Better networking
European process analysts meeting next year in Frankfurt a.M./Germany

The Europact Conference is set to be the
link-point between European process analytics organizations from now on. The first staging of the conference is in April of next year.
Better networking

Just as in Germany, a number of organizations in other European countries have been engaging with various aspects of process analytics for several years. In Germany, the collaboration and contacts between these organizations operate well, but collaboration at European level has been rather hit-and-miss up until now. A decisive move forward in terms of networking is due to take place next year, with the first European Europact Conference.

The central focus for Europact 2008 will be on the latest developments in the areas of process analytics, production process control, and transforming data into knowledge. The event organizers are anticipating a wide-ranging group of participants, drawn from scientists and engineers working both in industry and at universities. One of the main aims of the event is for process analysts from all over Europe to forge initial contacts with one another. In addition to the conference program, there will also be a framework facilitating discussions and information exchange between participants. The logo, designed by Dechema (the German Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology), is intended to communicate this ‘full European’ approach. The plan is to hold the second conference in the series in a different European country two to three years down the line, enabling a European platform for process analytics to become established.

Process analytics in Germany

Starting from the FDA’s PAT Initiative, a German-Austrian-Swiss ISPE Working Group has been established which has drawn up a document of understanding and is now attempting to carry forward the ideas behind the PAT Initiative into the practical world of the pharmaceutical industry.

In Namur, an international user association of automation technology in process industries, there is a “Process Analysis Metrology” working group. The working group is looking at the presentation and introduction of new analysis devices and analytical measurement procedures in industry, at standardization of existing and new process analysis metrology and at issues relating to safety engineering.

Since early 2005 there has been an active “Process Analysis” Working Group linked to GDCh (the German Chemical Society) and Dechema. The working group offers a forum and knowledge platform for industrial users and researchers working on process analytics in the German-language region. This forum is simultaneously the interface to organizations working on process analytics in the EU.

Process analytics in Europe

In addition to the ISPE German/Austrian/Swiss Affiliate, there are further ISPE Affiliate organizations established as ISPE Nordic and in the western European countries of Belgium, Ireland and Great Britain. In the past year, the ISPE Nordic Affiliate staged a successful PAT workshop.

The Center for Process Analytics and Control Technology (CPACT) has been in existence in Great Britain for more than ten years. CPACT is a collaborative body formed by a number of universities, using industry and state funding to carry out joint projects in the field of process analytics.

In the Netherlands, a KNCV (Koninklijke Nederlandse Chemische Vereniging) working group with the name “Werkgroep Procesanalyse” is active, organizing an annual one-day colloquium with around 100 participants and similar to the GDCh Process Analytics Working Group.