Review of PPA 2022: the usefulness of new technologies for process and production automation

PPA 2022, the Production and Process Automation event of the year, opened its doors in Hart van Holland in Nijkerk. The visitor was presented with a rich program of lectures, with topics such as Industrial Internet of Things, Industry 4.0 and cyber security.

Jacco Opmeer (Shell Global Solutions) talked about the need for standardization in the rapidly transforming industrial sectors. Opmeer is active on behalf of Shell in the Open Process Automation Forum (OPAF) working group and has already provided FHI with insight in his argument to further encourage the industry to take steps in this area.

The PPA program was then divided into three tracks. For example, Maurice Houben (Yokogawa) provided insight into the SIRI method, Mark van der Zande (KROHNE Netherlands) talked about the need for good monitoring of energy transition and the duo Mark Satink & Omar Thiam (AVEVA Select Benelux) delved into the benefits of using digital twins.

Protocols

Kees Lambregts from Novotek talked about the trio of unlocking, organizing and transporting data using open protocols such as OPC UA, UNS (unified name space) and MQTT. Ferdinand Verstraeten and Andrzej Kafuza (ReliaSol) discussed an interesting case at a Polish energy company where artificial intelligence was used for predictive maintenance.

In his lecture, Theo de Vries from VIRO provided insight into the benefits of custom software, which does use open source libraries. John van Hooijdonk (OMRON Europe) shed light on how robots can help in the production of low-volume, high-priority products.

The PPA day ended with an interesting lecture by Paul Cobben (KPN). He outlined the benefits of technologies such as 5G, edge computing and indoor localization in the industry to achieve 'wireless factories'. To end the day in full tradition, exhibitors and visitors came together for the traditional drinks.