Safety Control Systems Conference 2006
August 2006
News
IDC Technologies recently hosted the Safety Control Systems Conference in Midrand. Local and international experts presented papers on a variety of key topics.
IDC Technologies' technical director, Steve Mackay, opened the conference and handed over to Clive Timms who had flown in from the United Kingdom for the event. His vast experience includes many years in the petrochemical industry and he is now a director of Asset Integrity Management, which specialises in the application of the IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 standards. This was reflected in the first paper that he presented: A Practitioners Approach to IEC 61508/61511.
Clive Timms
The engineering specialists and technicians who attended the SCS Conference gained valuable knowledge on the range of safety technologies for process and machinery protection. Apart from the interactive and practical workshops preceding the conference, many of the speakers encouraged discussion and questions from delegates.
Feedback from the delegates was favourable. As a result of interactive discussions it was clear that South Africa requires a committee to monitor safety systems and therefore a Functional Safety Society (FSS) is to be founded. IDC Technologies will initially fund the project and it will be directed by Dave Macdonald, one of the conference presenters and an IDC instructor and engineer.
Dave Macdonald (IDC) and Adriaan van der Merwe (PBMR)
IDC was grateful to have the support of its sponsors: Exida, Honeywell, Siemens, Yokogawa, and the official publication sponsor, SA Instrumentation & Control.
For more information contact IDC Technologies, 0800 114 160.
Further reading:
From solar to water, onsite plants are the next big industrial resilience shift
News
South African industrial operators who secured their energy supply with onsite solar generation now face the same imperative with water. Robert Erasmus of Sanitech argues that onsite water treatment is the next essential pillar of business continuity.
Read more...
From the editor's desk: Pushing engineering to the limit
Technews Publishing
News
Among the many things robots can do, it’s a lot of fun to follow how fast they are. They go from the Boston Dynamics cheetah, which first reached a record-breaking speed of 45,5 km/h, to the robot Charlie
...
Read more...
Schneider Electric concludes Innovation Summit Middle East and Africa
Schneider Electric South Africa
News
Schneider Electric's Innovation Summit Middle East and Africa, held in Abu Dhabi with more than 2500 attendees, explored the convergence of energy, AI and industrial software, launched an Industrial AI study and announced the NEST Accelerator Programme for energy and industrial tech startups.
Read more...
VEGA brings measurement expertise beyond mining to Electra Mining Africa 2026
VEGA Controls SA
News
VEGA used its Electra Mining Africa 2026 stand to demonstrate that its level and pressure measurement instruments extend well beyond mining, covering water, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and oil and gas applications across the continent.
Read more...
Sustainable solutions for sugar
Bearing Man Group t/a BMG
News
BMG received a Special Commendation Exhibition Stand Award at the South African Sugar Technologists’ Association Congress, where it showcased an integrated turnkey drive solution designed to simplify the upgrading of ageing crushing-mill drive systems.
Read more...
Measure, Manage, Maintain: The operating model behind SA’s water resilience
Siemens South Africa
News
South Africa’s growing water crisis is putting pressure on infrastructure, municipalities and the economy. Siemens highlights how digital technologies, smarter operations and safe water reuse could help shift the country from crisis response towards a more resilient and sustainable water future.
Read more...
VEGA brings measurement expertise beyond mining to Electra Mining Africa 2026
VEGA Controls SA
News
VEGA used its Electra Mining Africa 2026 stand to demonstrate that its level and pressure measurement instruments extend well beyond mining, covering water, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and oil and gas applications across the continent.
Read more...
Schneider Electric concludes Innovation Summit Middle East and Africa
Schneider Electric South Africa
News
Schneider Electric’s Innovation Summit Middle East and Africa, held in Abu Dhabi with more than 2500 attendees, explored the convergence of energy, AI and industrial software, launched an Industrial AI study and announced the NEST Accelerator Programme.
Read more...
RX Africa and Messe Muenchen India join forces to strengthen business platforms in Africa
RX Africa
News
Messe Muenchen India has announced a strategic partnership with RX Africa to strengthen the scale, reach and market impact of its premier co-located trade fairs, analytica Lab Africa and IFAT Africa, ahead of their 2027 editions.
Read more...
John Thompson secures order for bagasse-fired boiler
News
John Thompson, a division of ACTOM, has secured an order for a 320 t/h bagasse-fired boiler for what is set to become the world’s largest greenfield sugar mill development in Indonesia.
Read more...