Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Oct 02, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Oct 02, 2003 |
|
|
|
|
|
Industry & Economy
-
Events `String together technical, commercial interests' Ch. Prashanth Reddy
Hyderabad , Oct.1 FINANCE, production and logistics, marketing, sales and human resources management are no longer information islands. They are increasingly pooled within the corporate flow of information, according to Dr Hasso Drathen, General Secretary of NAMUR (International association of users of process control technology in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries). Speaking to Business Line on the sidelines of Interkama India trade fair here, he said that while traditional operations confined to just operating the plant, today one has to operate the plant in the world-wide compound that demanded the highest asset utilisation, the highest yield, the lowest raw material consumption, the lowest energy consumption, the lowest stock and the best product quality. The key to success for a producing enterprise does not lie in single systems such as business software, maintenance engineering service systems or distributed control systems. Each of these was important in its own right, but the real kick in terms of asset optimisation would come from bringing together the technical and commercial worlds on the basis of enterprise integration. "The production and business levels have to be brought together" and total automation was the solution in this regard. Dr Drathen says that value addition through total automation is based on product quality, reduced production costs and shorter response times to customer enquiries. The resulting customer satisfaction serves the aim of generating added value for the producing enterprise. "With few investments on automation, one can save energy, time and product costs". He advocated vertical and horizontal integration of operations. Vertical integration would entail continuous data exchange from the field level via the process control and plant operating level all the way to office communications. Horizontal integration, on the other hand, meant integration of information flows. It covers the entire production process, from order handling to purchasing, storing of raw materials, production, filling, storing of finished products and sales. Stating that the total automation of operations was the in-thing, Dr Drathen said the availability of software modules for every task anywhere in the complex had made it easy for automation. He also envisaged new technological developments in the area enterprise application integration in the near future. Experts appreciated Interkama for its concentrated and concise array of exhibits for components, devices and systems related to electrical engineering, information technology and mechanical engineering for production process automation. Mr Stader said that the Interkama to be held in Hanover from April 19 next was a must for basic, modernisation and maintenance investments.
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|