Retirements, industry consolidations spur changes in FDT Group leadership.
The FDT Group is pleased to announce changes in boardroom leadership which were approved by the organization’s Board of Directors. The FDT Group Board of Directors sets the organizational strategy for the FDT Group, a not for profit association of leading automation suppliers and users offering open access to device and network intelligence to the industrial automation industries in the process and factory markets. The board provides governance over the open standard known as FDT® Technology, directly benefiting the industry with state-of-the-art technology that is well-suited to increase global manufacturing efficiency.
The FDT Group welcomes Lee Lane, Business Director at Rockwell Automation as the new Chairman of the FDT Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2015. Lee brings nearly 25 years of experience in the automation industry, with a proven track record of strategic leadership to the FDT Group. “FDT Technology has a strong industry presence as a leading technology standard for device and network integration. I embrace the opportunity to guide this group of industry leaders as it focuses on consistency and interoperability of device and network integration in the process and factory markets,” says Lane. Hartmut Wallraf from Invensys announced his resignation from the Chairman of the Board position that he held since 2008 after the recent acquisition of Invensys by Schneider Electric. “The FDT Group has advanced its mission during Hartmut’s tenure, including achieving international standardization for FDT Technology known as IEC 62453. Additionally, Hartmut led the board as it initiated, executed and ultimately released the FDT2™ standard, which transformed the technology to handle changing infrastructure and market requirements. We are appreciative that Hartmut applied his rich industry knowledge and his knack for building consensus to the benefit of the mission of the FDT Group,” commented Glenn Schulz, managing director of the FDT Group.
In addition to the new Chairman, the FDT Group is delighted to announce that Francois Ichtertz, Marketing Director of Process Solutions at Endress+Hauser has joined the Board following the retirement of Dr. Raimund Sommer, a founding board member from Endress+Hauser. “Dr. Sommer has been a strong advocate for FDT Technology since its earliest days and fully supported the vision for accessing device intelligence with an open standard. With more than a dozen years of robust guidance, Dr. Sommer has imparted a lasting impact on both the FDT Technology and those in the FDT Group who will carry the mission forward,” states Schulz.
Other recent changes include the addition of M&M Software to the board and executive committee. Andreas Börngen, Managing Director at M&M Software, and Frank Schmid, Head of Consulting at M&M Software have assumed these roles respectively. Additionally, Terry Minns of Schneider Electric has been appointed as Secretary of the Board replacing Shannon Foos of Rockwell Automation who remains an active executive committee member.
Current board members include: Lee Lane, Rockwell Automation (Chairman of the Board); Daniel Huber, ABB; Steve Armstrong, Emerson; François Ichtertz, Endress + Hauser; Andreas Börngen, M&M Software; Michael Kessler, Pepperl+Fuchs representing PACTware; Hans-Jürgen Koch, Phoenix Contact; Friedrich Goetz, Schneider Electric; Hans-Georg Kumpfmueller, Siemens; and Kimikazu Takahashi, Yokogawa. Officers to the Board include Manfred Brill (Treasurer), Schneider Electric and Terry Minns (Secretary), Schneider Electric.
Current executive committee members include: Glenn Schulz, FDT Group Managing Director; Achim Laubenstein, ABB; Martin Zielinski, Emerson; Klaus-Peter Lindner, Endress+Hauser; Frank Schmid, M&M Software; Andreas Deuter, Phoenix Contact; Shannon Foos, Rockwell Automation; Manfred Brill, Schneider Electric; Ulrich Eger, Siemens; Peter Praske, Turck representing PACTware; and Henk Van der Bent, Yokogawa. In addition, Mr. Tetsuo Takeuchi of Yokogawa serves as Vice President of Technology to the executive committee and the Board.
The FDT Group is a member directed and led organization. Schulz mentions, “It’s humbling to have great leadership from a diverse set of members dedicated to continue the vision and mission of enhancing device and network integration strategies for all industrial automation industry markets around the globe.” The FDT Group will continue its mission to offer and promote world class technology that is incorporated by industrial device and system vendors and implemented by automation system users in in a wide range of automation markets.
About FDT Group AISBL
The FDT Group AISBL is an international non-profit corporation consisting of over 100 leading worldwide member companies active in industrial automation manufacturing — whether it be process, factory or hybrid. The major purpose of the FDT Group is to provide an open and non-proprietary standardized interface for the integration of field devices with engineering, automation and asset management systems. In this environment, end users, manufacturers, universities, and research organizations are working together to develop the technology; to provide development tools, support, and training; to coordinate field trials and demonstrations; and to enable product interoperability.
FDT® is a registered trademark and FDT2™ is a trademark of the FDT Group AISBL.
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