Emerging technologies!

The Ireland Section's Emerging Technologies Conference 2025 was held in early April 2025 in Cork. It explored the upcoming technologies that are shaping the ICS industry particulary in the Pharma sector which is so innovative in the Munster (South of Ireland Province) area.

Industry leaders, experts and professionals, designers and users, met to explore the latest trends, innovations, and technologies shaping the future of automation.

Catching up!

The conference was very well attended and a large number of suppliers and consultatnt companies supported the event with small table top displays ath edge of the Conference area. During the breaks there was plenty of time for networking and discussion. As it was the first ISA event of any size since the restrictions of the Pandemic some years ago this interaction was more than appreciated by many renewing friendships and enjoying again face to face interaction.

A lot of this discussion centred on the new tarriff regulations announced the previous evening (Irish time) by the current USA Regime on the rest of the world with a palpable sigh of relief from those involved in the Pharma sector though tinged with some residual anxiety as to what might in store in the next few months.

The event was opened by Patrick Corbett, the newly elected* President of the Ireland Section of the International Society of Automation.

The event opened with a keynote presentation "Making Your Data Work For You!" co-presented by John McKeon and Patrick McCarthy, Gallarus Industry Solutions.

Michael Lawlor and Conor O’Sullivan of Sanofi discussed "Equipment Digital Twin – From Concept to Reality"

Some of the speakers in full flow!

Tom Doyle of Fortinet, a Platinum Sponsor of the event, then made their Showcase Presentation.

Ciarán Ó Drisceoil, Associate Director Digital Plant at Lilly gave a users view of the Challenges and opportunities of IT/OT integration in life sciences using ISA Standards (ISA 95).

Industrial AI – A New Industrial Revolution was the especially current topic from Deon van Aardt of AVEVA (SolutionsPT)

MTP was the subject addressed by Rockwell's Jim Butler with Enhancing Manufacturing Flexibility and Efficiency with Module Type Package.

Pio Murphy discussed the practical zapplication with "RTMS Digital Plant enabling Lilly Kinsale Operational Excellence." Kinsale is the location of a long established plant by the American Pharma company Eli Lilly.

Global software innovator Compucal's CEO, Dónal O'Sullivam, gave a study of an Asset Management Digital Transformation Project with Hanley Calibration Services.

A very interesting and relevent talk on today's innovation topic was "Upcoming Regulation for Users to Test Safety Functions," was given by Services & Support Manager at Pilz, Michael Gyilfoyle. This is particularly relevent in view of regulations and directives eminating from the European Commission.

Networking at the edges!

Digitalisation, getting ready for renewable gas was the interesting talk given by Frank Smiddy from Gas Networks Ireland, where he showed just how far this is changing our use of fuels.

Finally Liam Deasy and Seán Wallace of NeoDyne examined Driving Success in Digital Transformation.

All in all ISA Ireland organising committee are to be congratulated on the smooth organisation of this event. It was a worthy successor to events like this organised by the section in its almos 50 years of existance and a good portent for future events.

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* See "Passing the Chain!" (18/3/2025)

@IrelandISA @ISA_Automation #PAuto #TandM #Pharma #Ireland 

ISA District 12 Leaders Meeting 16-17 June 2024 London, England.

The ISA District 12 covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Pakistan. Meetings of the committee are held regularly but usually on-line. A physical leaders' meeting (DLC meeting) is held usually annually. Over the years they have been held in many different locations throughout the "district" but of course not every section can send a delegation (they are volunteers of course) to each meeting but they may participate electronically.

This meeting was hel prior to the 2nd ISA OT Cyber Summit which was held 18-19 June 2024 in the historis IET building on the banks of the river Thames in the heart of London. Pictures taken at that event may be seen here.

These pictures were taken mostly by Eoin Ó Riain (Ireland Section) but some have been shared from other attendees. See how many people you recognise!!!

Pic ISA Staff

Pic by Olwale Akande (Nigeria Section)

The International Society of Automation (ISA) is a non-profit professional association of engineers, technicians, and management engaged in industrial automation. As the globally trusted provider of foundational standards-based technical resources for the profession, ISA strives to build a better world through automation.
 

AGM of Automation Technology Interest Group of the Process Industry.

Boundless Automation theme highlights next-generation automation architecture that enables improved data utilisation and operating performance

NAMUR is the international user association of automation technology and digitalisation in the process industries and its influential two-day congress will host over 650 industry executives, expert users and automation suppliers who gather to learn the latest advancements in automation technology and software. This year Emerson will sponsor the NAMUR 2024 Annual General Meeting on November 21-22 in Neuss- near Düsseldorf (D)*.

