In Bangkok, a PI seminar drew big crowds, next up is Vietnam. In the USA, there is a series of workshops to “add PROFINET to your device in three hours” coming up in October. Australia looks back on their 2016 Automation Innovation Summit.
When Fortescue designed and developed their Solomon Hub mine in the Hamersley Ranges, the scale of the project was impressive. At the time of their creation, the Firetail and Kings ore mines (together making up the Solomon Hub) created the world's largest PROFINET Industrial Ethernet network. This network played an enormous role in productivity and efficiency improvements.
Innovation is, of course, partly about technology. But it is also about massive improvements in productivity through the empowerment of a business’s only untapped resource - its people. After all, a state-of-the-art plant provides exciting opportunities for graduates and engineers who are looking to the future for career advancement and inspired innovation.
Regional PI Associations in Australia, China, Middle East, and the UK have news in this issue. PI Australia looks back at 2016 and ahead to 2017. PI China appeared in the exhibition of the 2016 China International Industry Fair in Shanghai. PI Middle East hosted a PROFIday and conducted a PROFIBUS class in Dubai; they are planning a design course. PI UK is supporting (and offering discounts) to Industry 4.0 Summit & Factory of the Future Expo in 2017.
This month there is news from PI UK, PI Germany, PI South Africa, and PI Australia. PI UK is supporting UK’s first Industry 4.0 Summit and reports on their recent Manchester seminar. PI Germany celebrates well-attended seminars in 2016 and looks forward to 2017. PI South Africa announces a new PI Training Center. PI Australia in cooperation with University of Technology, Sydney announces a seminar introducing Industry 4.0.
News from Australia and India: PI Australia held their annual member meeting and looked back at the year’s achievements, including a new membership high. PI India demonstrated a seamless multivendor system at SPS Automation India 2016.
Highlighted this month: Australia has 30 certified PROFINET and PROFIBUS training classes scheduled for the remainder of 2016. PI Middle East has an upcoming seminar focused on food and beverage in their Dubai office. IO-Link has enhanced their workshops. And many classes are on the schedule for the balance of 2016.
In Brazil, more seminars have been hosted at AmBev as the company rolls out its standardization on PROFIBUS and PROFINET. Meanwhile, Australia prepares for the 2016 PI Global Forum and Automation Innovation Summit, to be held on May 25th. In the Netherlands, an Industrial Communication seminar is scheduled for June 9th in the port city of Rotterdam.
