At its highly successful 8th annual conference, the African branch of the global organisation, Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA), assembled an impressive array of presenters. In line with the theme ‘Mastering The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Smart MOM 4 Industrie’, the speakers covered a wide range of highly informative topics around the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), both at the strategic and the practical level, backed up by highly relevant case studies, and with some fascinating insights into the future thrown in.
From left: Duane Gauche (1 Worx), Daniel Spies (CDS Consulting and chairman MESA Africa), Gerhard Botha (Sasol), Yashin Parsad (Omnia), Thomas Copley (SRI), Gawie Reyneke (Lonmin), Halilou Mohaman (Boxmore), Gerhard Greeff (Bytes Technology and vice chairman MESA Africa), Gerhard Hattingh (Siemens), Varshan Mahabel (Wilec), Gert Coetzee (Dynamic Build Systems) and Andre Brits (CSI).
Chairman, Daniel Spies, set the tone by highlighting MESA Africa’s many achievements over the last year. These included an initiative with ECSA for developing a framework for certification and accreditation of Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) practitioners; a new website; a global education programme, which among other things covers international best practices for implementation of manufacturing industry standards; and double and even triple digit percentage increases in measurables such as number of events, number of sponsors, attendance at events and conferences, submission of abstracts and year-on-year revenue growth. “This is a very positive change and we aim to carry the momentum forward,” he said.
Some of the highlights included keynote speakers such as PWC director, Pieter Theron, whose talk on building a digital enterprise showed how technology will disrupt business. Head of Sasol Group MES Architecture, Gerhard Botha, continued this theme with his thought-provoking account of technology trends in the disruptive age that will change the manufacturing industry in the next thirty years: anything from self-healing materials to human-computer integration to the disappearance of physical money to designer babies to the first human colony on Mars. Dr Willie Oosthuizen, group executive for technology and strategy at Altron, talked about converging technologies for a smart environment – the convergence of IT and OT. To back this up, digital mine product manager at GE Mining, Francis Rousseau, highlighted how the industrial Internet is transforming the realities of the new plant. In a very relevant case study, she showed how General Electric has created a massive new software business for IIoT, GE Digital, based on the open source platform, Predix.
The conference also featured exhibitions by sponsors SAIMC, Siemens, Wonderware, Bytes Universal Systems, Yokogawa, Business Connexion and OSIsoft.
Palabora Mining Company and LH Marthinusen launch robotics and coding initiative
News
In a joint effort to advance education and digital skills development in Phalaborwa, Palabora Mining Company (PMC) and LH Marthinusen (LHM) have partnered to establish a fully equipped robotics and coding classroom at a local high school.
Read more...A new era for African engineering
News
A group of mostly South African engineering professionals who bought a controlling margin of the South African arm of Netherlands-based engineering consultancy Royal HaskoningDHV have rebranded it as Atana.
Read more...SEW-EURODRIVE builds regional strength with Gqeberha expansion
News
With the Eastern Cape firmly established as a hub for key industries such as automotive manufacturing, ports, agriprocessing and renewable energy, SEW-EURODRIVE is strengthening its presence in the region through an ongoing significant expansion of its facility in Gqeberha.
Read more...Functional safety explained
News
The SAIMC supports Pepperl+Fuchs, a National Member, in a free four-part online seminar series focused on Functional Safety.
Read more...The Future of manufacturing in Africa
News
The future and development of African manufacturing will be discussed extensively at the upcoming Manufacturing Indaba conference, to be hosted on 15 to 16 July 2025 at Johannesburg’s Sandton Convention Centre.
Read more...Reinstatement opportunity for ECSA registration
News
In 2023 the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) announced a special opportunity for engineers in South Africa to reinstate their registration status if it had been cancelled. This exclusive offer is available until the end of August 2024.
Read more...Fostering a collaborative learning environment for sugar producer SKF South Africa
News
One of South Africa’s leading sugar producers made strategic use of its off-crop season, turning scheduled downtime into an opportunity for both essential maintenance and valuable skills development with the help of SKF
Read more...Steinmüller Africa and Eskom uplift eMalahleni communities
News
Steinmüller Africa, in partnership with Eskom, has reaffirmed its commitment to social upliftment by donating essential goods and creating meaningful connections with two impactful community organisations in eMalahleni.
Read more...Comtest calibration user group seminar
News
Comtest invites metrology and calibration professionals to a focused technical seminar series aimed at demystifying some of the most common hurdles in inter-laboratory comparisons.
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.
printer friendly version