In alignment with Emerson’s vision for Boundless Automation™, a next-generation automation architecture that enables companies to achieve new levels of performance and better utilise data and software for greater organisational agility and performance, the theme of NAMUR’s event is ‘Boundless Automation for Ecosystems in Action.’ 
See also our piece Towards "Boundless Automation." (25/10/20220).

Peter Zornio, chief technology officer at Emerson, will deliver the keynote presentation, highlighting how Emerson’s Boundless Automation strategy aligns with NAMUR concepts and recommendations, helping process plants achieve their full potential. He will also share insights on how a next-generation automation architecture unlocks the true potential of data to enable modern operating models.

“The NAMUR Annual General Meeting provides industry leaders a platform to understand the latest automation developments and how they can apply these advancements to improve efficiency, reliability, safety and sustainability,” said NAMUR president Felix Hanisch. “We welcome Emerson as our event sponsor and look forward to learning about technologies and strategies that enable Boundless Automation.”

The future automation architecture will connect the intelligent field, the edge, and cloud computing using open standards and protocols – such as Ethernet-APL (Advanced Physical Layer), PROFINET®, OPC-UA, WirelessHART®, 5G and others – across a unifying data fabric. This approach will empower companies to liberate silos of production, sustainability, reliability and safety data to extract maximum value through powerful analytics and optimisation software.

“Emerson looks forward to connecting with industry leaders to discuss how modern automation solutions empower companies to optimise their manufacturing facilities in multiple domains at the NAMUR conference,” said John Nita, president of Emerson in Europe. “Modernising operations has become restricted by the limitations of today’s automation architectures. By converging rich data and powerful software, Boundless Automation liberates data to unleash the power of software, helping manufacturers reach unprecedented levels of performance.”

Across a comprehensive conference program, including presentations from a broad range of process industry leaders, NAMUR will advise delegates of the challenges and best practices when applying modern automation architectures, technologies and software.

Workshops and exhibits hosted and delivered by Emerson subject matter experts will focus on:

• Implementing a modern automation architecture with NAMUR Open Architecture (NOA) and Module Type Package (MTP).
• Increasing asset reliability with innovative sensor technology and asset management systems (AMS) and machinery health software.
• Expanding access to field instrumentation and safety data with Ethernet-APL
• Maximising return on investment through `born digital’ and project certainty approaches.
• Using AI-enabled industrial software to achieve remote and autonomous operation.

In addition to the workshops, Emerson will exhibit intelligent field devices, the company’s modern DeltaV™ distributed control system, and new innovations enabling OT edge and cloud computing, plus optimisation software that delivers greater insight and drives measurable operational improvements.

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* Registration via the NAMUR website will be possible from the end of July 2024.

@EmersonExchange @EMR_Automation @Emerson_News  @HHC_Lewis #NAMUR #PAuto

Speakers at cybersecurity summit announced.

The International Society of Automation (ISA) has announced two keynote speakers for the 2024 OT Cyber Security Summit in London (GB) from 18-19 June 2023. Sarah Fluchs, CTO, admeritia GmBH, and Simon Hodgkinson, former BP CISO will present at this year's event.

Sarah Fluchs is the CTO of admeritia, which specializes in security consulting for the process industry, manufacturing, and critical infrastructures. Sarah leads the government-funded research project IDEAS (Integrated Data Models for the Engineering of Automation Security) and has taken a side role as a scientific researcher at Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg since 2021. Sarah is a board member and active contributor to ISA and IEC standards regarding automation security.

Simon Hodgkinson is an experienced technology leader who has worked in the software sector, financial services, and energy sector. Simon spent 18 years working for BP in a variety of global roles, the last being CISO, and transformed cyber security with a strategy of embedding security to simplify and accelerate adoption. Simon advised the BP board and has shared his expertise on numerous technology and diversity forums.

The OT Cyber Summit will focus on the leading international standards and conformance systems that are being used to keep operational technology (OT) safe and secure in industries such as energy, manufacturing, building automation, and more.

New developments within the ISA/IEC 62443 standards series will be highlighted and technical training and certification programs designed to help implement standards into workforce and business operations. Professionals involved in the security process should attend this event to learn more about workforce development strategies, hardware and software protection practices, and ways to improve infrastructure and data security measures. 

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@ISA_Interchange @automation_com #PAuto #Cybersecurity #Britain

Water, wastewater & emissions returns to life!

