Professionals4Ukraine: Global Automation Associations Unite to Support Ukrainian Industrial System Integrators

Summary

Automation people are always willing to share knowledge with others on technical issues, but with the Russian invasion of Ukraine entering its third month, automation professionals around the world wanted to do more.  Luigi De Bernadini has engineered the 1 Hour for You (#1H4U) and #Professionals4Ukraine initiatives to provide a means to support fellow professionals in these difficult times, and three global automation associations have already signed on to support the Association of Industrial Automation of Ukraine, known as APPAU.

Luigi De Bernardini is CEO of Italian system integrator Autoware. He is also a board member of the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) and a board member of the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA). His 1H4U and Professionls4Ukraine initiatives were described in an April 13 press conference jointly sponsored by CSIA, MESA and A3 - Association for Advancing Automation.

“All of us were touched by what happened in Ukraine,” said De Bernardini. “We Europeans probably were more sensitive, since it happened so close to us, and we were powerless.”  

"It's very important that automation be used to better the lives of people throughout the world as well as help companies in every industry create better, safer and higher paying jobs,” said Jeff Burnstein, president of A3. “In order to accomplish this, we need a vibrant automation sector in every nation. We very much support helping system integrators and others working in automation in the Ukraine as they struggle to survive during this very difficult period.” 

#1H4U (1 Hour for You) 

The 1H4U initiative was Luigi De Bernardini’s brainchild, created by his company Autoware. He would like to see it replicated in many more companies to economically support Ukrainian colleagues with funds generated by professional activity.  Employees donate one hour of labor (extra time) and their company gives a matching monetary donation to APPAU, the Association of Industrial Automation of Ukraine, or other humanitarian initiatives benefitting Ukraine.   

The APPAU donations will be used to support members’ companies and their families. Donations to the APPAU fund also can be made directly with electronic bank transfer or private payment to MasterCard. Find details here.

Regardless of where donations are made, De Bernardini encourages professionals to document them through this digital form to show the impact of the program. The only information required is company name, number of hours donated, financial amount, currency type, and name of the organization funds will be donated to.

#Professionals4Ukraine 

The MESA community plans to show its support of the people of Ukraine in a webinar hosted by De Bernardini that reviews the current state of the industrial and system integrators market in Ukraine and describes how global professionals can provide support. The CSIA Board of Directors, in solidarity with Ukrainian peers, unanimously voted on April 19, 2022, to award complimentary CSIA memberships for the years 2022 and 2023 to members of APPAU. 

“Our goal is to provide the space for Ukrainian members to network with other CSIA members and explore possible outsourcing opportunities,” explained CSIA CEO Jose Rivera. “The war in Ukraine has disrupted regular local peacetime work opportunities. This contrasts with the explosive business growth currently benefiting SIs of many other geographies. Outsourcing can also help other SIs alleviate the serious talent shortages they are experiencing."

Alexandre Yurchak, CEO of APPAU, has been leading the global collaboration efforts from the Ukrainian side.  “It is a big honor and a great opportunity for our community to have such a relationship with CSIA,” he says. “Our best engineering companies and system integrators are ready to work with their counterparts around the world, and we really need this work as never before.” 

“What we appreciate even more,” Yurchak said, “is the friendly and fast response of CSIA to our situation. It shows a new kind professional solidarity that drives our community to be together and to hold the line on the economic front.” 

The Association of Industrial Automation of Ukraine has an outsourcing database that is available by request.   The organization membership includes about 20 system integrator and engineering companies encompassing more than 256 engineers. Industry experience includes pharmaceutical, chemical, mining, oil & gas production, metallurgy, utilities (electric, water; gas), and food & beverage. PLC software development expertise and experience includes Mitsubishi, Omron, ABB, Phoenix contact, GE/Emerson, Rockwell Automation/Allen – Bradley, Schneider Electric, and Siemens.  Software skills include JavaScript, C++, Python, Java, C#, SQL, Linux OS configuration, Windows OS configuration, and computer network design. Typical APPAU member projects include: 

• Automated Process Control Systems,  
• Drives and Motion Control Systems 
• Safety and Critical Control Systems 
• Building Management Systems 
• IIoT and RFID Solutions 
• Vibration Diagnostics Systems 
• Predictive Analytics 
• MES/MOM Solutions 

Requests to do more 

APPAU and others formed the Industry4Ukraine platform in June 2019 to support Industry 4.0 initiatives. On March 28, 2022, APPAU used the Industry4Ukraine platform to appeal “international brands-suppliers of tools and industrial automation systems, IT, robotics and electrical engineering with a call to completely stop operating in the Russian market and support their customers in Ukraine.”  

In the April 13 press conference, APPAU referenced a Industry4Ukraine document addressing the Ukrainian Industry 4.0 community and international market leaders. Document author Mikhail Fedak said, “Members of the community are concerned about the reports of the Ukrainian and world media on the continuation of the work in the Russian Federation of a number of world brands that are leaders in the Ukrainian market of industrial automation and electrical engineering.”  Key points in the publication include: 

• Vendors do not give any public explanations about their activities in the Russian market, nor about returning to Ukraine and resuming supplies of their products. There are no statements or official comments on similar issues on official websites or other resources, which are expected to be answered by their clients, including most members of our community. 
• Vendors have stopped operating in the Ukrainian market, leading to shortages of products for critical infrastructure and other sectors of the economy. In other words, we see the effect of "sanctions on the contrary", because today the Ukrainian market is blocked, not the Russian one. 

​Fedak added that the Ukrainian community considers “such behavior unacceptable” and believes it “deal[s] a devastating blow to the reputation of individual vendors in the Ukrainian market.”  Frustration was summed up in a slide from the April 13, 2022, presentation that cited “Proposal #1: Stop working in Russia.”