Schneider Electric Users Conference kicks off on the Gold Coast

Schneider Electric’s PlantStruxure NOW! Users Conference is now underway. Around 250 delegates have gathered on the Gold Coast for the conference, which focuses on the company’s PlantStruxure offering.

Day one got off to a cracking start with what was frankly a fascinating presentation from keynote speaker Dr Jonathon Ralston, Research Leader in the Mining Technology Group at CSIRO. Ralston’s presentation ‘Can technology meet the new demands of industry?’ covered wide-ranging topics, from megatrends to music - and even Aerogard.

Ralston discussed where innovation comes from, how collaborations between research organisations and industry benefit everyone, and why Bach was a mathematical - as well as a musical - genius.

Schneider’s Christopher Crowe and Scott Wooldridge led the conference through an overview of Schneider’s global strategy, including an introduction to the company’s three most recent acquisitions: Telvent, 7T and SolveIT Software. Wooldridge’s prediction for the future of industrial process control is that it will involve consolidating all tools into a single platform. ‘Integration’ was the buzzword of the day.

Several presenters touched on themes common to all aspects of industry: the need to do more with less; changing world economies and powers; how to retain knowledge in an ageing workforce; and the need for innovation.

Closing day one was a presentation from SolveIT Director Natural Resources James Balzary demonstrating the company’s “decision support application” software, which now has a strong mining following but has its roots in the food sector. SolveIT was acquired by Schneider in August this year and will be introduced to the rest of the world in the near future.

Day two of the conference sees delegates split off into industry groups - water and wastewater utilities; food and beverage general manufacturing; and mining, minerals and metals - for business sessions, including overviews of key trends and challenges and customer case studies.

Stay tuned for more news on the conference.