ZVEI
Process automation experts are optimistic about the future
"German process automation gained enormous momentum in 2017," said Nikolaus Krüger, Chairman of the Measurement Technology and Process Automation Division of the ZVEI Automation Association, at the Achema Trade Press Day 2018.
Electrical process automation grew significantly in 2017. "Our forecast for the past year has been fulfilled: Industry sales increased by 8.8 percent," says Krüger. The business climate in process automation is currently good. "If the situation on the international political stage does not worsen, we expect growth in the mid to high single-digit range for 2018."
Oil and gas business on the rise
The positive trend is being driven by orders from China, the USA and Central Europe. Business in the Middle East, India and Brazil remains subdued. The chemical, pharmaceutical, water, food & beverage and mineral & mining sectors are the main growth drivers. The oil & gas business has slowly picked up again.
Important technology trends in the industry are modular production and work on end-to-end communication via Ethernet for the process industry - also known as the "Advanced Physical Layer" (APL). "These technology trends are continuing to drive digital change in the process industry," says Krüger.
Modular production at Achema
The chemical and pharmaceutical industries are also experiencing growing demands for flexibility, more individualized products and faster time-to-market. More and more equipment suppliers, but also the chemical and pharmaceutical companies themselves, are therefore working on the development of modular concepts for new plants and plant expansions. Systems can be quickly and repeatedly reconfigured from individual modules with different functions in order to map a wide variety of production processes.
Namur, ProcessNet, VDMA and ZVEI will be presenting process modules that can be quickly and flexibly combined again and again as part of the "Modular Production" special show at Achema from June 11 to 15, 2018. Together with numerous companies, they will be exhibiting solutions for modular production in Hall 9.2, Stand D41. am
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