I recently did an entry on how much I liked my office desk with an electrical lift that allows me to stand while working. Well, I should have added that something else became evident immediately and that’s the relative position of the monitor to the keyboard. I lifted the desktop with keyboard to a comfortable working height; however I found that I also had to lift the monitor to a comfortable height. In order to do this, I placed all manner of “things” under the monitor. Well, that worked out all right, but then when I lowered the desktop to a comfortable sitting height, the monitor was too high. Continue reading
Standing Room Only
I’ve had enough time now to evaluate my new office desk that I purchased with an electrical lift so I could either sit or stand during my work day. From this I’ve learned a few things that I can apply to my conversations with prospective customers who are considering something similar for their control rooms or dispatch operations. I have recommended power assisted lifts for control room furniture in most 7/24 environments and have actually seen a large up-tick in purchases during recent years, even in control rooms where operators aren’t tethered to their control room console like 911 dispatchers. However, knowing the advantages of adjustable work surfaces and experiencing them first-hand is something entirely different. Continue reading
Wood versus Metal. Which is best?
It’s not unusual for a prospective customer to ask me if our control room consoles are made of metal and when I reply that they’re not, the conversation either ends, or I have the opportunity to discuss the differences. That said, the type of material shouldn’t be the deciding factor when evaluating control room furniture regardless of the application. I’ve been in the business for many years and sold hundreds of control room consoles and know that the type of material has little Continue reading
Ternium Buys Americon Control Room Consoles for Mexico Manufacturing Operations
Ternium, a manufacturer of steel products in the US and Latin America has installed the third control room console of three at individual manufacturing operations in Mexico.
As shown in the inserted photo, each control room console is a custom design with a steel integrated slatwall for connecting equipment arms. The base is designed to house full size CPUs mounted on front swing-out doors for easy access. Continue reading
Emergency Operations Center Design: The “One Room” Concept
An experienced emergency manager recently said to me that he favored the multi-room concept for emergency operations centers over the “one room” concept. He preferred assigning separate spaces (all within arms length) for all identified emergency operations functions, and was “allergic” to the one room concept that typically signifies a central operations center where the participants are grouped in the same room. Continue reading
A Total Security Surveillance System from Americon
Americon has just released the latest in its line of security consoles with high definition LCD video wall.
The OMNI security console is manufactured in both cockpit and linear styles, and is engineered to meet the needs of specialists working in the surveillance world. The console can be manufactured in custom sizes with many options available for equipment mounting and storage. These consoles are equipped with power strips and segregated cable management. Continue reading
New Control Room for Plains All American Pipeline
I’m pleased to say that our Plains All American Pipeline customer has chosen Americon to provide another control room furniture upgrade to an existing control room in California. My Plains customer took the time to visit us at our Southern California showroom several months ago to see our entire product line and discuss his vision for his project. We eventually provided detailed drawings which met his needs. Continue reading
Command Centers for Monitoring Social Media?
I just picked up an interesting CNNMoney.com article on Linkedin regarding the latest efforts by companies to stay on top of what social media is saying about their businesses. The article called out several companies for centralizing their efforts in newly established command centers designed to monitor and respond to inquiries. I find this interesting because it suggests a potential need for specialized command center furniture and video wall systems to assist in their efforts. Continue reading
FEMA Selects Americon for Emergency Management Training Furniture
The annual federal government push to implement their end of fiscal year budgets is now over. It’s that time of year that has all of us engaged in providing federal agencies with design solutions and proposals to be executed by the end of September. Among the planned purchases we received this year is a large Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) acquisition of 70 Americon Communicator consoles for FEMA’s emergency manager training center in Maryland. Continue reading
Domtar Selects Americon Console for Recovery Boiler Operation
Domtar, a leading manufacturer of sustainable paper products, has ordered a customized Americon control room console for its operation in Arkansas. I enjoyed working with the Domtar project manager for about a year on a design and implementation schedule that met their planned migration from an older control system. As is the case for many manufacturers who are modernizing their systems, not all of the older equipment can be replaced initially. Continue reading