Conference focuses on ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution'

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The event, to be staged at Johannesburg’s Ticketpro Dome from 6-8 June 2017, aims to update local automation and process stakeholders on key trends in global manufacturing and process management as far as key automation and industrial control goes.

Built on a long history of automation and manufacturing exhibitions, Africa Automation Fair was rebranded and relaunched in 2015. Delegates to the popular exhibition indicated a need for more information-sharing, which informed the launch of the Connected Industries conference this year, says conference director Hanli Goncalves.

“There is significant interest across Africa in the so-called ‘Industrie 4.0’ and Fourth Industrial Revolution, in which smart production methods make processes more efficient and cost-effective,” Goncalves says.

“This is a key topic across the US and Europe at the moment, and we are bringing leading European experts to South Africa to update South African public and private sector players, large manufacturing and processing plants, and the petrochemical, automotive and mining sectors on the latest trends and best practice internationally.”

East and West Africa

The Connected Industries conference, specifically for the automation and control industries, is a first in South Africa, and conference organisers Reed Exhibitions envisage taking the event on the road to East and West Africa in future.

Africa Automation Fair and the Connected Industries conference have been endorsed by, and secured the participation of, a significant number of local and international industry bodies, as well as the South African Departments of Trade and Industry and Science and Technology.

In addition to global insight and case studies at the Connected Industries conference, a gala dinner will be held, where Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies, EU Ambassador Marcus Cornaro and Matthias Machnig, State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, will deliver keynote addresses on the way forward for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in South- and Sub-Saharan Africa, as discussed at the WEF (World Economic Forum 2017).The conference will address the following overarching questions:

Day 1 – Why IIoT/Industrie 4.0? The global economic impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on South and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Day 2 – How will IIoT/Industrie 4.0 impact the control and automation industry? The technology behind the Fourth Industrial Revolution and how the implementation of Industrie 4.0/IIoT will impact on efficiency and quality, as well as on infrastructural requirements.

Day 3 – Who will drive IIoT/Industrie 4.0? Supplier/Vendor solution presentations at Africa Automation Fair Theatres.

Traditionally attracting around 4,500 visitors, Africa Automation Fair has grown in stature and is expected to draw even larger numbers of local, African and international visitors this year. The exhibition area will showcase leading production and automation technologies and services, with three theatre areas for vendor launches and new product demonstrations.