In June 2008 Profibus UK has scheduled the fifth annual Conference. Acknowledging the increased interest in Profinet, the event has been renamed the Profibus and Profinet User Conference.
As a result of the excellent feedback from the previous events, the 2008 conference will continue to concentrate on the real issues of implementation, maintenance and management of Profibus and Profinet systems from a user perspective. Speakers, many from the user community themselves, will present their experience as installers and users of such systems, with as much information about the problems to avoid as about the advantages that result.
The conference is designed for end users including installation and maintenance personnel, system designers and decision makers, as well as managers and anyone else concerned with implementing fieldbus and/or industrial Ethernet technologies. The conference programme is designed in a multi-stream format to contain a mixture of technical presentations, demonstrations and hands-on practical sessions that are suitable for a wide variety of experience; from first-time users to those with extensive experience with working systems. Some of these sessions will provide a taster of the training and technical support sessions provided by the UK Profibus Competence Centre at the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), to support the further introduction of Profibus and Profinet technology into industry.
Technological developments
In addition, the Conference will cover the latest developments in both Profibus and Profinet technologies for factory and process automation, including safety, motion control, wireless implementations and integration with the Internet and MES. The two-day event will be supported by an exhibition of the latest products from around 20 commercial and associated organisations, including leading product vendors, trainers, consultants and systems integrators: this free exhibition is open for any interested industrial visitor, whether attending the conference or not, subject to prior registration.
The venue this year is Stratford Manor, near Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire. This hotel is just five minutes from junction 15 of the M40 and is within easy reach of Birmingham International Airport. It has recently completed a multi-million-pound refurbishment to give all the benefits of a modern conference centre, providing a new larger venue and a great base for the 2008 event. The conference dates will be Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 June 2008.
Questions answered
As before, the conference programme places great emphasis on serving the needs of the user community, ie companies that own, operate, design, build or maintain manufacturing facilities and process plant. The aim is to assist companies in planning and making the transition from conventional to fieldbus systems as easy (and jargon-free) as possible. As a part of this, the sessions will include audience participation, and attendees are encouraged to submit the questions they wish to see answered in advance, for the presenters to cover that topic. Further discussions with the presenters and suppliers can be developed during the conference breaks.
The programme of parallel conference presentations, hands-on practical sessions and exhibition mean that this event is a 'must' for anyone involved in, or thinking about, fieldbus, intelligent instrumentation and actuation, or networked control systems applications. Supported by live demonstrations of actual tools used in calibration and maintenance, the conference will be of great value to the anyone involved in design, operation and maintenance of modern process and manufacturing plant.
Feedback from delegates in previous years has included: "Good variety of presentations and good to have customers' viewpoint to tell the negatives as well as the positives"; "Good insight for a person with limited knowledge of subjects covered, excellent workshop/primer sessions, useful exhibition. Will come again"; and "As a user in the Water Industry, the conference provided us with the necessary stimulus to decide to adopt Profibus technology more widely. The event provided a good balance between academic and practical subjects, and between workshops or lectures, with a good mix of suppliers and users also. The number of exhibitors gave confidence that Profibus is being widely supported, and that co-operation exists to evolve standards and products which will be inter-operable".
To register for the conference, complete and return the form at www.profi-bus.co.uk/Index.asp?PageID=7 or register on line on the IET website at www.theiet.org/profibus if wishing to pay by credit or debit card. In case of difficulty email or telephone +44 (0)20 7193 8018. To be kept up to date about the conference schedule and papers, send a blank email to with the words 'Subscribe Profibus' in the subject line.