WWEM 2022 will take place live at the Telford International Centre (GB) on 12th and 13th October. This follows last years hugely successful virtual event. Covering regulations, standards, process control, pollution prevention, test methods and monitoring, WWEM will focus on Water, Wastewater and Environmental Monitoring in both process water and natural water resources.

“We are absolutely delighted to be able to return to live events again,” says organiser Marcus Pattison. “Last year’s virtual event enabled a broader group of people to access the presentations, but the pandemic prevented all of us from exploiting the advantages of face-to-face meetings. As a focused event, WWEM therefore offers everyone the opportunity to meet a lot of key people in a short space of time, whilst accessing an enormous amount of the latest information.”

The WWEM presentation programme is supported by a comprehensive range of seminars, and two major international exhibitions featuring most of the world’s leading suppliers of environmental monitoring equipment, analytical testing instrumentation and support services.

Registration for both WWEM and the co-located AQE Air Quality & Emissions show, is free and available on-line here. By registering prior to the event, visitors will be entitled to free parking, free refreshments and complementary access to both events.

The overall objective for 2022 will be to focus on learning and development. “There will be over 100 hours of free content available,” explains Oliver Grievson, who helped to organise the programme. “We have involved several key professional organisations such as CIWEM, the IES and the IMC to ensure that the content is relevant and appropriate for professional development. WWEM 2022 therefore represents a great opportunity for everyone from the newest apprentices to the most experienced industry experts.” Oliver is the founder of WIPAC (Water Industry Process Automation & Control), the LinkedIn Group, which currently has over 11,000 members.

Pollution.
A Pollution Forum will focus on a recent investigation from the Environment Audit Committee (EAC) into river water quality and the new monitoring requirements outlined in Section 82 of the Environment Act 2021.

Effluent and river water quality will also be addressed by speakers from the Environment Agency, CIWEM, United Utilities and the Southern Water Storm Overflow Taskforce. In the afternoon, the Rivers Trust will host a major session focusing on citizen science; looking at the ways in which any interested individuals can help improve the spatial and temporal monitoring of Britain's rivers.

Flow.
A Flow Forum will run on the first day of WWEM, featuring speakers from the Environment Agency, Thames Water, Morrison Water Services and the Coal Authority, with presentations covering the latest requirements and practical insights for installers and operators of flow monitoring equipment.

Digital.
Within a Digital Zone, BIM4Water will run a series of presentations and workshops designed to share knowledge and enhance skills in the digital transformation of the water sector through better information management. BIM4Water is a cross industry not-for-profit group which is open to all organisations involved in the management and delivery of water and wastewater assets and services. A series of SWAN (Smart Water Networks Forum) workshops will also bring together key players to collaborate and accelerate the use of data-driven solutions in water and wastewater networks. The second day of the Digital Zone will see presentations by technology experts from within the supply chain.

Comms.
A Communications Zone will focus on digital transformation. Developments in communications technology are the enablers of the advantages that are now being realised, and speakers will describe the latest advances in a range of communications technologies. Vodafone will explain how narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), a wireless communications standard, is ideal for devices that handle relatively small amounts of data with a low bandwidth and a low power requirement. Ground Control will describe the application of satellite communications, Siemens will explain the role of EDGE in IoT, and advances in radio communications will be described by Radio Data Networks.

Apprentices.
The hugely successful Instrumentation Apprentice Competition will again operate throughout WWEM. The competition is free to enter, with teams generally coming from utilities and service providers. All competitors are invited to the Gala Dinner (12th Oct) and receive free membership of the Institute of Measurement & Control.

WWEM has partnered with the Future Water Association to run a ‘Water Dragons’ heat on 12th October, during the conference/exhibition. Water Dragons provides a unique opportunity for companies to pitch product, service or process innovations to a panel of senior water company executives and industry specialists.

Summarising the plans for these two events, Marcus Pattison says: “It is tremendously exciting to be able to run a physical event again – everyone keeps telling me that they can’t wait to meet again! This year the volume of available content is incredible – I would urge everyone to plan their trip very carefully so that they can jump in and out of their sessions of most relevance, to maximise the benefit of their visit.

“Can I also ask everyone to REGISTER NOW at www.ilmexhibitions.com – it’s free and only takes a few seconds. Registered visitors will be entitled to free parking, free entry, free lunch and refreshments, but most importantly, they will be provided with free access to all of the presentations (both AQE and WWEM), both exhibitions and all of the seminars and workshops that will take place!

