OMAC Symposium features book author, Vivek Bapat, as keynote speaker

Research Triangle Park, NC (14 November 2008) - The 2nd annual OMAC (Organization for Machine Automation and Control) integration and interoperability symposium is quickly approaching. The December 3-4, 2008 event, hosted by Okuma America Corporation, will be held at Partners in THINC in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Featured as keynote speaker is Vivek Bapat—In Pursuit of the Perfect Plant co-author and Vice President, Suite Solutions Marketing, Product, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing Solutions for SAP.
"In today’s severe economic climate, manufacturing plants are under greater pressure than ever to minimize operating costs, optimize returns, meet delivery targets, and comply with quality standards,"  said Bapat.  "Balancing these competing priorities can seem insurmountable.  However, the vision of the ‘Perfect Plant,’ shows how companies who combine IT investments, business processes, and manufacturing operations can leverage plant assets to the fullest, and align production performance with strategic objectives."
The keynote will address how in "The Perfect Plant," production planning, asset management, and execution are tightly synchronized ensuring the ability to respond swiftly to changing demand or supply, increase yields, and improve order fulfillment.  Find out how a collaborative strategy where an eco-system of participants from traditionally different worlds of Business and Manufacturing are coming together to deliver solutions based on leveraging integration and interoperability amongst the players that puts you on the path toward the perfect plant.
In addition to the keynote, speakers from Proctor & Gamble, ChipBlaster, nCoat, Gosiger Automation, Caron Engineering, GE Fanuc, B&R Automation, Wonderware, ABB Robotics, Matrikon, and O3neida will present at the two-day conference. The theme of this year’s event, Total System Evolution, embraces all industries, and is vital to the advancement and improvement of our processes, business functions, and ultimately our ability to meet the changing needs of our customers.
In addition to our goal of helping our attendees improve their systems, plants, facilities, and processes, OMAC wants to help them gain this knowledge inexpensively; therefore, we are offering the OMAC Economic Stimulus Package—a 50% discount on registration—to the next 20 people who request the package when they call (919) 314-3900 to register.
Online and Advanced registration for members and non-members ends November 26, 2008. For more information and to register, please visit www.omac.org/systemevolution.
About the Automation Federation
The Automation Federation is a global umbrella organization under which member associations and societies engaged in manufacturing and process automation activities can work more effectively to fulfill their missions, advance the science and engineering of automation technologies and applications and develop the workforce needed to capitalize on the benefits of automation. The Automation Federation is working to become the “Voice of Automation.” For more information about the Automation Federation, visit www.automationfederation.org.