I've been covering Manufacturing Execution Systems since helping to launch the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association International in the mid-1990s. On that occasion, I wrote a supplement on the Association for the pages of Managing Automation (MA). Since then, I have written several dozen magazine features on MES for leading publications such Manufacturing Systems, Alchemy, Software Strategies, and Start.
During the past 20 years, I've had the pleasure of interviewing hundreds of leading MES industry executives, software engineers, and end users. I've also had the pleasure of serving as a copy writer and online content developer for a number of leading MES software vendors.
In 2011, I wrote the MES Buyer's Guide for MA's TechMatch Website. The MES Buyer's Guide provides a comprehensive look at the state of the Manufacturing Execution Systems as well as an overview of the key industry providers and their product offerings.
[To view samples of my work in the MES industry, click on the links in the sidebar.]
Over the course of the last 18 months, I've recording nearly 40 podcasts for SRI International, a world-leading independent, nonprofit scientific research institute. The podcasts cover a myriad of critically important topics, from bioinformatics to hydrogen safety to education reform. I'm grateful for the opportunity that this world-class research institution has provided, and I'm excited to write, host, and produce a show-available to a worldwide audience-that focuses on today's most important issues.
As I prepare for each podcast, I reflect on the work of Milt Rosenberg, the host of Extension 720 on WGN. I realize SRI's short podcasts can't compare to Milt's epic two-hour shows, but the mission of these shows is very much in keeping with his pioneering vision. The SRI podcasts call on the talents of the researchers and scientists at SRI who are tackling some of society’s biggest challenges.
I look forward to creating even more SRI podcasts in 2012.
I've just begun an open-ended engagement to blog for one of the world's leading Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software suppliers.
The company wisely decided to leverage my 20+ years of experience covering ERP and other enterprise-wide software for a myriad of industry publications. Instead of going the conventional route-hiring an inexperienced, cheap freelance blogger, possibly based overseas-this ERP leader decided to invest in someone with a deep reservoir of industry knowledge. The investment will pay off handsomely because search engines such as Google will reward this company by moving them up in search engine results rankings.
Content, after all, is king. And the content I will produce for this blog will not only be optimized for search engines, it will be of a quality and depth that will attract the type of readership the company seeks.
I look forward to generating fresh content for this company's blog each month, and I'm eager to help grow their traffic and improve their search rankings. Because of their foresight, this corporate blog will contain the type of content that readers will want to consume and act upon-not the drivel many companies churn out on the cheap to fill space.