When did you come to Triconex?: I was hired in 1984, I was an EE and had experience in hardware development and control systems. A colleague at Computer Automation, David Smith, told me about Triconex. I was very interested because it was a challenge and an opportunity for stock options. I was appointed Director of Hardware Development in 1985. Vern Winger also worked at Computer Automation, Vern had worked for Apple Computer previously at a plant in Texas producing the LISA computer, the predecessor to the MAC, of course.
Tell us about the early development of the Tricon: Let's start with TSX, the core of the Main Processors. Victor Torres wrote the original TSX, the proprietary operating system of the Tricon controller. Jerry Cuckler took over TSX when Victor departed. When Jerry left for Wonderware in 1988, John Gabler assumed responsibility for the TSX. For the Communications modules, Dave Rasmussen, a brilliant engineer was largely responsible for development. I was primarily responsible for the Input/Output modules. On the software side, Glen Allerman and a very young Phil Huber were software development managers. Dennis Morin worked on the Ladder Logic programming module.
In the early days, I wore several hats, like everyone else in the company, there were only about 20 engineers back then. In 1985, I hired Sandy Larsen, to assist me with the technical manuals. Neither one of us wrote these kind of manuals before, but with Sandy's documentation skills and my knowledge of development, we wrote all the user documentation which was the company standard until the windows-TriStation came along in the mid-nineties, and the styles changed.
Another role I had was demonstrating the product for customers. Bill Barkovitz Sr., then Vice-President of Sales in 1985, asked Bill Chiles and me to take the Tricon prototype to shows and customer sites to demonstrate the produce. Bill was an applications engineer from Texas. He was hired before me, one of the early company hires that had direct automation experience. In 1985, we met Troy Martel, who was leading a testing effort for safety systems at the Exxon labs in New Jersey. Bill and I told Troy our product was not ready yet, and he told us to come back when it was. A year later, it was and we did. Troy's recommendation of the Tricon to Bob Adamski was a key moment for Triconex, the first major oil company to buy our system. We had sold one in 1986 to Union Carbide, Jerry Cuckler worked on that installation.
When the company began operations in March, 1984, the business plan called for three product lines: 1) The Tricon Controller 2) TriStation Programming Software and 3) Tri-View (an HMI concept). By 1986, the company had to focus its remaining resources on the Tricon controller, and the TriStation programming software was functional, so the Tri-View was not funded. The later concept was being worked on by Dennis Morin, who had been hired as a staff engineer in 1984 based on his experience with Varco, an oil services firm. Dennis was laid off in 1986, but history shows that he went on to do quite well with a company called Wonderware.
How did Triconex survive the early years? Probably because the venture capitalists lost interest in us for a period when we were losing money. Venture capitalists normally invest in 10 startups at a time with the risk assessment that three will make money, three will lose money, and the middle four could go either way. Triconex was in the middle, losing money but the safety market held promise. We had two other TMR competitors, August Systems and Triplex, but no one was making money yet, and the market was still forming.
The company re-organized in February, 1986, appointing a seasoned manager, Bill Barkovitz, as the CEO. One of the keys to our survival was an alliance with Honeywell, which agreed to be our distributor. Bill had very little time to save the company, we only had about 4 months operating cash left. He had to focus the remaining resources on the Tricon, lay off personnel who were not directly connected with the Tricon, and raise a lot more cash to fund our development. Denny Harris came on board in 1986 and helped organize our quality program.
As we moved into the late 1980's, we started selling more systems and our competitor's could not quite keep up with us. We made some bold moves that paid off. Another key alliance was with TUV Rheinland, a German based quality assurance and testing firm. Tony Frederickson, a Stanford PhD and our Vice-President of Engineering, took the lead in forming this relationship. It was mutually beneficial. Obtaining TUV certification was very expensive for Triconex, but the stamp of approval from TUV was a brilliant move as we could market the product as certified by an internationally respected quality organization. The TUV had been founded in 1872.
When did you know Triconex had made it, and your career hunch paid off? In 1991, we were listed by Business Week as one of the 250 fastest growing small companies in America. Our Orange County neighbor, Wonderware, was also on that list. Wonderware's co-founder, Phil Huber left Triconex in 1988, along with employees Cole Chevalier, Jerry Cuckler, and Bill Urone. Our office administrator, Diane Mackin also left to join Dennis. Other Triconex alumni, like David Smith and Linda Ellison also joined Wonderware.
Triconex had their IPO in 1992. Triconex acquired Tri-Sen, a Turbo-machinery vendor based in La Marque, Texas in 1993, and Premier Systems, a Baton Rouge based safety consulting firm in 1994. Bill Barkovitz and the board put the company up for sale and it was announced in January, 1995, that we were being bought by Siebe, a British holding company that also owned Foxboro. Three years later, Siebe also bought Wonderware.
Triconex kept its independence after being bought for several years, and it was a major source of profits for the corporation, renamed Invensys, throughout the next decade. In 2001, we released the Trident, which was a smaller version of upgraded Tricon technology that was designed to appeal to a wider market niche, as the Tricon was dominating 2/3 of a market projected to grow only modestly. This is the challenge for Triconex, to maintain its premium reputation for quality while providing product in a broader market range. Hardware margins are always under pressure in technology and usually give way to a strategy of providing more services.
What keeps you at Triconex? The job is still challenging, I now direct the hardware platform development for Invensys. I live as a gentleman farmer on 16 acres of land in Corbett, Oregon, happily living with my wife, Martha. I left Orange County about 5 years ago. Invensys allows me to work from home two weeks a month, I spend a one week a month at Triconex, at their new Lake Forest campus, and am open to traveling the other week of the month.
When I go to the Triconex-Wonderware campus in Lake Forest, I arrive Sunday night and depart Thursday evening to go back home. When I'm there, I have lunch with my colleagues each day, most of which have been working with me for nearly two decades. Naresh Desai, Les Powers, and Aad Faber, who I hired in 1991 when he applied for a job at Triconex while vacationing in Southern California from his native Holland. My old bosses, Scott Miller and Kevin Tock also show up sometimes. Each Wednesday evening, we go to King's Fish House in Lake Forest for happy hour. It’s well attended when people know I am in town, because I usually pick up the tab. Brian Grant, Ajay Mishra, and Dari Dadashi also join us frequently. It is great to keep the camaraderie going after all these years.
Lately, the Training Manager for Triconex has been showing up more often, but I've never seen him pick up the tab. Seems he is trying to write a book about the history of Triconex-Wonderware.
No comments:
Post a Comment