Futuristix-Wonderware's 2006 SI conference set to break previous records
September 2006
News
The Futuristix-Wonderware's system integrator (SI) conference, with 115 delegates attending in 2005 and more than 150 expected this year, has become one of the largest events of its type in southern Africa. This conference is organised by Futuristix, the sole SA distributor for the Wonderware range of industrial automation and MES solutions, and a member of the EOH group of companies.
South Africa is renowned in the Wonderware community worldwide for the sheer size, complexity and high standards of some of its industrial automation and MES (manufacturing execution systems) installations. While some of these are implemented by end-users, the majority are handled by a network of professional system integrators, many of whom specialise in various domains of the mining and manufacturing industries.
Since the introduction of the Wonderware ArchestrA architecture in 2003, many traditional 'process control' SIs have broadened their horizons by moving more and more into MES and other areas. In May 2005, 31 South African companies had adopted ArchestrA technology. A year later, this number had more than doubled with many repeat projects.
"On one hand, end users who saw ArchestrA as the unifying force that could harmonise their disparate systems and reduce engineering costs while maintaining standards, started to insist on its use," says Justin Tweedie, MD of Futuristix. "On the other hand, SIs who saw their colleagues get orders and implement installations faster and better than was thought possible, naturally migrated to ArchestrA technology.
"ArchestrA has opened up endless opportunities and Wonderware has backed it up with numerous application modules to assist with the all-too-critical job of enterprise production and performance management. This has required an unprecedented level of strategic cooperation with world leaders such as Microsoft and SAP to ensure the longevity of solutions. Today's system integrators find themselves in a world where developments are happening at an ever-increasing rate. Hence the necessity for these annual SI conferences to keep everyone up to date with respect to new technologies, strategic positioning and exciting new possibilities."
The 2006 Futuristix-Wonderware system integrator conference will be held on 5 October at the Ingwenya Country Escape.
To book, call 0861 WONDER (0861-966-337) or log on to www.wonderware.co.za or www.futuristix.co.za. Alternatively, e-mail [email protected] or [email protected].
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