Press release for the Annual General Meeting 2014

Decentralised Intelligence – New Departures in Process Automation
77th NAMUR Annual General Meeting on the 6th/7th November 2014, Bad Neuenahr

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.

WAGO, the sponsor, has its roots in electrical spring-type connector technology and has grown during its 60 years of company history to become a global leader in this area. WAGO has also been an automation system provider for more than 20 years. Beginning with the first fieldbus-independent modular I/O system for field level applications in the 1990's, WAGO developed this portfolio to create a complete automation system which meets the requirements of today’s production, building, energy and process industry systems. On the basis of its uninterrupted innovative strength, WAGO has therefore offered to illustrate the pathway to a new automation architecture for modular process systems at this year’s NAMUR Annual General Meeting.

WAGO will present a new concept for modular, scalable process automation in a plenary presentation on the first day of the event and a further five workshops in close coordination with NAMUR and its NE 148 recommendation. This contribution involves engineering, the digital description of process modules and an open, non-proprietary system communication and interface architecture for the automation of process systems with decentralised automation and/or package units. WAGO points clearly towards the demands of Industry 4.0 in this respect, demands which envisage efficient production of individual quantities and types with networked sub-modules.

The sponsor's plenary presentation will, as always, be followed by interesting contributions from NAMUR which, while addressing new demands and current developments, will also present the results achieved since the NAMUR data container initiative pursuant to NE 150 (standardisation of a data exchange system between CAE and PCS independent of manufacturers and systems) was launched at the last General Meeting.

The numerous NAMUR workshops held during the afternoon of the opening day will then discuss current working group issues such as security, assistance and sensor systems and drive technology. In addition to cooperation partners, colleagues from China have also registered here to add their contributions.

Applications for this year's NAMUR AWARD are particularly numerous, and the tension with which the winner is anticipated will be finally relieved through the presentation of the prize on the second day of the event. This will be followed by an overview presentation, a contribution on mobile automation and a presentation on production-related logistics given by a working group newly established this year. The event will, as is traditional, be concluded by whetting the appetite of all present with a contribution on the topic to be addressed at next year's NAMUR Annual General Meeting.

With its interesting programme, practical workshops, a clear focus on the future and an innovative sponsor in WAGO, the NAMUR Annual General Meeting promises to be very significant and memorable event in the automation year 2014.
 
Contact:
 
-  NAMUR Office
   Heinrich Engelhard
   c/o Bayer Technology Services GmbH 
   Building K9
   51368 Leverkusen
   Tel.:    +49 (0)214 30 - 71034
   Fax:    +49 (0)214 30 - 9671034
   E-mail: office[at]NAMUR.de 
   www.NAMUR.net 
 
-  WAGO Kontakttechnik GmbH & Co. KG
   Hans-Jürgen Strubel
   Hansastr. 27
   32423 Minden
   Tel.:    +49 (0) 571-887-485
   E-mail: hj.strubel[at]wago.com
   www.wago.com