'Chemical and petroleum at an inflection point' says ARC advisory group vice president

"We believe the chemical and petroleum industries are at an 'inflection point' and a few select chemical companies will lead the way," said David Woll talking on 'Achieving Operational Excellence in Collaborative Manufacturing'. "Late 90's saw the levelling of incremental value, the focus then shifted on cost efficiency leading to a new wave of improvement driven by operational success at the beginning of this century. The next wave will concentrate on manufacturing and supply chain optimization."

Woll explained how Collaborative Manufacturing Management (CMM)
a strategic execution tool for achieving operational excellence can be utilized as the framework for organizing and controlling the key business processes of a manufacturing enterprise.

One key issue that will be central to hydro carbon process industries in the region is environmental awareness, "Organisations will work with existing technology to deal with environmental concerns and integrate CMM effectively to get international standard results," said Woll.

"The region's process automation accounts for US $2.5 billion in sales annually which is growing between 3 - 5 per cent yearly," said Woll.

He further explained that in the next few years the growth will be higher due to the construction boom which is currently more accelerated than the rest of the world.

"Regional oil and gas refineries will increase their investments to upgrade current automation and the only way to success will be adapting CMM," Woll added.

The one-day ARC forum was organized in conjunction with Expo Centre Sharjah 's organiz ation of MEIS. "We had over 50 delegates at the forum and Saudi topped the list of overseas delegates with 8%," said Mubarak Balaswad, Director General, Expo Centre Sharjah.

"The forum's success is echoed by commitment from the ARC Advisory Group to host i t again at next year's MEIS. Industry conferences and seminars are an ideal tool to discuss latest technological advances and with MEIS we hope to bring both international technology and expertise to the region."

Middle East Industrial Show is the region's largest event for industrial products, machinery, technology and solutions for the manufacturing industry. The event is the largest in its three year history with 91 exhibitors from 12 countries and national pavilions from Iran and India. The show is also supported by a Buyer-Seller Meet sponsored by the State of Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany with 16 leading suppliers from the State.

The exhibition is a trade only event and is open from 11am to 6pm.