‘Process Automation – Integrated’ at SPE Offshore

With a history of over 40 years, SPE Offshore Europe is the largest technical Exploration and Production (E&P) event in Europe. The 2013 edition attracted more than 63,000 attendees and 1,500 exhibitors from over 100 countries. The event is the place to be for oil and gas firms, oilfield service companies, manufacturers, consultancy services and contractors. Apart from the sizeable exhibition, the show also features an intensive programme of conferences, keynote sessions and briefings.

COPA-DATA, APD and Beckhoff Automation will be showcasing their turnkey ‘one stop shop’ solutions for automation and process control applications. The companies offer complementary products and services for industrial automation applications like subsea controls, renewables, offshore and onshore oil and gas.

The partners specialise in cloud and big data solutions, condition monitoring, upgrading obsolete PLC and SCADA systems and integrating new equipment into existing systems.

Martyn Williams, Managing Director, COPA-DATA, commented: “Shared knowledge is power, especially when it comes to demanding industrial environments like offshore. The complexity of applications means that one company alone cannot provide an automation solution from start to finish. Instead, experts from different fields must put their heads together and come up with the best solution to a company’s questions.”

“We want to discuss new ways of leveraging industrial automation technologies like big data and cloud solutions," stated Jim Main, Owner, APD. “The tricky thing about industrial automation is finding a balance between extending the life of ageing platforms and upgrading equipment. Often, the answer is adding new communications layers, which will allow legacy systems to interact with modern equipment.”

“Flexibility in both hardware and software is essential in offshore applications. We want to fully understand a project before we make our recommendations. It’s only by taking an integrated and future-proof approach to each individual application that we can give clients a real competitive edge in the market,” added Alan Smith, Regional Manager, Beckhoff Automation.