TABLE OF CONTENTS Automation professionals who work for engineering contractors and system integrators and see the project only after it has been given some level of approval by the end-user management may not realize the months or even years of effort that goes into identifying the scope of a project and justifying its cost. In fact, even plant engineers who are often responsible for doing the justifications often do not realize that good processes exist for identifying benefits from automation.
In the process of developing the CAP certification program, the first step was to do a job analysis of the work of an automation professional. By focusing on describing the job, it became clear just how big a part project leadership and interpersonal skills are in the work of an automation professional. That effort helped the team realize these topics had to be included in any complete scope of automation.
If the Job Analysis Team had jumped immediately into defining skills, they might have failed to recognize the importance of project and interpersonal skills for automation professionals whether they are functioning in lead roles or not.
When the digital computer was first introduced to process manufacturing in the late 1960s, the promise of that new technology was unbounded. Many manufacturing managers saw computer technology as the key to driving the performance of their plants to new levels, and driving real...
