AUSTIN, Texas, -- The Fieldbus Foundation has announced that its 2008 General Assembly will be held in Antwerp, Belgium, on February 27-29. Planned for the Antwerp Hilton Hotel, the annual event is open to Fieldbus Foundation members and non-members and will be attended by FOUNDATION technology suppliers, end users and other industry participants from around the world.
The theme of this year's General Assembly, "Why FOUNDATION has become THE standard?" reveals that FOUNDATION fieldbus technology is widely used in process industries, providing a total control system technology infrastructure for industrial manufacturing to enable significant plant performance and economic improvements. Unlike a traditional control platform, FOUNDATION technology is intended to unify open, scalable integration, process integrity and business intelligence as part of a single, plant-wide solution.
Marc Van Pelt, vice-president of Fieldbus Foundation - EMEA Operations, welcomed the European venue for the Fieldbus Foundation's General Assembly saying, "Antwerp is the largest petrochemical production center in Europe and is ranked, worldwide, second after Houston, Texas, USA. It is an extremely appropriate venue for this key annual fieldbus event."
The 2008 General Assembly will commence on Wednesday, February 27, with an overview of current Fieldbus Foundation developments across the globe. The presentations for the general program on Wednesday and Thursday will include end-user presentations by industry experts focused on process integrity, open scalable integration, business intelligence, asset management, factory site acceptance testing, commissioning and trouble-shooting in the context of the end user's own worldwide FOUNDATION fieldbus implementation experiences in a wide range of process industry applications.
Supporting demonstrations, vendor visits and question and answer sessions will provide ample opportunity for an active exchange of experiences and insights.
An evening reception for all attendees on the opening day will be highlighted by a keynote address by Dr. Norbert Kuschnerus, President of the NAMUR Board of Management and Senior Vice President - Bayer Technology Services GmbH, Leverkusen, Germany. Dr. Kuschnerus will discuss how end users like Bayer can fully use the enabling capabilities of fieldbus technology now and in the future.
On Friday, February 29, the Fieldbus Foundation will conduct its annual business meeting for members only. Non-members are invited to participate in end user training workshops focused on topics including engineering, implementation and maintenance, during which attendees can benefit from expert tuition from Fieldbus Foundation technical personnel with the opportunity for hands-on practical training.
For the duration of the General Assembly, major control system and instrumentation suppliers will take part in a tabletop exhibition showcasing working demonstrations of the latest FOUNDATION products, solutions and services, offering attendees some hands-on experience.