The Fieldbus Foundationþ today announced that its annual General Assembly would be held in Shanghai, China, from February 28th to March 1st, 2006. This year's event will address the needs of the expanding FOUNDATION fieldbusþ market in China and Asia/Pacific, and will feature an end user-oriented agenda that includes user case study presentations, technical training workshops and tabletop exhibitions.
The Fieldbus Foundation selected Shanghai as the ideal location for this year's General Assembly due to the high level of fieldbus technology adoption by China's burgeoning industrial sector. Shanghai is a key center for international trade and is located in one of China's fastest growing economic regions. China is also the site of several of the world's largest FOUNDATION fieldbus installations, including the SECCO and Nanhai petrochemical complexes.
According to Fieldbus Foundation President and CEO Richard Timoney, the 2006 General Assembly will highlight the strong demand for FOUNDATION fieldbus-based control solutions across the developing Pacific Rim. He said, Study results from the ARC Advisory Group show that FOUNDATION
fieldbus is now the preferred technology for new fieldbus projects‹whether they be Greenfield or retrofit‹regardless of their size. In China, Singapore and other areas of Asia/Pacific, FOUNDATION fieldbus is the industry standard technology specified for new plant automation projects.
Timoney continued, FOUNDATION technology has made major inroads in China's fast growing manufacturing industries. Chinese fieldbus projects account for a significant share of all fieldbus installations worldwide. Therefore, Shanghai is a perfect location for this year's General Assembly.
The 2006 General Assembly will begin with a welcome reception on the evening of February 28th, where attendees will have the opportunity to discuss their ideas for implementing FOUNDATION fieldbus with industry professionals and technology experts.
The General Assembly program will feature workshops for process control vendors, end users and contractors, focusing on the key issues of plant-wide integration with FOUNDATION fieldbus. Attendees will receive valuable information concerning fieldbus installations and advancements, together with user case studies demonstrating the benefits of the technology.
The Fieldbus Foundation's annual business meeting will also be conducted as part of the General Assembly.
Throughout the event, member companies will display their latest FOUNDATION fieldbus field devices and host systems in a series of tabletop exhibits.
The full 2006 General Assembly agenda will be announced in the near future.
Registration information and complete agenda for the 2006 General Assembly are coming soon. Please visit www.fieldbus.org for updates.