As a matter of fact, you probably should start a Y2K company, as you'll make more than you will investing! <g>
You seem to understand neither the problem nor the techniques for correcting them on the plant floor. The difficult part is NOT the remediation...that's a no brainer (though potentially expensive and time-consuming)...it is simply finding the problems in the first place. And yes, there is intrinsic value in the database and the methodology, in that there is no need for the customer to spend precious time, resources, and money doing the investigative work on their own.
Time and resources are two things that most plant floor IT/automation groups don't have a lot of, but with an issue that could put them out of business for a day, a week, or a year, money is something they can find. You can buy a WHOLE LOT of cups of coffee with "a database and methodology". What is that you think big-five consultancies are selling when they undertake an SAP, Peoplesoft or a Baan implementation? That's right - a database (or knowledgebase) and a methodology.
And unlike the IT world, with billions of lines of custom COBOL code, or defense systems with billions of lines of custom software and microprocessors, the plant floor is a bit more "mainstream" (though some of these same issues exist, on a smaller scale). Thus, once the problems are identified, it is considerably easier to make software modifications or to retrofit the system than with the other types of systems (though there are a few snarls of home-grown code on plant floors, for certain).
Your SI profile speaks for itself as to your intentions, but let's just say that you're "hype busting" for the wrong reasons. There are other more contentious issues that you could rightfully pick on (I've donr my share of picking on the overhyped projections of some of the more ridiculous longs), but this isn't one of those issues. |
