At heart, I am a problem solver. I have always derived satisfaction from finding solutions, often very creative, to challenges that face our customers, as well as friends and relatives. I love data and numbers, which often drives most of the decisions that I make.
The decisions that are made in manufacturing are only as reliable as the least available piece of information, from the least available device in the factory. To me, HMS means assuring our customers that the equipment they rely on to run their factories is connected, and available, so they can be productive and have the information needed to make sound business decisions.
I started in technical support/applications engineering helping customers resolve issues with various products, then eventually migrated to outside sales with a focus on channel partners. Having done support and being technically centric in nature, the value that I offered to our customers as an outside salesperson was being able to gain a deep understanding of the customer's applications then credibly offer the best solution. This approach has helped prepare for my current role as solution manager since I bring not only product knowledge, but application and market knowledge as well.
I am one of those strange people who sleeps with his iPad under the pillow, so I tend to check email the minute my eyes open in the morning. Once I get seated at my computer, I open the previous day’s sales reports to see how we are performing. This is often followed by conference calls with our business units since they are seven hours ahead of our office.
I think HMS has a great reputation in the market and our core business in industrial network connectivity is very strong. With the addition of eWON to HMS, and the adoption of information-centric technologies such as OPC UA, MQTT and .NET on our industrial network platforms, I think HMS is excellently positioned to be a leader in Industrial IoT solutions.
Friendly and collaborative. The people at HMS respect and like each other, so they are willing to work together towards a common goal.
To me, the most memorable experience has been seeing the rapid adoption and growth of our wireless solutions from our partners and customers.
Industrial IoT (IIoT) is the hot topic of discussion in the market today, but IIoT is not achievable without connectivity. Anybus® is critical to our customers taking that first step towards IIoT by enabling connectivity to industrial networks, wired or wireless.
The Big Short, the movie is considerably fictionalized from Michael Lewis’ book on the collapse of the market for mortgage-backed securities and the people who profited from it, but does a great job of capturing the incredulity and humor in Lewis’ writing.
The key trend is that information-centric networks need to coexist gracefully with control-centric networks on machinery. Information has now become as valuable as effective machine control on the factory floor.
The favorite part of my job is when a new product or marketing initiative that I drove is executed well and shows outstanding results. Success breeds satisfaction.
For me, it was having our Anybus gateways used on the new Zumwalt class destroyers for the US Navy. We needed to connect EtherNet/IP devices into the ship’s PROFINet network. It was a project that I managed from beginning to end and has resulted in over $250K in business for HMS.