Kevin Preston, group manager: IMA and IE, Phoenix Contact.
The local Johannesburg Branch of the SAIMC hosted a technology evening at the Bryanston Sports Club on 13 March 2024. The evening was very well attended with more than 22 members present. It was sponsored by Phoenix Contact and the technical presentation covered the full gambit of industrial wireless technology in the automation field. It addressed various technologies and topologies, including trusted wireless, industrial bluetooth, wireless LAN/Ethernet, 3G/GSM based systems and Wireless HART.
These technologies all co-exist in the same frequency band, are license free, and are not affected by electromagnetic Interference from plant and machinery. All these systems are capable of being integrated into existing systems, and are compatible with all scada, DCS and PLC brands.
They are growing in popularity due to their security, cost effectiveness and ease of installation in many applications. Included in the presentation were case studies on various operational systems covering a vast array of applications.
The case studies covered both local and overseas applications, and were relevant to all local industries. The applications included:
• Replacement of cables on overhead cranes.
• Mobile vehicle connections in warehouses and plants.
• Vernacular control at Cape Point.
• Aircraft gate support systems.
• Leaky cables for track-guided systems in automotive manufacture.
• Control of revolving machinery such as stranding machines.
• Safe wireless transport systems for elevators.
• Remote mill monitoring and bag filling.
• Centrifuge control and monitoring at wastewater plants.
• Safe wireless control and monitoring of fuel tank farms.
There was very good interaction during and after the presentation, and the feedback received was very positive.
Thank you to Kevin Preston from Phoenix Contact for an insightful presentation.
SAIMC User Advisory Council KS4I event: Bridging the industry/education divide
SAIMC
Horst Weinert, head of Didactic at Festo Southern/Eastern Africa, will be sharing some of Festo’s Didactic experiences of working across industry and education. He will cover training for productivity and employability in the public and private sectors, discussing especially the potential for inter-company training centres.
Read more...SAIMC: Johannesburg branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The local Johannesburg Branch of the SAIMC recently hosted a Technology Evening at Bryanston Sports Club on 9 April 2025.
Read more...SAIMC: Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The April technology meeting for the Durban branch of the SAIMC was kindly sponsored by ProRisk, a subsidiary company of the Proconics Group of Companies. Process safety engineer, Guillaume de Swardt gave a fascinating presentation on the power of operational risk control by utilising CFD software.
Read more...SAIMC User Advisory Council KS4I event SAIMC Supplier Advisory Council
SAIMC
The SAIMC User Advisory Council started 2025 with its first event in the ‘Knowlege Sharing 4 Industry’ event series on the 19th of March.
Read more...Knowledge Sharing 4 Industry
SAIMC
In proud partnership with Innomotics, SAIMC will be hosting the first Knowledge Sharing 4 Industry event for 2025.
Read more...Getting your OT data into the cloud – the why and the how
SAIMC
As users recognise the benefits of a digital transformation strategy for their industrial plants and systems and start to adopt it, they soon face the challenge of getting operational technology data securely and reliably to a cloud service provider of their choice.
Read more...SAIMC training at AATF 2025 empowers engineers to register, comply and advance SAIMC Supplier Advisory Council
SAIMC
The Society for Automation, Instrumentation, Mechatronics and Computer Engineering (SAIMC) will deliver a powerful series of training sessions and technical workshops during the Africa Automation Technology Fair (AATF) 2025, providing engineers, technologists and technicians with the tools they need to register professionally, stay compliant, and lead industrial innovation.
printer friendly version