IEN: What are the major concerns facing motion technology, and how can they be addressed?

Johantgen: Motion technology (from a manufacturer's point of view) is facing the concern of being considered a commodity. As prices are being driven down by low-cost suppliers, the money required to research and develop new technologies and products is becoming harder to find. This can be addressed by making sure that new technologies will be more profitable upon their release.

I feel that the trend of large corporations acquiring many small motion companies is causing the level of expertise in the industry to be reduced. While it may be convenient for users to be able to go to one supplier for all of their motion needs, if that supplier is not capable of supporting all of those products well, a disservice to the industry is occurring. To address this, the smaller companies need to provide excellent technical support and service to the users.

IEN: What innovations are in store for users of drives, motors, servers, control systems, software, miniaturization, customization, and other motion-related technologies?

Johantgen: I feel that more powerful and flexible software will become embedded into motion products that will allow users to spend less time designing, tuning, and optimizing their motion systems on their machines. This will free users to concentrate their efforts on what their company's core technology is. This software may, for example, enable the motion products to determine motion optimal profiles torque utilization with minimal effort from the user. The user may only need to tell the system how far to move, and the device will do the rest of the work.

I also feel that products that can be controlled from the Internet will become more popular. This capability opens many doors for support of the products by the users and manufacturers. Devices can be upgraded, reconfigured, and monitored remotely with this capability.

IEN: Can obstacles to wireless applications be overcome?

Johantgen: While Oriental Motor isn't currently involved in any wireless technology, I feel that any obstacles will eventually be overcome.

IEN: Can 24/7 preventive or predictive monitoring be assured in Ethernet-based systems?

Johantgen: If the marketplace truly requires and/or demands 24/7 monitoring of the Ethernet-based systems, a way to assure them will happen.

IEN: What advances do you see in open standards and data sharing?

Johantgen: I feel that open standards are still finding their way. Perhaps there are too many options available for people to choose from, but we don't see any clear dominant standard at this time.