Posted to News on 18th Nov 2008, 12:20
Workshop to discuss wireless in industrial environments
Wireless devices are making an entry into the industrial environment thanks to their numerous benefits such as flexibility, cabling cost reduction and extending measurements to critical information. However, the rate of adoption has been slow due to numerous challenges and concerns among end users, important ones being reliability, security and safety.
To discuss the latest trends in the wireless sector, Frost & Sullivan will host a one-day workshop on Thursday, 5 February 2009 at the Moevenpick Hotel, Frankfurt City, Germany. The event will focus on the conditions and issues that end users of wireless communications systems and products in both process and in discrete industries will encounter.
Key themes will be discussed, focussing on those that were identified as critical issues by Frost & Sullivan's recent pan-European survey on Wireless Devices in Process Industries and Wireless Devices in Factory Automation. The need for vendors' offerings to fulfil end user requirements through improved approaches will also be discussed.
Each of three themes - safety, security and reliability - will be covered in a series of presentations and a panel discussion from market specialists and various industry participants including vendors, integrators and end users.
Frost & Sullivan's workshop will see a strong line-up of industry speakers including experts from ABB, Emerson Process Management, Laird Technologies, StatoilHydro and also from Frost & Sullivan.
Key questions that will be addressed in the workshop include:
- What can vendors do to help increase adoption of wireless technologies for end users?
- What are the parameters that end-users use to justify investment into wireless technologies?
- What do end users see as the critical purchasing criteria? How do vendors meet these criteria?
- What are the driving technical and business reasons for adopting wireless technology?
- What is the relative importance of the concerns that users have when adopting wireless technology?
- What practical case studies can we focus on to gain and share effective experience?
According to the Frost & Sullivan's study the percentage breakdown of revenues, the drivers and the rates of adoption do differ per industry. The industries that were covered in the research included: water and wastewater; oil and gas; refining; chemicals; power generation; pulp and paper; pharmaceuticals; automotive; fabricated metals; food and beverage; plastics; and semiconductors.
Karthikeyan Balasubramaniyam, a Senior Research Analyst for Frost and Sullivan European Industrial Process Control Practice, states: "Among the process industries, oil and gas and chemical industries are expected to witness greater adoption in the future while automotive industry leads the adoption rate among factory automation."
To learn more about the potential for wireless deployment and to meet main industry participants, visit Frost & Sullivan's workshop on Thursday, 5 February 2009 at Moevenpick Hotel, Frankfurt, Germany.