“Telford benefits from easy access and the International Centre has hotels on site, so that visitors can stay for both days. So, as you can probably tell, we are really excited about this year’s events and we can’t wait to see everyone in Telford!"

@IET_online @_Enviro_News #PAuto #Water #Environment 

Automation conference.

The International Society of Automation (ISA) has announced its 2022 Automation and Leadership Conference, to be held 7-9 November in Galveston, Texas, USA.

Carlos Mandolesi

“On behalf of ISA leadership, I am delighted to invite the automation community to this brand-new event,” said Carlos Mandolesi, ISA President. “The Automation and Leadership Conference combines ISA’s leadership conference with two days of technical presentations on trending industry topics including digital transformation, cybersecurity, IIoT, smart manufacturing, and process automation.”

Attendees may participate in person or virtually, and will have opportunities to interact and network with ISA leadership and subject-matter experts from the US, Canada, Middle East, Brazil, Malaysia, Spain, and India. In addition to conference sessions, attendees can visit exhibitor booths and attend the ISA Honors and Awards Gala.

Members of the 2022 ISA Executive Board* will attend the Automation and Leadership Conference.

*ISA Executive Board 2022:

President: Carlos Mandolesi, Trinity College Dublin

President-elect Secretary: Marty Bince, EECOL Electric

Past President: Steve Mustard, National Automation, Inc.

Treasurer: Scott Reynolds, Johns Manville

Executive Director: Claire Ramspeck, ISA

Ardis Bartle, Apex Measurement and Controls LLC

R. Donald Bartusiak, Collaborative Systems Integration

Ken Belteau, Belith Consulting Services

Paulina Chan, Global Mutual Innovation Consortium

Jim Garrison, aeSolutions

Vivek Gupta, DCM Shriram Ltd

Eddie Habibi, Hexagon PPM

Maxym Lachance, BBA Inc.

Claudio Makarovsky, Microsoft

J. Parsons, LONG Building Technologies

Rajesh Rathi, Control Infotech, Inc.

Debashis Sadhukhan, NASA Glenn Research Center

Jagdish Shukla, Servilink Systems Ltd.

Prabhu Soundarrajan, Republic Services

@ISA_Interchange #PAuto #Automation

What's cooking?

Choose the right Ingredients for truly optimized operations

This was the first time for many to attend a face to face conference of any kind. Many events have suffered because of the COVID pandemic and Emerson postponed many of their innovative Emrex Conferences on both sides of the Atlantic which we have reported on over the years. Then last year EMREX EMEA 2021 went online.

This year in Europe instead of the major EMREX function over several days in a particular European city the decided to hold a smaller event in various venues throughout the region entitled Emerson Innovation Day 2022 headlining "Optimising Performance with the Right Ingredients."

Seán Boylan

In Ireland there were two such events one in Dunboyne and the other in Cork. We attended the event closest to Dublin and the Meath venue certainly was not shy in showing its football credentials with a statue of the legendary manager Seán Boylan standing by the main entrance. The town was also familiar to the older participants as the area in which the soap "The Riordans" was filmed week after week indeed the local church was where Benjie and Maggie tied the marital knot. (I was tempted to include a picture of this idyll of Irish country living but controlled myself.)

The fact that many people were confined due to the pandemic meant that perhaps they were unaware of the great changes in automation. We were introduced with a short film on how these challenging changes were being handled by Emerson. Some of these, like remote management of processes and indeed the conducting of remote meetings was accelerated by enforced isolation. 

Digitizing became the in word as IT and OT moved into ever more closer cooperation. Another challenge hurtling us into more change the full effects of which we hardly know is being instigated by the war in Ukraine. It looks like this will hasten uptake on reducing the use of fossil fuels and the adoption of alternative energy sources.

The use of automation was key in the Life Sciences industry in developing the various vaccines combatting the pandemic. Key stratagies had to be developed using data, much cooperation focussed on personal medicine solutions and vitally to debottleneck facility during the ramp up phase towards full capacity production.

There is a danger of being flooded with data but being unable to access the right information needed to make critical decisions.The key to success here is PKM - process, knowledge, management. Sometimes these can be reversed to the detriment of the production of the final result.

In order to solve flexibility and fast track project constraints and reduce architecture pains where possible, a process valve piloting solution was developed by Emerson which has now become a standardised product for the end-user on all projects. Again resource and speed are key factors in project execution.

Another aspect was highlighted for producers. Maintenance. Sometimes this is a reactive operation. A controller fails - "go fix it!" This means delays. The argument was that predictive maintenance is best. Also the development of remote calibration has been an enhancement forced in part by work practices during the past two years.

