On 26 August, beneath the streets of Johannesburg in Newtown’s remarkable Turbine Hall, élancommunications managing director, Hanli Kritzinger, opened the launch of Process Expo 2011. From 17 to 19 May next year more than 4000 visitors are expected through the gates at Nasrec to visit South Africa’s largest process exhibition. Apart from the usual focus on process automation, instrumentation and control, the 2011 Expo will expand the training and sustainability initiatives of 2009 – a move endorsed by IIG chairman Ryan Chetty when he addressed the audience. Six training areas will be available for exhibitors, custom made to a standard that will allow accreditation for CPD points as an additional drawcard for visitors.
This year, Technews will be partnering with organisers élancommunications to publish the official Process Expo Preview and Visitors’ Guide in both print and electronic format. SA I&C colleague and Technews director Jane van der Spuy responded to the announcement and explained, with a little help from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy and some clever binary marketing, how our organisation intends to answer its commitment to promote the Event, the Participating Exhibitors, and Everything.
The Preview and the Visitors’ Guide are the vehicles for exhibitors to maximise their profile, and visitors to optimise their time spent at the show. The Preview, to be published with SA Instrumentation and Control and other industry related magazines, is the premier way for exhibitors to attract people to their stands at Nasrec. The Visitors’ Guide, which will be distributed to all visitors as they enter the hall and e-mailed to the SA Instrumentation and Control e-zine database, includes an in-depth product listing with easy to use tables to help visitors match their requirements with the stands they must visit on the day. Used together, the two will also provide a useful source of post-show information for visitors and exhibitors alike when they are ready to do business after the event.
We will be publishing a lot more in the build up to the opening. In the meantime contact Roelien Fraser, roelien@elancomm.com, Jane van der Spuy, jane@technews.co.za or Tina van Kerckhoven, tina@technews.co.za for more information.
Highlights in this issue
Cover advertiser Siemens provides an interesting look this month at the way the organisation is consolidating its competitive advantages through strategic acquisitions, key technology for key industries and a commitment to customer support under its banner of totally integrated automation (see 'Making a mark in process instrumentation'). The company says its mission in the future is to improve client productivity through TIA solutions completed by totally integrated support and seamless after sales service. This strategy certainly seems well aligned with global trends post 2008, a fact that had the company execs delighted when I cornered them in discussion after the Expo launch.
On the mechatronics front the development of humanoid robots has made significant progress in recent years, a fact that is evident in previous articles published in SA I&C as well as sister publication Motion Control. This month we see more evidence following from Beckhoff Automation’s collaboration with the German Aerospace Centre (see 'Rollin' Justin drags crates and serves tea'). The result is Rollin’ Justin, a robot that can perform complex two-handed manipulations and move freely about the room on its mobile platform. It is a prototype of the kind of service robot that could be used in future households for everyday tasks like serving tea and moving furniture. Hurry up the development guys – I want one!
Steven Meyer
Editor: SA Instrumentation & Control
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