Posted to News on 7th Dec 2012, 09:48
CLPA shares open networks for success at the 2012 EMS Summit
The 8th Annual European Manufacturing Strategies (EMS) Summit has been declared a success by the CLPA, a Platinum Sponsor of the conference. The main aims of this year's summit were on improving productivity and cost effectiveness, identifying future-proof manufacturing strategies and regaining global competitiveness. CLPA's contribution to these aims was to show how CC-Link provides a transparent, open network hierarchy intended to maximise productivity, as well as how the Gateway to China (G2C) programme opens overseas opportunities.
Furthermore, since energy management was a key concern for many delegates, the imminent launch of the CC-Link IE Energy technology was also of particular interest. The CLPA teamed up with Northern Design Metering Solutions, a CLPA partner, to host a workshop presentation entitled "A Holistic Approach to Energy Management".
The CLPA's message was reinforced by the contribution of Kris Szajdzicki, chairman of NDMS and a 30-year veteran of the industry. The presentation was well received, and can be viewed online via the video on-demand service of WTG, the summit organisers.
Delegates attended the summit from across a wide range of industries, producing creative and useful cross-fertilisation during the networking periods scheduled into the event. John Browett, General Manager of the CLPA, says: "This is a key strength of the summit. Someone from, say, the glass industry will be explaining how they saved energy or reduced reworking or benefited from a new technology and someone else, perhaps in food processing, will realise that the idea is transferable to their industry."
This year's summit was attended by over 100 delegates, senior manufacturing professionals from Europe, Asia and America. Presentations included technical seminars and case studies from manufacturing companies from a variety of different industry sectors, including vertical industries, like food & beverage, process and life science.
Browett explains: "The sessions were scheduled so that delegates could tailor their time at the summit for maximum benefit. There was also an exhibition running throughout the event and many people used this as an opportunity to network with fellow professionals in addition to learning about new solutions and developments in their industry. CLPA also had several pre-scheduled one-to-one meetings to support and help delegates maximise their success by learning about possible ways CC-Link could benefit their business."
Factory of the Future
Another key part of the conference was the gala dinner for the presentation of the Strategic Manufacturing Awards (SMA). CLPA sponsored the Factory of the Future Award, which recognises improvements, wholesale changes, upgrades and redesigns of technologies, machinery, facilities, IT and data systems used within the factory. This year's winner was TECNALIA. A research organisation, TECNALIA set a benchmark for European manufacturing, with its development of the humanoid robot, Hiro, for use in the aerospace industry.
Browett summarises: "We measure the success of the summit against a number of criteria. Perhaps the main one was being successful in drawing the attention of this senior management community to the potential benefits of CC-Link. This was highlighted by the senior-level networking opportunities and the feedback we got from our meetings with delegates. This indicates that many of our contacts went away with innovative ideas for further optimising their business development and solutions to current issues."
For further information about {CC-Link},the Gateway to China (G2C) programme and CC-Link IE Energy technology, please visit www.the-non-stop-open-network.com/.
