Yokogawa’s 5th European User Conference - Operational Excellence, Technology Partnerships and NewWireless Developments - Yokogawa Europe B.V.

The 5th Yokogawa User Conference and Automation Fair, held in the Netherlands from the 22nd to 25th June 2010, attracted a total of 150+ delegates from 15 countries and featured contributions from many of the leading worldwide players in the oil & gas, petrochemical, pharmaceutical and power industries. Yokogawa also used the conference as a launching pad for the company’s new generation of wireless products based on the ISA100.11a standard.

Two venues
For the first time in the history of the Yokogawa User Conferences, which have been held every two years in different European cities since the first event in 2002, the event was held across two venues: the Novotel in
Amsterdam and Yokogawa’s new European headquarters in Amersfoort.

The conference is organised by a Steering Committee with the aim of providing a platform to facilitate, stimulate, and optimise the transfer of information for the mutual benefit of Yokogawa’s end users, and ultimately the Yokogawa organisation. For the 2010 event, the Steering Committee was instrumental in selecting the theme ‘The benefits of Operational Excellence’, and topics covered in the conference reflected organisational and human aspects of the automation sector as well as technical presentations. As the Committee’s Chairman, Robert Ytsma of Kisuma Chemicals, commented: “As users we are confronted more and more with safety in our plants, an aging workforce, upgrading and migration, network security and the urge to apply continuous improvements in overall efficiency and productivity, all key business drivers. During the conference, users are able to learn and share experiences of how to apply Yokogawa’s VigilantPlant solutions and their business partners’ expertise in dealing with these challenges.”

The current business climate was referred to by the President of Yokogawa Europe B.V., Harry Hauptmeijer, in his opening address: “Following the Lehman collapse more than two years ago, prospects for 2009 were
bleak. In fact we found ourselves in the worst recession in 80 years. It has been a difficult time for everyone in the industry. Recovery will come, but it is difficult to predict when and in what form. Yokogawa has taken
measures to safeguard investor’s interests, the support of our customer’s delivery and quality metrics and the company’s employees. Recent events have strongly impacted the business operations and have forced
companies to make optimum use of their assets, and Yokogawa’s VigilantPlant solutions, supported by our Business Partners, are helping our customers to deal with these challenges and meet their business targets while ensuring safe operations and regulatory compliance.”