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 have been exposed in recent years. 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-premises 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: 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 1, 2022

Managing the Psychology of Change in Upgrades

“The best jobs we’ve had are the ones that have everyone involved up front, sitting down together at the beginning to discuss the project. Operations folks should also be engaged before the project starts. Get champions identified earlier on.” Craig Cooper, Engineering Account Manager, and Jason Phelps, Project Manager, recently authored a blog post for Automation World on the psychology of change and how to best prepare when taking on a project upgrade: Here’s a scenario—we’re contacted by a company to help them with a system upgrade. The client wants a system upgraded with Ethernet, databases, historians, etc. We provide a proposal, and upper-level engineering love it. Then, the project kicks off. But the boots-on-the-ground operations people hate it. They spend much of the project execution trying to make the new system exactly like it was before. Throughout this process, we try to coax the operations folks to see our way is better, and to show them why it’s better and how it will help them. It feels like a constant sales presentation. This results in a lot of rework, because we want to make them happy. And then as they adjust, they go back and forth on changes. Sound familiar? Often when companies approach an upgrade project, they go straight into the technology, functional requirements, and business needs. These are all very important considerations, but an important piece of the puzzle is missing: the psychology of the change itself and how best to manage it. To an operations team with production goals and other metrics to meet every shift, change is not exactly embraced with open arms. Change can mean adaptation (which takes time that they think they don’t have), it can be scary (even the best ideas can be poorly executed with catastrophic results, and they’ve probably seen that before), … 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