Better visibility into key operations data is essential to improve efficiency, increase plant and personnel safety, and support predictive maintenance strategies. The use of of WirelessHART and the mesh system with smart instrumentation makes more possible the optimisation and utilisation of assets and ultimately increase production.

Of course no Emerson function would be complete with out a presentation on DeltaV. This one was no exception. Each release of the DeltaV DCS brings innovative technologies that optimise operational efficiency. Here participants learned how it’s easier to bring in spectral waveform data, support for high-density cards making PLC migrations easier, HMI improvements, and integrating Module Type Packages into DeltaV. And we were teased by news on the next release!

The event was attended by maybe more than 75 people in Dunboyne and the quality of questions from the floor was high and stimulating.

It was quite different from EMREX but attendance included many people who would not be able to travel and spend two or three days in one venue. All user conferences are very important in encouraging interaction not only with the automation manufacturer but also between different users in similar and dissimilar industries

Salad days!

Oh and the freebies! Each participant received wooden salad servers which tied in nicely with the "Choosing the Right Ingredients" theme of the conference. Also a copy of their "Innovations in Process Automation" publication- get your own copy here!

Forward Focus!
EMREX itself is coming to America next October. Emerson Exchange is back in-person October 24th-28th, 2022 in Grapevine, TX USA. The blurb says "Emerson Exchange is more than just an industry-leading technical conference. It’s a unique opportunity to learn how you can maximize assets and increase profitability with other leaders and experts from across the process automation industry." Learn more

@Emerson_News @EMR_Automation @EmersonExchange @HHC_Lewis #PAuto #Ireland

Connect with a "Q"

Seeq Corporation launched Conneqt, the company's expanded global industry conference designed for manufacturing leaders to explore the latest innovations in advanced industrial analytics. In early May 2022 Conneqt brought together in Austin (TX USA), a community of Seeq customers, partners, and experts in a fully immersive experience that provided access to transformative business trends, use cases, and proactive conversations through a series of interactive sessions.

Dr Graham addresses the conference

Seeq customers include companies in the oil and gas, pharmaceutical, chemical, energy, mining, food and beverage, and other process industries. The company has raised over $100M to date from investors including Insight Ventures, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, Altira Group, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Cisco Investments.

Seeq is available worldwide in the Amazon Web Services Marketplace, the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, through a global partner network of system integrators, which provides training and resale support for Seeq in over 40 countries, and its direct sales organization in North America and Europe.

In addition to cloud and channel partnerships, Seeq connects to an extensive set of data storage platforms from vendors including OSIsoft, Siemens, GE, Honeywell, Inductive Automation, AVEVA, AspenTech, Yokogawa, InfluxDB, Snowflake, and others.

Customer presentations, from organizations including Chevron, Koch Ag & Energy Services, Eli Lilly & Company, Bristol Myers Squibb, Guardian Glass, and others, featured Seeq use cases and best practices for addressing the complex business issues facing the process industries today. Hands-on training sessions, fireside chats with customers, and forward-thinking cloud partner discussions with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure delivered first-hand insights on conquering data and process control challenges across a variety of industries.

Dr. Lisa Graham, Seeq CEO, kicked off the event, highlighting the company’s journey from inception to present day as well as its vision for the future of the product portfolio, which includes continued investments in extensibility, machine learning, and the cloud. “The goal of Conneqt is to provide an environment for our customers, partners, and other industry leaders to exchange ideas, data-driven insights, and manufacturing expertise that will drive sustainable and scalable business results for their organizations,” she said.

During the customer keynote presentation, “Accelerating Business Impact Through Cultural Innovation,” Brent Railey, Manager of Data Science at Chevron Phillips, shared how Seeq fits into the organization’s overall digital transformation strategy and how influencing organizational culture enabled his team to successfully drive adoption of the advanced analytics solution across multiple sites. “The successful adoption of any digital solution requires analysis of its relationship with the organization’s culture,” he said. “By understanding the significant opportunities for improvement that Seeq could uncover and potential change management challenges before deployment, we could proactively address them to accelerate the positive production outcomes we achieved.”

Limited sessions were recorded at Conneqt and will be offered on-demand on their website.

@SeeqCorporation #PAuto #IIoT #Conneqt22

Conference now online!

Deutsch

Originally, The 17th international CAN Conference (iCC) was planned as two-day conference in Baden-Baden (Germany). However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was postponed. In February, CiA has re-scheduled the conference. 

