How Blogs, Feeders and Feedback Loops Make Processes More Effective |
September 11, 2005 |
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Posted by Don Dunnington at September 11, 2005 09:34 PM |
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Hurricane Katrina forced my friend Steve O’Keefe to evacuate New Orleans, but thanks to local blogs he has been able to keep up with what’s happening in New Orleans right down to the neighborhood level. He also made his own urgent calls here on how to help those left behind. In both cases, we see individuals using blogs to create ad hoc communication channels that provide vital information and perhaps help save lives.
This is an example of how Blogs and other Internet technologies, such as websites and email, are facilitating the growth and speed of networked social feedback loops. Such feedback loops are not new, but their numbers and power have been multiplied and amplified by the Internet and other electronic media.
To appreciate the power of feedback loops, it’s useful to look at its application to feeding technology. Accurate feeder control depends on the microprocessor and its ability to process timely data from a feedback loop on what’s happening as the feeder discharges.
A Brief Explanation of Feeders and Feedback Loops
You can think of feeders as automation’s alternative to a scoop or shovel. A feeder delivers bulk material (usually dry, though liquids are also fed) into a process. It’s a feeder, not a scoop, that puts the two scoops of raisons into your breakfast cereal.
Volumetric feeders are the simplest type of industrial feeder. As the name implies, they measure material by volume. Most use a screw or auger to deliver the material into the process. An open loop control on a volumetric feeder provides no feedback as to how the feeder is performing. You're feeding blind and have no way of knowing (short of watching it) whether the feeder is running at all. A closed loop control tells us only whether the feeder motor is running at the speed we expected. It does not tell us if material is actually being delivered into the process, nor does it tell if the amount of material delivered is exactly what we wanted.
Gravimetric feeders, such as loss in weight or weigh belt feeders, tell us how much material was actually delivered by weight. Since weight is a more accurate measure than volume, the feedback information is more reliable than what can be expected from a volumetric feeder. Since the weight feedback is fast, as well as accurate, it is also possible for the controller to adjust the feed rate on the fly to makeup for variations in bulk density. This ability to monitor and adjust continuously is essential to producing many modern materials, ranging from high-tech plastics to life-saving pharmaceuticals.
Social Feedback Loops
Consider now, the feedback loops found in the business, economic and political arenas--the social feedback that keeps an organization or a society on track. In business, price and profits are the main signals that keep companies in business. In economics, we’ve seen that--despite its apparent chaos--a free market works better in the long run than a command economy because the market has more information and more accurate feedback mechanisms. In government--for all its apparent inefficiency and noise--democracy governs best because it is structured to seek and respond to the flow of information from a diverse public.
Feedback Is Important to Industry and Society
In industry, we see that feedback keeps a process on track so it achieves its targeted outcome. For those tasked with designing industrial control technology, the microprocessor was a liberating force that allowed a precision in machine and process control that simply wasn't possible with mechanical controls.
Today, it's remarkable to see how closely computer-aided human interactions have begun to parallel earlier developments in computer-aided machine interactions. That is, the networked computer has greatly expanded and enhanced the ability and ease with which we can give, receive and process feedback of a social nature. One of the more promising aspects of the blog is its power as a feedback loop.
Don Dunnington
Comments
Mr. Dunnington:
Several comments on blogging and feedback loops:
There are times when information can become overwhelming in several senses. One of these is fairly obvious. Too much information to process. It used to be that we relied on delivery of messages via snail mail and had the luxury of responding at our leisure. Hand written letters were and continue to be a precious resource because it is personal in nature.
Nowadays, instant messaging, e-mailing, blogging are available instantaneously and are somewhat impersonal and short. These loops are inherently dependant on the response of the participants and can come to a screeching halt if there is no interest and participation.
I've noticed that some of the blogs here in this website have not had responses. Personally, I see no difference between blogs and a forum. I would appreciate it if you could draw a comparison and difference between these two mediums.
Thanks,
Victor Santa Cruz
Posted by: Victor at September 28, 2005 05:47 PM
Victor,
You have posed two interesting and thoughtful questions here. First, you write about the problem of information overload. As you have so well described, when you are inundated by incoming communications, you don't have time to respond to all, perhaps not even a few. You may reach the point of information exhaustion where you don't even pay attention to messages that are important you.
Certainly blogs can add to that feeling of too much information, arriving too often. They can also add further stress if you are one those who feel compelled to contribute to the discussion by authoring your own blog and/or commenting on other blogs. Nevertheless, I've talked to people who have found the information they derive from blogs to be so compelling and fresh that they have completely changed their priorities as to the time they devote to various media. To make room for blogging, some have reduced (or eliminated) their subscriptions to email discussion lists and newsletters. Others have reduced the time they devote to older, more established media such as print and TV.
Your second question concerns what is different between a blog and a forum? Two differences come to mind that seem most compelling: (1) blogs are easy, fast and inexpensive to setup and don't require IT expertise (if you are not hosting on your own server). (2) Blogs make use of RSS (real simple syndication) which makes it possible for readers to subscribe to a blog article, or an entire blog. When you subscribe to an RSS feed, you can receive the feed in an RSS news reader, or as an email (or both). A subscription means you don't have to remember to go back and check to see if there is new content, as you will be alerted automatically. I recently had an instance where someone commented on an article I wrote. I posted a comment in response, suggesting he contact me. He had subscribed to the article, so that my response went to him in an email (without my knowing his email address). He was traveling at the time, got the email on his Blackberry, and within minutes of my comment, he called me.
As for responses, you are right that comments make a blog more lively, as you proved by responding to this post, which led to my response to you. Over time, we hope to see more interaction between authors and readers. Both Joe Taylor and I look at this as a building process, and we really look to people such as you who will help this blog develop a personality of its own.
Finally, I think it is good to remember that virtual interaction, whether bogs, email, online forums or discussion lists, don't replace the need for other forms of communication. A phone call often provides better two-way communication than email. Face-to-face meetings still build closer working relationships than an online meeting. And walking the dog is still a good antidote for those feeling overexposed to electronic messages.
A blog is a great way to build an online community, and the more you participate, the stronger your connection to the community. Just like walking the dog, a regular routine provides excellent opportunities for you to develop a greater sense of community with your neighbors.
Don Dunnington
Posted by: Don Dunnington at September 29, 2005 05:52 PM
Hi Victor,
Just to follow up on what Don said.
My feeling about the Help Forums, which have been online on our site for years now, is that they are a place for people to ask for assistance with a problem they are having. Everyone then can respond to that request. The results, looking at the compliments people leave behind to our members, is incredible.
The Weblog is more a place were people can speak their mind about a broad range of topics. Opinions are ok on the Weblog, without the need of a "question and answer" format the Help Forum provides.
Personal note, I do appreciate you sharing your knowledge with hundreds of engineers and operators from around the world. It makes the Help Forum a great resource for us all to enjoy.
Joe Taylor
Water and Wastewater.com
Posted by: Joe Taylor at September 29, 2005 06:37 PM
I feel Blogs are a good way for Information to be spread in a non-aggressive way.
For example the ever increasing tricks employed by water filter salesmen to try trick one into buying there products.
For more information on dubious methods see
Water Filter Scam Sales Ploy Info
Lets all use blogs in a constructive and Informative manner.
Bob Calder
Posted by: Bob Calder at August 27, 2006 04:48 PM
