Industry User Conference 12 - 14 September

One of our most important goals for the 2010 Industry User Conference is making you think about new solutions to help break down barriers to information by enabling a more comprehensive multi-disciplined operational strategy, which in turn impacts productivity, responsiveness, lifecycle costs, energy efficiency, and most importantly profitability. Ultimately, this makes your business more sustainable and more energy efficient. That is why a group of experts have been brought together to present various industry specific solutions and displays on a wide range of topics relating to your business.

The conference will be hosted at the Cathedral Peak Hotel in the Drakensburg, KwaZulu-Natal, from 12-14 September 2010.  The event is designed for those with an interest in automation technology, including SCADA, PLCs, Variable Speed Drives, MES, reporting and the services that complement and secure your technology investment.  Delegates will have the opportunity to discover and learn all about current and future automation technologies, while connecting and sharing experiences with numerous other industry professionals.

With a strong focus on energy efficiency and key industry issues, the forum will also serve as the launching platform for PlantStruxure™ - a collaborative system for process management that optimises energy usage.  PlantStruxure™ forms an integral part of Schneider Electric's solution backbone, EcoStruxure™, which unites the company's unique expertise in power, data centres, process and machines, building control and physical security into a singular, compatible architecture, allowing customers to vastly improve efficiencies across multiple domains of their business.

To recognise vital productivity and cost optimisation opportunities, the conference focuses on:

• Customer testimonials on organisations currently utilising Schneider Electric technology in their applications. These include De Beers, Anglo Platinum, Rand Water, Nestle and MTN.
• Technology speed dating sessions for quick tips and tricks about SCADA, Plant Controllers,
  Variable Speed Drives and MES.
• Technology exhibitions to showcase the industry automation solutions across Schneider Electric’s business.
• Certified training sessions in each technology stream.
• CPD accreditation
• Keynote speakers are Antoinette Lovemore who will talk about local Government views in water quality and supply; and Prof. LJ Grobler, President of the Southern Africa Association for Energy Efficiency Council (SAEEC) who will lead the panel discussion on the subject of: The Global Energy Crisis.

Plant managers
To make good business decisions, plant managers need to have all the necessary information related to their plant. The conference will assist plant managers to combine process, energy and business information in order to improve efficiency.

Operations managers
Ensuring the plant is operating at its most efficient level is a key challenge for any operations manager.  The conference will enlighten operation managers to improve uptime and, hence efficiency of a plant through high availability architectures.

System engineers
Through its object based approach, PlantStruxure™ will help system engineers to reduce up-front engineering time while delivering standardisation across the plant, considerably reducing ongoing engineering and maintenance cost.

Plant operators
The conference will focus on all the information that an operator needs to run the plant in an intuitive, easy to use interface.  Alarms, trends and process data are all available to the operator in real-time, allowing them to make the best decision for their process.

Maintenance engineers
The conference will teach maintenance teams to identify the root causes of problems in the system and how to repair them. The hot-swap capability of our controller hardware with Faulty Device Replacement supports our devices. This ensures that problems can quickly be rectified without the need to shutdown the whole system.

There are numerous networking opportunities for delegates at the conference and activities to make the experience truly one to remember, such as sundowners on Mike's Pass, awards, prizes and various special guests to entertain.

For those conference attendees who will be bringing their partners, a series of activities will be made available to help them thoroughly enjoy the Drakensberg. They can take part in a day trip to the KwaZulu Candles, guided hiking trails and relaxing treatment sessions at the Vitality Centre.

Venue:
The 2010 Industry User Conference will be held at the well-known Cathedral Peak Hotel, winner of the 2008 best leisure hotel. The Cathedral Peak Hotel is nestled in the un-spoilt surroundings of the Drakensberg and is easily accessible to visitors. The venue has been selected for its superior quality, service and picturesque setting.

• 250km from Durban
• 400km from Johannesburg

The conference offers delegates two different package booking rates for single and sharing. The conference delegate’s fee includes the pre-conference entertainment, the two full day conference and three nights’ accommodation.

• Single = R6,500
• Sharing = R5,500
• Spouse (sharing) = R4,800
  (All prises exclude VAT)