Bertrand Bodson, Steffen Lang and Shannon Klinger have been appointed to the Executive Committee of Novartis (ECN).

Covestro announced that it has begun commercial production of a continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composite material (abbreviated to CFRTP). The novel lightweight, high-strength and aesthetic material can be produced efficiently and is attracting interest from various customers and industries, the company announced.

For the expansion of Bhushan Steel’s steel plant at Meramandali, india, Larsen and Toubro carried out the design, engineering, supply, erection, testing and commissioning of the raw material handling system that included 43 kilometres of belt conveyors.

Exxon Mobil announced a growth strategy to more than double earnings and cash flow from operations by 2025 at today’s oil prices. Growth plans include steps to increase earnings by more than 100 % — to $ 31 billion by 2025 at 2017 prices — from last year’s adjusted profit of $ 15 billion, which excluded the impact of US tax reform and impairments.

Statoil has established an integrated operations support centre and a drilling operations centre in Bergen. The centres will be connected to all Statoil installations on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), starting this year.

Location has been the key to success in petrochemicals: playing in emerging markets and accessing cheap feedstock. As the industry shifts, companies will have to work harder on core capabilities and strategy, a study published by McKinsey reveals.

The Marchesini Group recently presented a newest counting line for the American market. Compact 24 Synchro is a Monoblock able to run high production speeds combined with top counting precision.

Chemical companies are filling up plant order books: Between 2005 and 2015, global investment in the sector increased by nearly a factor of three and currently stands at more than $ 200 billion. Most of these plants are based on conventional design and construction, but the engineering departments at chemical companies and EPC contractors are about to make major changes to the engineering process.

Quo vadis process automation? — Every 18 months, the processor performance of a chip doubles. This statistical observation, which is described with Moore’s Law, also promotes the developments in the sensor and measurement technology at a fast pace. The following statement should fuel the necessary discussion regarding the future of process automation for users and suppliers.

Coating, Containment and Continuous production — these were the three big themes that the pharmaceutical machine manufacturer Glatt has been focusing on at Achema. We are introducing the new machines that raise the benchmark.