News & Knowledge

We’re your source for automation news. Keep up with the latest industry updates and E Tech employee spotlights, as well as tips and guidance from our manufacturing experts.

| April 28, 2022

E Tech Group Webcast: What is Just Enough Industrial Data Analysis?

E Tech Group’s Vice President of Business Development, Laurie Cavanaugh was a presenter for this Control Engineering webcast, where she and Matt Ruth, President of Avanceon, discuss what “just enough data analysis” is, pros and pitfalls, and the future of data analysis in automated manufacturing. The webcast included live Q&As from the audience, and was followed up with an article offering even more answers to automation professionals’ questions about data analytics in their plant processes. Just-in-time supply chain strategy limits were exposed in a global pandemic. Is just-enough industrial data analysis working for operations? Is the right data getting to the right people to optimize operations in time? Where are the bottlenecks and how are they being addressed? Where’s data going to become information and who’s seeing it? In the cloud or on premise or both? Are your knowledge brokers seeing the right information quickly enough to make the right decisions, or are your analytics too much, too late to be effective? Utilizing case studies as illustrations and an interactive format, Cavanaugh and Ruth advise control system integrators on how to: Determine if just-enough data analytics provides enough benefits to operations. Identify if enough data intelligence (results of analytics) is getting to people who matter. Examine bottlenecks in data analysis and how to address them. Review tools and architectures for eliminating bottlenecks. See lessons learned in applying data analytics (too little too late or just enough in time). This presentation focused on the future of data analytics in industrial manufacturing, including obstacles control engineers need to overcome in order to move forward in the industry and embrace the new role data analysis will take in the field. Visit E Tech Group’s blog for more automation industry news and insights.

| April 25, 2022

Alias Resolution in DeltaV

by Mark Noseworthy, Group Engineering Manager I was recently working at a client and made some DeltaV code changes on the Development system to a composite1 used in a control module. One of the code changes involved adding an Alias2 reference out to a different control module to obtain some information running in that other module concurrently. Once it was all configured and tested, the code was downloaded successfully to the Production system, and I didn’t think any more on it. Fast forward a few months, and a colleague is modifying the same code for a different project. He was experiencing some odd behavior in the code that he couldn’t explain. He pulled in the client and me to look at it, and none of us could figure out what was happening. The phase that was running on the unit module that contained the control module with the composite that we had both updated would not run successfully the first time through the code, but if manually manipulated, the phase would run as expected subsequent to that first pass through the logic. We troubleshot the issue by first reinstalling the code without my colleague’s changes, assuming that would fix things. It did not. We were flummoxed. Since my colleague’s logic needed to be used in Production, the client indicated that it was acceptable to put on the Production system, attributing the odd behavior as a Development system issue. Upon doing this there were no issues running in Production. Although grateful, we were doubly flummoxed now. Clearly the issue lies in the Development system, but where? Trying to Uncover the Mystery Flaw in the Control System Further investigation discovered a yellow question mark (which generally means some sort of error) on a CALC (calculation) block that was definitely not there when the initial code was verified. This also happens to … Continued

| March 14, 2022

E Tech Group Announces Promotion of Stan Reyna to Vice President of Life Sciences

Vacaville, California – March 14 – E Tech Group, one of the largest industrial automation firms in the United States, announced today the promotion of Stan Reyna to Vice President of Life Sciences. Reyna has over 17 years of experience with E Tech Group, where he served in various roles including Director of Operations for Banks Integration, an E Tech Group Company. He was appointed to the role by previous Vice President Gary Powell. Powell was promoted last month to Senior Vice President of Operations. “Stan’s long tenure with our company has given him deep experience in the needs of our clients and, most importantly, our own team members,” said Powell. “His strategic thinking, strong work ethic and technical capabilities make him a great resource and leader for our west coast team.” Powell and Reyna are working together on transition through the end of March, when Reyna will officially assume the role. “During all the years I have worked at Banks / E Tech Group, I saw how our former founder Greg Banks and later our Senior Vice President Gary Powell have empowered and invested in our employees to do magical things,” said Reyna. “Their leadership helped us to provide creative solutions to complex Life Science automation challenges and ultimately helping our customers save lives and manage diseases. This is the same inspiration that continue to drive me today, and I aim to impart that same leadership and support to our team in my new role.” About E Tech Group: Excellence in Automation Founded in 1993, E Tech Group, Inc. is one of the largest independent industrial automation system integrators in North America, with offices coast to coast and a combined staff of 400+ specializing in industrial automation, information systems, Business Intelligence (BI), machine safety, machine and process modeling, and … Continued

Stan Reyna Promoted to VP of Life Sciences

| February 11, 2022

E Tech Group Announces Promotion of Gary Powell to Senior VP of Operations

West Chester, Ohio – February 11 – E Tech Group, one of the largest industrial automation firms in the United States, announced today the promotion of Gary Powell to Senior Vice President of Operations. Powell has over 20 years of experience with E Tech Group, where he served in various roles including Director of Operations for Banks Integration, an E Tech Group Company. Gary currently serves as Vice President of Life Sciences. Under his leadership, E Tech’s west coast team expanded engineering staff headcount and grew its client base to include alternative protein and cell-cultured meat manufacturers. Powell will replace Brad Hendrickson, Executive Vice President of Operations, who announced his retirement on February 7, 2022. Said Matt Wise, E Tech Group CEO of the promotion: “We are grateful to Brad for the leadership and wisdom he imparted on his team and E Tech Group as a whole. At the same time that we say farewell to our colleague Brad, we’re excited to have Gary in his new role as Senior Vice President of Operations. The operational best practices developed by Gary and his team are essential as we continue to scale. Gary’s experienced, thoughtful and collaborative approach will serve him well in his new role.” Gary is equally excited about his new position: “I’m excited to work at the corporate level, influencing and driving the direction of the company,” said Powell. “My move to Senior Vice President of Operations is a great example of what’s happening at E Tech right now. We’re growing and there are a lot of opportunities. I have big shoes to fill and want to continue the great work that Brad began with the Operations team.” Powell will remain in his role as Vice President of Life Sciences through the end of March and is working … Continued