Leaders from the process automation industry came together at the recently organized Namur meeting which was once again held as a virtual event this year. MTP, NOA, APL, and robots were the core topics discussed at the meeting. PROCESS has summarized the exciting two-day event.

In the past, “more is better” often applied to process optimization – companies sometimes invested considerable effort to keep all processes in the optimal range and suppress every disturbance. But not all anomalies in processes are equally relevant to the profitability of a plant. With artificial intelligence (AI) methods, events can now be directly evaluated for their business relevance, thus opening up new possibilities for companies in the economic optimization of processes.

The digitization train is picking up speed and many companies in the process industry have already jumped on board to gain a competitive edge through a deeper understanding of their production and a better overview of their various systems and locations. In this process, more and more companies are exploiting the fast and pragmatic approaches offered by open-source software. Automation experts, such as those from Wago Kontakttechnik, in a team with system integrators combine sensor systems, gateways, container applications and cloud computing to extract even more information from company processes.

Pfeiffer Vacuum has introduced new multi-stage roots pumps ACP 90 for oil- and particle free applications. The pumps prove beneficial for pumping large amounts of condensable gases like in drying applications, high humidity environments or large insulating volume pumping.

IPCO pastillation systems make intermediate products easy to transport, store, handle and dose for manufacturers of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and food products. Benefits include consistently sized pastilles, high hygiene standards and GMP compliance.

Specialty chemicals company Lanxess is taking on a mammoth task and digitalizing all its process engineering, electrical engineering and automation documentation — including lifecycle management. Uniform plant and project documentation and comprehensive data management will increase quality and efficiency in production and maintenance operations going forward.

The new term prescriptive maintenance (RxM) is a mashup of prescriptive analytics and predictive maintenance. Both have been around for a long time. So is RxM new, or is it just a clever name? And whichever the case, how is it done? And what’s the difference between prescriptive and descriptive analytics, and anomaly detection?

At the trade show, Steriline is showcasing a Robotic Vial Filling and Capping Machine under isolator (RVFCM50) along with a Robotic Nest Filling Machine under double-wall isolator (RNFM5) which are key features of its nest and bulk filling solutions.

Rico Sicherheitstechnik will be exhibiting its Redisc pressure relief valve and gas-tight butterfly valves at a trade fair for powder & bulk solids processing and analytics in Germany. The latest product addition to the firm’s portfolio is the pressure relief valve which is used in isolators to ensure pressure equalization in the event of increased overpressure.

Pumps are the workhorses of every process plant, not to mention plenty of auxiliary equipment and even portable test gear too. This run-round of recent developments takes in centrifugals, vacuum pumps, positive-displacement pumps and gas sampling units.