TSHWANE / PRETORIA (November 2016 newsletter)
Kindly be reminded about our social year end function (for which we get points), planned for 30th of November at 16:00 at the Kimiad Golf Course in Moreletta Park, Pretoria East.
(http://golf-courses.wanderbat.com/l/19541/Kimiad-Golf-Course-and-Driving-Range). The cost per person is R150.00 and includes chip & putt along with meal.
The cost per person is R150.00 and includes chip & putt along with meal. Please RSVP ASAP (by COB Monday 28th) with Jurie (jurie@allpronix.com / 082 926 2566) should you wish to join us. So far, we only have around 10 people so please support us.
We truly believe the new year will be great for SAIMC
2016 at a glance:
We started our year in February at AGM with a presentation by Mr. Duncan Bonnet (then from Whitehouse & Associates), a specialist research company with strategic insight into specifically Africa who provided a very insightful message on why it is imperative to look at other markets such as rest of Africa and what it holds and how to go about business in these regions.
In March Mr. Kevin Preston Group Manager (CIS &IE) from Phoenix Contact gave a very comprehensive yet easy to follow presentation on IEC61511 (Process Industry) which forms part of IEC61508 (Functional Safety). SANS recently adopted these which means it is no longer optional to consider aspects such as SIF / SIL and others when designing control systems.
In April Petrus (Ai2SA) introduced resource efficiency cleaner production (RECP) principles and how it applies to the C&I domain. ISO5000x, EnMS, ESO and other cost saving / value adding philosophies was discussed along with respective DTI programs to reduce energy and other resources costs.
The DTI sponsored program was also looking at “host sites” who have a monthly spend of more than R1,000,000-00 (R1M) to participate in cost saving exercises but unfortunately response was limited. Hopefully in new year response will be more positive.
In May, we hosted our annual golf day which main purpose really is a fund-raising event for our branch to carry us through the year and to allow us to pay for venue where we are hosting events.
In June Mr. Kallie Bodenstein of Yokogawa, compared the differences between “DCS vs. PLC”. This presentation was not only very insightful but also very well presented and a lot of effort went into presenting this event show casing the plant in a box simulators used to train engineers.
In July Mr. Ralph White from IFM Electronic, introduced “Condition monitoring vibration analysis”, loosely referred to Condition Based Monitoring (CBM). This proved to be a very mathematical presentation and as such a very strong knowledge was depicted throughout.
In August Mr., Du Toit Grobler (IntPI(SA)(EE), PR ING(EE), PR DIPL ING(EM), FELLOW SAIEE, SENIOR MEMBER ICMEESA, BSc (Ing)(Elek)(Pret), DP(Unisa) GCC (Elec & Mech) (Factories, Mines & Works)) from the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), introduced “PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING REGISTRATION”.
In September Mr. Dave Bean from Industrial Data Exchange (IDX), introduced “Some general observations on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) landscape. It was also in September when our branch was awarded bronze status at the very prestigious annual SAIMC gala dinner.
In October Mr. Bill Peet from Swagelok presented “The Bloodhound SSC”, a high-tech project aimed at designing a car that will break to 1000 MPH barrier.
Please feel free to request copies of any of our presentations from author.
Some other successes or achievements for the year:
Branch hosted two very well received factory visits at SAB Rosslyn and Ford Silverton
Ai2SA introduced 1st ever on line (South African) booking system (http://www.greenexhibitions.co.za/) to capture SAIMC bookings which assisted with tidying up our data base
Branch attracted some of the brightest upcoming engineers from the respective training institutions within out geographical area.
Nico (Yokogawa) promoted SAIMC at more than one event (not only in PTA / Tshwane) and educated a fair number of students on 1st principles in instrumentation
Ai2SA attended TUT open day where we provided a presentation on SAIMC and career planning guidelines within the C&I domain
Mark (Dessoft), Muhammad / Azmat (Ai2SA) and others at National level also marketed SAIMC at a host of industry events such as African Petrochemical roadshow(s), Eskom Open day, DST China / Africa day, Wonderware SI day, etc.
We are also very proud that from our branch we have managed to establish at a national level the Professional Services Standards Sub Committee, more details to be provided in due course.
Finally, this week the Instrumentation Interest Group (IIG) had a meeting and Petrus have been invited to attend next meeting to discuss the idea of establishing an industry wide trade association within the present frame work of that which exist already. The idea is to promote not only our profession but also our industry there by promoting trade and creating jobs. More about this in due course.
Feel free to comment and / or request more information. Please have a safe festive period and hope to see you rested at our events in the new year. We have a lot of ideas and value your support. Feel free to bring a colleague. Thank you kindly.
Petrus Klopper
SAIMC Tshwane / Pretoria Branch Committee (Vice Chairman, Secratary & Technology) and National Committee (Professional Standards Sub-Committee) 082 559 7437 / petrus.klopper@ai2sa.co.za / www.saimc.co.za
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