The iCC now takes place from June 14 to June 17 as an online event. The motto is “From Classical CAN via CAN FD to CAN XL”. Besides the regular iCC conference program, there is also a supporting program.  

The CiA open-house session comprises several open CiA technical meetings on June 15.  These open meetings give members and non-members the opportunity to have an inside look to some CiA technical groups. 

Additionally, CiA has scheduled some webinars on June 16 and June 17.

For both kinds of supporting program (the open-house meetings and the webinars), participants need to register. The participation is free of charge – also for non-members.

The iCC program comprises several sessions. 

The keynote by Carsten Schanze (Volkswagen) is scheduled for June 15. His presentation is titled “Future of CAN from prospective of an OEM” (original equipment manufacturer). 

The regular sessions cover CAN physical layer issues, the CAN XL protocol, CAN FD topics, classic CANopen and CANopen FD, CAN engineering, CAN XL higher layers, and CAN security solutions. 

“Of high interest are the CAN XL related papers,” said Holger Zeltwanger, CiA Managing Director and iCC program committee chair. “Nevertheless, there are also other important presentations – the introduction of CAN FD Light is one of them.”

Because the 17th iCC is planned as virtual event, the networking of CAN fellows is limited. To overcome this, CiA organizes after each of the four conference days a one-hour CiA CAN Coffee (C3) session for answering questions regarding the presentations of the day, but also to discuss other CAN-related topics. The access to the C3 is free for all iCC conference attendees.

“The iCC is a must for those who like to get first-hand information about new developments in CAN technology,” stated Zeltwanger. CiA has already started the iCC registration and booking for early birds. The registered attendees may access all sessions during the four half-days of the iCC 2021.

@CANopen #PAuto #Communications #BUS

Focus on enabling smarter, safer, more sustainable operations.

EMREX EMEA goes on-line - offers new insights and innovations that are driving performance improvements for manufacturers.

One of the events we enjoy every two years is the Emerson EMEA User Group meeting held every two years somewhere in Europe. The last was held in the manageable city of Den Haag in the Netherlands which we reported on in our piece, "Connecting, communicating and creating in Netherlands," in 2018. Scheduled originally for Milan last year it had to be postponed at short notice because of the initial surge of COVID 19 then devastating Northern Italy. We little knew what was before us when Milan was again pencilled in for the delayed event this time in 2021.  Few realised the disruption that would be caused by this terrible invisible virus. The learning curve has been very steep and the scientific battle to develop a vaccine impressive. We are now allowing ourselves to hope but in the meantime we have become used to alternative methods of doing business. So EMREX is going on-line!

Emerson Users Exchange Live 2021 Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) will highlight practical innovations and solutions to help industrial manufacturers achieve performance improvements by running their operations smarter, safer and more sustainably. The 2021 event is being held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of delegates will be able to attend more than 120 online presentations taking place live over three days, from March 29 to 31.

The conference will feature more than 70 case studies presented by end users. These will provide vital insights into how Emerson customers have achieved measurable business value, increased safety and enhanced their environmental sustainability through the adoption of easily scalable innovations such as remote collaboration, predictive maintenance and personnel safety-focused monitoring. In addition, there will also be deep-dive perspectives and the latest insights from automation and software experts and manufacturing leaders on how to rethink processes, identify new efficiencies, reduce costs and reach higher levels of performance.

Keynote speakers will include Jos Berkien, automation technology manager at global specialty chemicals company Nouryon; Richard Mortimer, vice-president of engineering at BP; and Frank Wouters, global lead for green hydrogen at engineering company Worley. Emerson keynote presenters include Roel van Doren, president, Emerson Europe, and Vidya Ramnath, president, Emerson Middle East and Africa.

“At Emerson, our goal is to drive innovation that makes the world healthier, safer, smarter and more sustainable, and this objective will be reflected across the content of Emerson Users Exchange Live,” said Roel van Doren. “The global health crisis has accelerated the need for digital transformation strategies and technologies to keep the process and manufacturing industries running safely, and Emerson Users Exchange will focus on how these strategies and technologies can be leveraged to optimise operational performance.”

Free to Emerson customers, Emerson Users Exchange Live offers both live and on-demand product technology roadmaps, meet the expert sessions, subject matter expert office hours, user case studies, industry forums and product demonstrations, all offering opportunities for Emerson customers to stay engaged and up to date on the company’s latest technologies and services, as well as future innovations.

The Emerson Users Exchange Live follows the company’s recent users event in the Americas, Exchange Virtual Series, which began in November 2020 and continues through to March 2021.

