Every year around this time the Technews teams get together to review the way the features in the various magazines reflect what is actually happening in the markets they report on. SAI&C has for some years now presented its material in two primary forms: vertical industry-centric features and horizontal technology-centric features – both of which change on a monthly basis to provide full market coverage.
The idea being that the industry-related features give an opportunity to inform readers through application-related editorial, for instance in the food and beverage vertical, while the technology features are the platform for vendors to showcase new developments in say level measurement and control. Of course markets are dynamic in nature – recession or no recession – and so over time competitive forces erode the contribution of some traditional industry stalwarts, and new stars emerge in response to new opportunities. The South African textile industry is an example of a vertical that has been under tremendous pressure for a number of years, while investment in new infrastructure has fuelled a boom in construction. On the product front, the emergence of wireless has created a lot of interest.
Naturally this does not go unnoticed by the technology houses and their system integrator partners, and so the publications that serve them must review their content from time to time in order to keep readers supplied with information that is pertinent. At our annual review the I&C team felt that the magazine’s structure was sound, but two new additions were required to cover the currently emerging ‘hot’ topics of IT in manufacturing and electrical power and energy efficient systems.
Power generation and energy efficiency is pretty self explanatory and most are aware of the energy crisis and environmental issues behind them. IT in manufacturing though has multiple meanings depending on which department in the organisation one chooses to ask. So I thought it would be opportune to write a few lines about what it is this feature in I&C will be covering.
We are interested in how IT is making a difference at shop floor level and how the organisation’s process control and automation networks are converging with its office infrastructure and management information systems. This would cover information-related topics like integration between the factory floor and the MES/ERP systems as well as technology-related topics like CAD/CAM linkages to manufacturing systems and robots. Network security is another aspect that comes to mind. For instance, how many know of Tofino’s Industrial VPN product line designed to connect people and facilities over untrusted networks like the Internet? We hope you will find these new additions useful and informative. (The full 2010 media kit is not available as yet, but interested parties can obtain a preliminary monthly breakdown of next year’s features from Jane van der Spuy or Tina van Kerckhoven.)
Scada round-table
One of the highlights of this issue is Andrew Ashton’s summation of the first SAI&C hosted round-table discussion where we posed a topical technology-related question to an appropriate group of vendors, system integrators and end users. The question this time: ‘Where is scada technology headed in the future?’
What followed was two hours of thoroughly stimulating debate. So it is many thanks to all who participated and gave up a morning of valuable time to share their insights with our readers. Kudos also to Technews director and SAI&C product manager, Jane van der Spuy, for all the planning and organising and enthusiasm – trust me this was no easy task.
Features editor, Andrew Ashton, has prepared a treat for you, see 'Scada round-table'. The original transcript from the discussion was over 23 000 words long and this had to be edited down to approximately 2500 to fit in the allotted print space. A daunting prospect to say the least, however, not only did he accomplish it in time to meet the deadline, he has also captured the essence of the discussion and the spirit around the table in this most fascinating article.
Enjoy the reading of it – we plan on many more.
Steven Meyer, editor:
SA Instrumentation & Control
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