Durban Branch

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IBG - SA Instrumentation & Control Buyers' Guide

November 2004 News

The August meeting was sponsored by Endress + Hauser. Colin Malan presented an interesting paper on instrument management solutions. Despite the evening being a really wet one, the turn out was good. Colin's presentation on the growing need to manage the installed base of process instrumentation had two sub headings - internal and external needs.

The internal reasons for having IMS covered reduced maintenance budgets, less trained staff looking after highly complex plants with large numbers of different brands and types of instrumentation, out of date inaccurate documentation and the need to control costs and increase return on investment.

The external needs included high demands on quality and availability, high safety requirements and the requirements of regulatory authorities. Colin explained how IMS was developed to meet these management needs, which is integral to life cycle support and budget control. The presentation brought about much discussion. On behalf of the committee of Durban Branch of the SAIMC I would like to thank Colin Malan and Endress + Hauser for the presentation.

Siemens sponsored the September meeting.

Richard Russell of Siemens Automation and Drives presented a paper entitled: 'A practical approach to problems in the field'. The presentation covered a practical approach to the advantages and limitations of using Profibus as a field communication network.

Richard's presentation was delivered in layman terms and he shared his knowledge and practical experience gained over the years. Thank you Richard for the informative talk and to Siemens for the sponsorship. The subject generated much interest and many questions even from those who were unable to attend. The presentation has motivated the Alpret team to do a similar presentation on Foundation Fieldbus, which we hope to hear in the near future.

At the time of writing we look forward to the annual Dinner Dance, which (by the time this is being read) will have taken place at the ICC in Durban on 15 October. Judging from the response from our sponsors, this promises to be a memorable evening. October's meeting followed on the 27th, sponsored by Schneider. Carlyce Willemse presented a paper entitled 'Energy network management'.

The committee would like to thank everybody for their support at the general meetings and for helping to make Durban what we believe is the best branch in the country.

Peter Sinclair, peter.sinclair@siemens.com

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