.
I believe that the adoption of standards is one way of addressing the skills problem. A new initiative that we are taking is to look at what standards users are adopting and to improve reader awareness of available standards. In this issue you will find a questionnaire on PLC programming standards. Please take the time to go to our survey site and share your experience with your fellow readers.
Communication implies both talking and listening. Each of us can be part of the problem (passively accepting the status quo and complaining to all who will listen) or part of the solution (participating, actively seeking out in solutions and communicating successes and failures for the benefit of all). Which will you choose?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Andrew Ashton
Editor: SA Instrumentation & Control
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