Get to know: Zachary Roisum
Controls Engineer, Sure Controls Inc.
When Zachary Roisum wants someone to understand the possibilities of automation technology, he just invites them over for a beer.
In 2013, the automation expert and engineer integrated industry-standard controls with a mobile app on his home beer fridge. This allowed him to write software that predicted when he needed to order a new keg based on current consumption trends.
“That’s the moment it clicked for many of my customers, when they [understood] this technology is here. It’s available, it’s industrial, it’s repeatable,” he says. “These are the things we didn’t believe could happen, and here we are talking about it 10 years later.”
For his day job, Roisum is a controls engineer at Sure Controls Inc. in Greenville. And while he’s not automating kegerators, the basic principles of increased efficiency and production are the same. At Sure Controls, he partners with manufacturers to engineer systems integrations that help them achieve any number of goals — from increasing production speed to reducing power consumption.
The company works with manufacturers from various industries, including plastics, flexible packaging, paper production, metal converting, printing, food processing, medical and electronics. Roisum recently helped a local manufacturer unify its individual pieces of equipment into one cohesive unit, eliminating the need for an operator to move from machine to machine.
“By bringing in our software and pulling all the separate machines together into one central touchscreen, that really gave them the ability to see and control the entire machine from one physical location instead of 10,” Roisum says.
Roisum says the New North is poised for a dramatic increase in automation and digitization.
“I think we’re going to see this digital transformation that’s connecting these isolated machines to larger plant networks and software systems that can connect the dots between these different pieces of equipment,” he says. “We can now pull it all together and make much more informed decisions that help businesses make more money or lose less.”
— Amelia Compton Wolff
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Nature lovers
The outdoor recreation industry contributed $9.8 billion to Wisconsin’s gross domestic product in 2022, growing 6.8 percent over 2021. The data from the Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that 2022 saw the highest contribution by the outdoor recreation sector since 2018, when the BEA started measuring the industry’s economic impact and releasing the figures annually. Wisconsin’s motorcycling/ATVing sector contributed more than $1 billion and ranks first among all states. Notably, travel and tourism, as well as local trips (trips less than 50 miles) associated with outdoor recreation, grew to nearly $3 billion in 2022, increasing by 14.2% and 8.7%, respectively.
Electric pride
Schneider National has become the first major carrier to haul more than 1 million zero-emission miles of customer freight, including for major brands like Frito-Lay North America. Green Bay-headquartered Schneider currently operates one of the largest battery electric vehicle fleets in North America at the company’s Southern California Intermodal Operations Center. Since January, the fleet has grown to 94 electric vehicles, including 92 battery electric trucks and two electric yard spotters. The eCascadias have avoided approximately 3.3 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions — the equivalent of removing more than 330 gas-powered passenger vehicles from the road for a year. “Three years ago, we tested the Freightliner eCascadia with Schneider in real-world test applications, and now they have already delivered goods on 1 million fully electric miles with their electric fleet. This is an important milestone, not just for Schneider, but for the industry as a whole,” said Daimler Truck North America Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing David Carson.
Downtown driver
U.S. Venture announced the move of its corporate headquarters in Kimberly to an existing building in downtown Appleton. The company is shifting its plans from constructing a new, 200,000-square-foot building near downtown to adapting the 222 Building at 222 E. College Ave. for its use. “While the approach might look different than what was originally proposed, benefits to our local economy brought by hundreds of well-paying corporate jobs moving into our central business district remain,” said Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford. According to an analysis completed by JobsEQ, U.S. Venture’s move from Kimberly to downtown Appleton will generate an estimated $770 million in annual economic activity in the city as the company’s workers and visitors patronize downtown restaurants, retailers and service providers.
