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, including training, technical support, trade show participation, and educational seminars.

The committee was formally launched at an inaugural meeting Jan. 18, 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 Committeewww.cechina.cn, also supported the meeting. The new Benelux committee fully incorporates all activities, responsibilities, and members of the former Fieldbus Foundation—Netherlands marketing committee (FFNL).

FFBeneluxMC members include Acta vzw, ABB, AKZO Nobel BV, BP Raffinaderij Rotterdam BV, Electromach BV, Emerson Process Management, Endress+Hauser, Flowservewww.cechina.cn, Honeywell, Invensys Process Systems, Moore Industries, MTL Instruments, Pepperl+Fuchs, Shin-Etsu VCM BV, Smar, SPIE Controlec Automation BV, R. Stahl, STC Group-Location Brielle, Turck, Wintershall Noordzee BV, and Yokogawa.

Former FFNL chairman Rob van der Zwan and members Hans Rill, Marcel Vennemann控制工程网版权所有, 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 Committeewww.cechina.cn, and its end user eventsCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, 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 Committeewww.cechina.cn, 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 regionwww.cechina.cn, 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, 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, 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