See also our reports on various EMREX meetings since 2010 here. 

@Emerson_News @EMR_Automation #PAuto #EMrex 

Accelerating Digital Transformation in a Post-COVID World.

Auf Deutsch

ARC Advisory Group is to host its European Industry Forum on May 18-19, 2021 as an online event. The forum is part of ARC’s successful series of worldwide conferences in the USA, India, China and Japan. Earlier this year, ARC Europe hosted a highly successful virtual event attended by 250 delegates.

Participants are invited to attend a series of exclusive speeches and workshops to discover strategies and stories from the digital front lines. ARC industry analysts and other automation experts from the end-user and supplier communities will analyze trends and drivers for the following topics:

• 21st Century Operations: Where IT, OT and ET Converge
• AI and Machine Learning
• Asset Performance Management
• Automation Innovations
• Blockchain for Industry
• Cybersecurity for the New Normal in Industry, Infrastructure and Smart Cities
• Digital Twins and Connected Smart Machines
• Digital Workforce and Culture
• Industrial 5G
• Industrial IoT Platforms, Edge Infrastructure and End Devices
• Manufacturing Execution Systems
• Smart Cities

A representative of Philip Morris International comments on a previous forum: “ARC's forum is a very good opportunity to learn much more about the IT/OT transition. We all know the technology is available and we have learned that important success factors are people, culture, and security.”

ARC’s Industry Forum Europe helps delegates to learn more about how transforming factories, cities, and infrastructure will benefit technology end users and suppliers alike. They will discover what their peers and industry leaders are doing today and what steps they are taking to prepare for the future.

@ARCWorldForum @arc_advisory #PAuto #Cybersecurity #Digititalisation

#coróinvíreas #COVID19 #coronavirus

Virtual physics conference.

HBK has launched the countdown to its virtual Product Physics Conference, taking place from 13th to 15th October 2020.

The HBK Product Physics Conference is to bring together interested parties, from an international community of users and partners, to learn more about how leaders of the global test and measurement community overcome their challenges.

A wide range of topics, suitable for different types of engineers will be covered, including industrial electronics and measurement chains set ups, improving the durability and reliability of products, data insight, automating analytics for huge quantities of sensor data, electric power testing, strain measurement, dynamic weighing, sound and vibration analysis, electroacoustics and more.

Presented over three days, this free, user-centric online event will demonstrate how HBK’s customers have implemented its tools to address engineering challenges and innovate in their industries. Attendees can also join interactive discussion panels, dedicated networking areas and presentations.

The HBK Product Physics Conference is a good opportunity to share experiences and learn best practices, while expanding personal networks.

@HBMmeasurement @BruelKjaerUK @HBMPrenscia #PAuto 

On-line summit on sensor and explosion protection solutions!

"We miss you! Even in this time of limited social interaction, we would like to stay in touch with you, our customers. That is why we are holding our first online summit from July 20 – 24. For five exciting and informative days, we will address topics that are propelling us forward. Everything will revolve around user-centered digitalization. What better way to communicate this than with a digital event tailored to the interests of our customers?" said Dr. Gunther Kegel, Chairman of the Executive Board of Pepperl+Fuchs AG.

Pepperl+Fuchs’ 2020 Online Summit is a free digital platform that will allow customers and other interested parties to learn about the latest trends and solutions in factory and process automation—even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Topics Include.

• Digital Kanban Management
• Mobile Devices and Services Drive Digital Transformation
• Smart Intralogistics Solutions with RFID and LiDAR Technology
• Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer (Ethernet APL)
• The Power of 3-D Measurement Technology

"Your Future Automation” is the motto for Pepperl+Fuchs’ first online summit, which will take place from July 20 – 24. This free, fully digital event offers customers and other interested parties a way to get in touch with industrial sensor and electrical explosion protection experts and learn about the latest solutions and trends in the fields of factory and process automation. On each day of the summit, participants will be able to access keynotes, live shows, and panel discussions on a different topic from the field of automation technology via a browser-based online platform.

In the networking lounge, participants will also have the opportunity to talk to other attendees and experts from Pepperl+Fuchs and its partner companies. Other digital content, such as technical white papers, videos, and presentations, will be available for free download. All content areas will be offered in English and will be presented in both the morning and afternoon to enable interested parties from all over the world to participate without being tied to time zones.

@PepperlFuchs #PAuto #Safety

Machine vision conference.

