From the president's desk

September 2010 SAIMC

I have some important news to share this issue. After a number of months of paper work and travel to Pretoria and back, we have managed to register as a Section 21 company.

Also, we have managed to close the gap between ourselves, the SAIMC, and the IIG. The IIG (Instrumentation Industry Group) consists of a selected committee made up of 20 CEOs from the instrumentation and automation industry who meet on a quarterly basis.

They are all Patron members of the SAIMC and have been working towards many of the same goals as us. One of those is trying to encourage students and school leavers into this unique industry of ours. As a part of these discussions we have looked at the IIG having a page on our website and closer cooperation with the Process Show. Process Exhibitions are planning to host the next Process Show early in 2011 and together with the IIG we would like to exhibit and make ourselves known to students and prospective members by being present at this 3-day exhibition.

This is in line with our innovation committee’s ideas about the possible use of chapters within the SAIMC. When one looks at the different areas of expertise in the organisation, it is difficult to imagine how one person can be an expert in all of them. Therefore, we have discussed the possibility of sub-dividing the SAIMC into chapters.

Presently we have people working on committees representing various technologies, for example MES, PED, ECSA, SABS and HAZLOC, as well as education and other industry standards in various sectors. In synch with this the following guidelines are envisaged:

* Every chapter of the SAIMC has a representative on the council.

* Every chapter is headed by a chairman who is responsible for the specific chapter.

* Chapters can be represented in the branches depending on members’ requirements.

* The chairman decides how he/she wants to run the chapter. This could take the form of on-line discussions, seminars, meetings or both.

* All administration is done by council, leaving the chapters free to get on with the work at hand – feeding expert advice back to our members.

For more information and to view these ideas graphically please visit http://www.saimc.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=79

Credit(s)

SAIMC

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