77th NAMUR Annual General Meeting

When it comes to process engineering plants, classic process control involves automation of entire plants with the aid of process control systems. Communication within process control systems between the user level, controllers and process-related components is realised through bus protocols specific to the systems involved. Although based on standard communication protocols, these have specific manufacturer definitions for the application level which inhibit open communication.

Against a background of increasingly volatile markets and ever shorter product lifecycles, the concept of fixed process systems reveals its weaknesses with ever greater frequency. The time from planning and installation to actual commissioning and the reduction of costs through adaptation of individual production quantities and types are critical factors for plant operators.

Modular automation systems with open standardised interfaces are required to meet market demands for speed, flexibility and efficient resizing. Only through this approach can automation address the challenges of process systems characterised by growing flexibility and increasingly modular structures.

The 77th NAMUR Annual General Meeting and the sponsor WAGO Kontakttechnik GmbH & Co. KG will address this issue with the event title “Decentralised intelligence – new departures in process automation”. Concrete solutions which will shape the process automation of the future will therefore be the focus of attention in Bad Neuenahr on the 6th and 7th November 2014.

NAMUR, the User Association of Automation Technology in Process Industries, is an internationally active association of process engineering system operators which has existed since 1949. Once again, over 550 participants are expected to attend this year in Bad Neuenahr. This makes the NAMUR Annual General Meeting one of the largest events in the process industry and a forum which enjoys a high degree of esteem on a global level.