The 2019 Stemmer Imaging CVB Technical Summit is scheduled 22-23 May 2019 near Munich (D). The meeting is designed to provide delegates with a rich program of events involving the Common Vision Blox machine vision programming library. These will include hands-on demonstrations, technical presentations, training and application examples. There will also be invaluable opportunities to network and share experiences with the CVB user community and experts from the company.

Topics to be covered include a preview of CVB's upcoming DNC 3D tool and how rapid prototyping can be facilitated through Python support in CVB. There’s also a chance to find out how the new CVB OPC UA tool allows information to be communicated and shared in a connected factory environment. For those interested in the innovative Intel 400 Series of RealSense stereo cameras and depth modules, Stemmer Imaging has created a GenICam Transport Layer so that they can be handled in the same way as GigE Vision and USB3 Vision cameras.

Many interesting application areas will be covered from the state of modular embedded systems to the use of hyperspectral imaging to open up applications that have not previously been possible, especially in the food and pharmaceutical industries. The interactive application sessions also provide the opportunities to hear how other users have created innovative solutions using CVB and for any participant to present their own application experiences.

The event will feature a number of useful training sessions to help users to get the most out of CVB. In addition to a training course for complete beginners, there is also the opportunity to find out how to get started with 3D applications. More advanced users can find out how to use machine learning methods within CVB and how the new CVB++, CVB.NET/ CVBpy APIs can make life easier.

@stemmerimaging #PAuto

Impressive speakers on Water & Waste!

An impressive list of speakers has been published on the Conference section of the WWEM 2018 website, featuring major water utilities, technology innovators, and some of the leading Universities in water, wastewater & environmental monitoring.

A number of major organisations are also represented; including UKAS, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Water Management Society and the Danish Technological Institute.

Speakers from commercial innovators such as BP and Siemens will discuss analytical developments and Big Data, and specialist companies such as Meteor Communications will demonstrate a new breed of remote water quality monitors and web-enabled cameras. Leading testing service providers such as ALS and Derwentside Environmental will also provide insights into the latest analytical challenges.

In addition to the WWEM conferences, there will also be dozens of specialist presentations in the five WIPAC and exhibitor workshop rooms located in the main WWEM Exhibition Hall. The event will also include a Pump Centre Conference and a Flow Forum Conference as well as a wide selection of workshops organised by the Smart Water Networks Forum, PROFIBUS, Engineering Futures, and Cogent Skills.

In summary, WWEM 2018 (Telford, 21/22 Nov.) represents a unique opportunity to meet leaders, innovators and disrupters in water, wastewater end environmental monitoring. Pre-registered WWEM 2018 visitors will benefit from free parking, refreshments and lunch, in addition to free entry to AQE 2018, the co-located air quality and emissions event.

#WWEM18 #Water @_Enviro_News 

Are process control & automation systems secure?

ISA Ireland - Conference on Cybersecurity for Process Control and Automation Systems,  Cork, Ireland.  13th April 2018

Panel of Speakers

The growing threat from Cyberattacks on the control systems running manufacturing plants and critical infrastructure is not going away.

The conference aims • Highlight how to identify cyber threats, mitigate risks & limit exposure of control systems/networks. • Introduce proven industrial systems security standards and practices and demonstrate how to apply them – ISA99 / IEC 62443 (Industrial Automation and Control Systems Security). • Show what mitigation steps are being taken, by leading control system manufacturers & end users, to implement Cybersecurity Standards. • Showcase industry best practices and highlight peer to peer experiences & lessons learned. • Identify steps needed to protect Control and Automation Systems from internal threats.

A conference on Cybersecurity for Process Control and Automation Systems is being organised by the Ireland Section of ISA studying .

The event will explore the solutions and concerns which uniquely affect control and automation systems used within the Manufacturing, Transportation and Critical Utilities across Ireland today.

ISA Ireland will have some of the world's leading speakers on this topic including those from some leading Control and Automation suppliers like Siemens, Rockwell, Emerson, Yokogawa and ABB

One thing all the experts agree on is there is no single permanent solution, these cyber threats are constantly evolving. Masures may be taken to reduce exposure as several of the presenters will outline, but operatives and other users need to constantly be aware and prepared for new cyberattacks.

The presentations will give an understanding of how the control system manufacturers are designing protections into the existing and future control system to reduce these treats.

An International Panel of presenters representing these manufacturers will form part of the day. There will also be two breakout sessions with discussions on threat from cyberattacks and how best control systems can be protected.

Register On-Line

ISA Ireland Sponsors

#PAuto #ISAuto #Ireland #Cybersecurity