The Fieldbus Foundation's recently established Benelux Marketing Committee (FFBeneluxMC) is intended to promote an increased awareness and adoption of FOUNDATION technology throughout Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg through promotional activities and a range of end-user focused activities控制工程网版权所有, including training, technical support, trade show participation, and educational seminars.

The committee was formally launched at an inaugural meeting Jan. 18控制工程网版权所有, 2011 attended by representatives of Fieldbus Foundation Netherlands member companies and Belgian offices. Marc Van Pelt, vice-president, Fieldbus Foundation EMEA Operations and chairman, Fieldbus Foundation EMEA Steering Committee, also supported the meeting. The new Benelux committee fully incorporates all activities控制工程网版权所有, responsibilities, and members of the former Fieldbus Foundation—Netherlands marketing committee (FFNL).

FFBeneluxMC members include Acta vzw, ABB, AKZO Nobel BVCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, BP Raffinaderij Rotterdam BVCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, Electromach BVCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, Emerson Process Management, Endress+Hauser, Flowserve, Honeywell, Invensys Process Systems, Moore Industries, MTL InstrumentsCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, Pepperl+Fuchs, Shin-Etsu VCM BVCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, Smar, SPIE Controlec Automation BVCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, R. Stahl, STC Group-Location Brielle, Turck, Wintershall Noordzee BVCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, and Yokogawa.

Former FFNL chairman Rob van der Zwan and members Hans Rill, Marcel Vennemann, and Peter Klestadt will continue to serve on the new expanded Benelux committee. They welcome Belgian members Harold Balemans and Koen Hoogstoel to the team.

Van Pelt praised the extension of the former Dutch committee's role. He said, "The Dutch group has grown consistently since its launch in 1999, and the expanded committee now has an impressive membership of 16 companies with an additional six honorary end-user and engineering contractor members. It made perfect sense to expand the responsibilities of this successful group to include Belgium and Luxembourg. The participation of our end-user members in the committee, and its end user events, are a valuable asset to both the group itself and to all prospective users of FOUNDATION fieldbus attending the seminars," he continued. "This beneficial arrangement is also being mirrored in other EMEA marketing committees."

With the support of the Fieldbus Foundation EMEA Executive Advisory Council and Fieldbus Foundation EMEA Steering Committee, the FFBeneluxMC will play an important role in promoting the primary value propositions of FOUNDATION technology, which include business integrity; business intelligence; and open, scalable integration of information across process manufacturing plants.

In addition to participating in key exhibitions and conferences in the region, the FFBeneluxMC's marketing committee plans will continue to focus on end users through its seminars for current and prospective users of FOUNDATION technology. Attendees will be updated on technological developments of FOUNDATION fieldbus, participate in technology demonstrations using live systems, attend sample training sessions控制工程网版权所有, and learn about end-user application experiences. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their own applications with fieldbus experts and suppliers of systems and devices. The next event will be held May 19, 2011, at the Acta training center for technology and automation in Kalmthout, Antwerp, Belgium. Later in the year on Nov. 10, the STC Group will host a seminar at its training center at Brielle, close to the Rotterdam-Europort industrial area in The Netherlands.

Having established a unique training center for process control and automation, STC Group, Location Brielle became one of the first educational establishments worldwide to offer fieldbus training courses certified under the Foundation Certified Training Program (FCTP). The program establishes uniform educational standards for fieldbus educational curriculum around the globe, and defines acceptable levels of learning for students of the technology.

For more information about FFBeneluxMC and its activities控制工程网版权所有, visit the Benelux pages of the Fieldbus Foundation website or email the committee.

For more on the training courses at STC Group, Location Brielle, visit the Education Section of the Fieldbus Foundation website