First Benelux Fieldbus seminar in Kalmthout meets with great success

The first end-user seminar hosted by the recently expanded Fieldbus Foundation Benelux Marketing Committee (FFBeneluxMC) has met with great success. The event was held in Belgium on Thursday, May 19, at the Acta vzw training centre in Kalmthout, near Antwerp.

A large audience of more 75 delegates, including around 40 end users, attended the seminar. Rob van der Zwan, chairman—FFBeneluxMC, opened the seminar’s afternoon session by introducing the new Benelux Marketing Committee and unveiling its new logo. Hans Musters, Acta, also welcomed the delegates to the Acta training facility and gave a brief overview of the training centre, the facilities, and its activities.

Bindert Douma of the STC Group’s Brielle training centre held a “Training Teaser” session in which he gave an overview of the five-day FOUNDATION fieldbus training course available at the Brielle facility in the Netherlands. Douma is a certified trainer, who we recently wrote about in this blog, from the STC Group’s Brielle training centre, one of the first training establishments certified under the FOUNDATION Certified Training Program (FCTP).

Louis Claessens gave an informative end-user insight into the lessons learned through the implementation of FOUNDATION technology in the BASF Antwerp facility. He concluded by advising potential implementers of a FOUNDATION system to strike up and maintain a close working relationship with the system supplier, understand the principles of the system, and follow implementation recommendations closely.

Rob Sosef, FFBeneluxMC member, presented the operational and economic benefits of Control in the Field (CIF), a key advantage of FOUNDATION technology. Marcel Vennemann gave a short introduction to the proposed FOUNDATION Fieldbus Knowledge Centre, an FFBeneluxMC initiative due to be established soon.

Discussion forums after each presentation offered a unique opportunity to share end-user experiences and included open question-and-answer forums. This multi-directional flow of information is vital for established and prospective users of the technology and to the Fieldbus Foundation and its members supplying FOUNDATION products and services.

Attendees enjoyed a complimentary buffet dinner during which tours of the Acta Training Centre were organized. Acta’s Pieter d’Espallier conducted live demonstrations in the facility’s demonstration room, which houses a complete, functioning FOUNDATION fieldbus system.