Bristol-Myers Squibb Company has completed divestment of its consumer health business UPSA to Japan-based Taisho Pharmaceutical Co. (Taisho). The move is part of Bristol-Myers’ strategy to restructure its business.

The year is 1864 — The Bavarian fairy-tale king Ludwig II ascends the throne. The first pneumatic post dispatch system starts up in Hamburg. Lincoln wins the US presidential elections. And the 28-year old Wilhelm Meyer from Hanover/Germany founds a machine company (Maschinenfabrik) in Aerzen. Of all these things, only the company Aerzener Maschinenfabrik is still a presence today. It has grown. And it has benefited from a pioneering spirit and a richness of ideas, courage and hard work.

The mills used to manufacture pharmaceuticals are becoming increasingly diverse: New requirements are demanding optimised processes and innovative approaches. But the sums all have to add up in the end despite all the technical possibilities.

Petrofac has appointed Mohammed Ghazi Al-Mutairi in Kuwait owing to the numerous projects undertaken by the company in the Gulf country. The petite nation also holds strategic importance for the firm.

With an aim to create a new company experience for its customers, BASF has plans to reduce about 6,000 positions across the globe by the end of 2021 under its new development strategy. The transformation will also include leaner structures and simplified processes.

Biomass – more than just a fuel for power generation: It carries the hope to be usable for an ever–increasing number of chemical intermediates and finished products. Let's take a look at the challenges that the biomass conversion, bioplastics and renewable feedstock poses for plant engineering...

For the industrial production of pure oxides such as iron oxide, alumina or magnesia as well as for mixed oxide products, the thermal chlorides decomposition in hydrochloric solutions has gained world wide importance. Typical, these processes use spray roasting in gas fired reactors to supply raw materials for the ferrite industry, pigments and heat resistant refractories and different types of special ceramics.

Dr. Thomas Steckenreiter is to become the new divisional head of Operation Support & Safety at Bayer Technology Services (BTS). Steckenreiter, currently Director of Marketing at Endress+Hauser Conducta, is transferring to BTS on July 1, 2013 and will be the successor of Dr. Norbert Kuschnerus, who retires after almost 30 years at Bayer.

Ever since the 1920s, Phoenix Contact has been driven by one thing: the pursuit of “better.” Already in its early years, the company demonstrated with its first series terminal block, the so-called RWE terminal block, that it works closely with its customers on all new developments. Then and today, it has always been about connectivity: from the field, through mapping and on to connectivity to the process control level. And time and time again, Phoenix Contact products have spearheaded new technology trends.

State-of-the-art automation systems can revitalize old equipment if they are deployed purposefully and with sound judgment. Read how to rejuvenate your equipment, ranging from simple control system migration to the introduction of digitalization and artificial intelligence.