ISA and Beamex to Conduct Conference on Strategic Automation Leadership at ISA’s North Carolina Headquarters

The International Society of Automation (ISA) and its Strategic Partner for Calibration, Beamex, Inc., today announce the opening of attendee registration for the Strategic Automation Leadership Conference, which will be held Wednesday, 12 October 2016 at ISA headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA.

The conference will showcase the latest insights, trends and best practices for process plant operators seeking to improve calibration quality, safety, accuracy and profitability; lower costs and optimize production.

Speakers will examine planning priorities - particularly in light of important market factors, such as the shortage of skilled workers and rapidly evolving technologies - as well as how to maximize process efficiencies. A roundtable discussion on current and future automation priorities will be conducted. Specific topics to be addressed include:

•How to reduce plant shutdown time
•Using a risk-based approach to meet regulations and quality standards
•The bottom-line business impact of smart measurements
•Five insider secrets to integrating automation systems
•How to build a business case for an automation upgrade

The day is designed to be extremely interactive and encourage collaborative information sharing. It includes a plant upgrade simulation where teams will compete with one another to optimize plant performance during a set time and with limited resources. Prizes will be awarded to the winning team.

Access to this event is limited so interested persons are encouraged to register soon. The registration includes access to all presentations as well as breakfast and lunch. Each attendee is responsible for his or her travel arrangements and expenses.

A highly acclaimed group of keynote presenters

On hand will be an outstanding assembly of speakers and presenters, including:

Peter G. Martin, Ph.D., Vice President Business Value Consulting, Schneider Electric
Peter Martin is widely recognized as one of the most influential professionals and experts in automation and control. He has held a range of executive and technical positions in engineering, product and strategic planning, marketing and training throughout his career. He served as Vice President of Invensys Operations Management for 37 years.

Dr. Martin holds multiple patents, including patents for dynamic performance measures, real-time activity-based costing, closed-loop business control, and asset and resource modeling. He has published numerous articles and technical papers, and has authored or co-authored six books. An ISA Fellow, Dr. Martin is a recipient of the ISA Life Achievement Award, and has been named as one of the 50 most influential innovators of all time in instrumentation and controls.

He has earned numerous academic degrees, including: a bachelor of arts degree and master of science degree in mathematics; a master of arts degree in administration and management, a master of arts and a doctorate degree in biblical studies; and a doctorate degree in industrial engineering.

Jody Damron, Business Analyst, Salt River Project
Jody Damron has 37 years of experience in the electric utility industry at Salt River Project Generation. His past experience includes time as a Control Room Operator, Instrument Technician, DCS Technician, HVAC Controls Technician, and Instrument, Electrical, Maintenance, Planning/Scheduling, and Apprentice Supervisor.

Damron was the business lead for many critical projects including: Instrument data and software calibration upgrades, work and asset management software upgrades, controls system upgrades, and many business process upgrades. He is co-author of ISA-77.70.01 Tracking and Reporting of Instrument and Control Data, and is writing a new technical report, ISA–77.70.03-20XX Integrating Calibration Management with asset management. He serves as an ISA Committee Chairman.

Damron currently supports the Salt River Project Power Generation Division as a Business Analyst. His current responsibilities include being a Business Unit Representative for Asset Management, Akwire, Beamex, BI Reporting, Maximo, Maxavera, Primavera and a liaison between Generation and IT software applications.