MESA International’s European edition of the successful Plant-to-Enterprise conferences took place in Düsseldorf, Germany. 120 attendees from 17 countries attended the event where the elections for the 2010 MESA EMEA Board of Directors were held, as well as the announcements of MESA Awards.

Source: MESA International

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MESA International’s European edition of the successful Plant-to-Enterprise conferences took place in Düsseldorf, Germany. 120 attendees from 17 countries attended the event where the elections for the 2010 MESA EMEA Board of Directors were held, as well as the announcements of MESA Awards. 

Approximately 40% of the participants were manufacturers/producers.  In addition, the event was well attended by respected industry analysts, educational institutions and media.

The 2010 Conference theme “Unlocking your Operations Potential” explored how Manufacturing IT and MES help to unlock the true potential in production operations.  The conference agenda was packed with manufacturing end-user case study presentations from both the discrete and process industries.  The conclusion from the presentations was that MES and IT are the keys to achieving operational excellence in your organization.

The idea of “sustainability” and “metrics” were recurring topics in presentations and discussions.  Metrics continues to prove necessary for organizations to achieve operations excellence through improvement and sustainability programs.  Keeping with the theme, Matthew Littlefield of the Aberdeen Group shared results of research on Enterprise Energy and Carbon Management Initiatives.  His findings showed many companies still need to initiate programs to establish metrics in an effort to reduce energy consumption and their ecological footprint.  Drawing a parallel between the industries, MES and Manufacturing IT practices can contribute in corporate sustainability initiatives as they do in manufacturing/production operations.

In addition to great content, the conference provided the attendees an opportunity to meet and network with experienced MES professionals.  This was a highlight for one attendee who was inspired by mingling with other advanced MES users and attending the sessions.  “Today I’m so tied into my ongoing MES projects routine, this event gives me new ideas and inspiration to think out of the box.”

MESA Members who attended the event were able to vote for the 2010 MESA EMEA Board of Directors.  The election was continued in electronic form after the conference.  Jan Snoeij of Logica will continue on as the MESA EMEA Chairman in 2011.  MESA continues to welcome manufacturer/producer representatives as EMEA Board members.  Interested candidates are still welcome.

At the conference MESA announced the 2010 Outstanding Contribution to MESA Award winners.  Karl Schneebauer of MPDV received an award in recognition of his contribution as the 2010 EMEA Board Vice Chairman and 2010 European Conference Committee Chair.  He was also recognized for his energizing marketing initiatives.  Fayez Kharbat of Saudi Aramco received the award for his role as Chairman of the MESA Middle East Working Group and Continuous Process Industry Special Interest Group and making them an outstanding success.

The next MESA Plant-to-Enterprise Conference in Europe will be held in Utrecht, The Netherlands on November 9-10, 2011.

- Edited by Amanda McLeman, Plant Engineering, www.plantengineering.com