And before we knew it, 2006 was upon us!
And what a fantastic year it promises to be. The gold price has reached a level few of us can remember, platinum is soaring and the all-important oil price has reached manageable levels, not to forget the 'clean fuels programme' of government that has now become a reality.
Yes, it must be said that industry seems to be on an all-time high with the power generation industry booming, not to speak of the construction and related industries taking full advantage of the prospects of SA hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup as well as the much debated Gautrain under construction in Johannesburg.
All the above predicts a wonderful continuation of the boom in the C&I environment that we have seen over the last year or so.
Unfortunately, it appears as if the local industry is completely unaware of the new challenges that has been, and will continue to face our profession. With an ever increasing technology growth curve offering more sophisticated control options, embracing sensing, closed loop control and the inclusion of IT-based technologies, the C&I profession will continue to be placed under ever increasing pressure to contribute to the bottom line performance of manufacturing and process related industries.
Our industry can no longer simply be classified as that section of manufacturing that concerns itself with purely measurement and control as we are increasingly called on to contribute to concepts such as 'Return of Investment' and 'Economic Value Add' as the measurement and control environment plays an increasingly important role in providing manufacturers with that 'Edge' over their competitors to deliver higher quality products to the market at a higher rate than ever before at a continuously reduced unit production cost.
In this new age, measurement and control practitioners will be called on to not only optimise control loops to solve process related problems, but also IT related problems such as integration with manufacturing systems and IT security systems which as a result of the use of open technologies have opened our previously closed domain up to attack by viruses, Trojans and other harmful programs which could wreak havoc with our critical applications.
It is without a doubt that I believe that in no previous time, knowledge sharing in the form of expert forums and education and training has been more important than now. Industry - manufacturers, equipment suppliers, solution providers, consultants and all other role players - must take stock of the level of expertise on call in industry today and consider, if not only the current skills level, but also the skills under development will be sufficient to meet the demands that will be placed on our environment now and in the future.
I am certain that I am preaching to the converted and that we have all seen this coming, but if this is the case, why is the C&I profession still the best kept secret in industry? Why are we not recruiting prospective C&I practitioners at school level and why are we not more active in converting electrical and chemical engineering students to the wonderful world of measurement and control?
The SAIMC, for one, is committed to continue our efforts in this regard, and will continue to partner with industry to ensure that we are able to meet the challenges of tomorrow, being able to add more value than simply 'tuning a loop'.
Core in our efforts is the promotion of the C&I profession at tertiary institutions by means of scholarships and prizes to deserving students and the presentation of leading technologies at these institutions.
In addition to this, the SAIMC will continue the roll-out of our mentoring programme as well as contributing to the development and maintenance of education standards to ensure that new graduates are able to add value to industry in the shortest possible time frame.
With the new year upon us, let us all consider how we can contribute to our fantastic industry by giving back to it in an effort to promote and grow the C&I profession. Here is wishing you a fantastically successful 2006 with the wish that you will join us in growing this valuable base.
Have a fantastic 2006 and remember, a certain Measure of Control is always important!
Cornu Perold, president, Cornu.perold@honeywell.com
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