It’s not often we get the chance to put the spotlight on some of the people who work behind the scenes to make the FieldServer™ suite of automation products what it is: a high-performance, easy-to-configure, cost-effective gateway solution to enable automation, interoperability, and digital transformation.

We recently caught up with Peter Chipkin, founder and president of Chipkin Automation, to talk about protocol development, the challenges facing automation integrators, and what makes the FieldServer gateway solution unique and valuable.

Can you tell us a little about Chipkin Automation and your partnership with MSA FieldServer automation products?

Chipkin is a solutions provider that focuses on machine-to-machine data communications and remote monitoring. We support mostly the building automation market and system integrators in solving their automation challenges. My background is in industrial automation—dairies, breweries, mining—and I was a software developer who developed some of the early protocols for the FieldServer gateways. Since launching Chipkin Automation in 2000, we’ve continued to develop protocols for both MSA and our own customers. We also sell, support, and install protocol converters/gateways, data loggers, remote monitoring, and control applications for fire, HVAC, lighting, and other systems.

Without giving away “the secret sauce,” talk to us about your driver development process, especially where your ideas come from.

Developing drivers is the part of the work I really love. In addition to thinking ahead and anticipating market demand for drivers, most of the drivers that Chipkin develops are a direct result of helping our customers solve a difficult-to-achieve integration. There’s a lot behind protocol integration; what we call “the engine.” In fact, there’s a huge amount of intelligence in this. Both MSA and our own Chipkin team are committed to very thoughtful, careful protocol design, which, I think, is what makes FieldServer gateways easy to configure, via the web interface configuration utility or a custom configuration.

You mentioned customer integration issues. With changing technologies like Industry 4.0/5.0 becoming part of the automation landscape, what’s the biggest challenge your customers are facing right now?

I’d say the biggest challenge we’re seeing is that the Baby Boomers are retiring. These are the people who have practical knowledge of legacy systems; the people who knew how things worked 30 years ago. The good news, however, is with FieldServer products, we can make the old compatible with the new.

Can you give us an example of how the FieldServer gateway is helping you enable the future while also providing longevity to legacy systems?

Sure. We had a mass transportation organization that was building a new facility. They didn’t want to shut down or rewire their old terminal so, with the FieldServer gateway, we were able to make the old system work with the new, giving them at least 10 more years of life in their existing legacy systems.

Sounds like you’re a big fan of the FieldServer gateway. What keeps you coming back to FieldServer as your go-to gateway?

Part of it is historical and part of it is practical. In my opinion, the FieldServer gateway is an excellent product. It makes things easier for us as a distributor because it has all the most commonly used protocols loaded onto one unit, which means there’s only one SKU. If a customer wants BACnet, LonWorks, and Modbus, it’s one system. In addition, the FieldServer gateway is extremely stable, which gives us a huge amount of confidence selling and supporting it. In our experience, if we’re working with a client and there’s an issue, the FieldServer gateway is so stable that we know whatever the problem, it’s not with the FieldServer product.

We have a ton of respect for you, Peter, and our partnership with Chipkin. Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Just that we’re really motivated to make our customers succeed. Like MSA, we’ve worked hard to earn a reputation for being on the side of our customer. Not only do we support our customers with this great product, the FieldServer gateway, we go out of our way to provide excellent service above and beyond what’s expected.