Dedham, MA; March 17, 2006: ARC Advisory Group is pleased to announce the second quarter schedule of the ARC WebForum Series, a webcast schedule of educational, online sessions which highlight recent ARC research findings in the manufacturing and supply chain industries. Each WebForum will be presented by an ARC senior analyst and will be followed by an interactive question and answer session.
The second quarter 2006 Webcast schedule will be as follows:
Distributed Control Systems (DCS) Market Trends for China: April 12, 2006; 11 am ET
The size and growth potential of the DCS market in China makes it a great target market for process automation suppliers. The cycle of demand, investment, and wealth creation has made China an attractive market for both global and home-grown process automation suppliers. Everyone sees an opportunity and the market is intensely competitive. Gaining a good understanding of its uniqueness and developing strategies accordingly are crucial to being successful. This WebForum will discuss market issues including the short- and long-term potential for DCS business in China, factors spurring or inhibiting growth, strategic positioning of global and domestic DCS suppliers, and industries offering the greatest growth. It will be presented by ARC Research Director Larry O''Brien.
Digital Manufacturing: April 19, 2006; 11 am ET
Digital Manufacturing has arrived as a technology and discipline that provides a comprehensive approach for the development, implementation, and validation of all elements of the manufacturing process. This WebForum will discuss how Digital Manufacturing enables manufacturers to not only design and validate their production processes, but to optimize and synchronize manufacturing across the entire value chain. It will be presented by Greg Gorbach, ARC Vice President of Collaborative Manufacturing.
Benchmarking Consortium for the Life Sciences: May 3, 2006; 11 am ET
Working with a group of over 25 leading manufacturing companies, ARC has launched a Benchmarking Consortium. The main goal of the Consortium is to establish common metrics for benchmarking the performance and practices for automation and control of plant assets, including personnel requirements, alarm management, automation project costs, automation reliability and maintenance, and automation effectiveness. Through the diligent efforts of the manufacturers who formed the primary working group, 18 metrics have been released for use. Several newly formed vertical teams that include Life Sciences, Oil & Gas-Refining, and Chemical-Batch are now working to identify and define new metrics that better suit their needs. Focused for manufacturers, this WebForum will discuss the Benchmarking Consortium for the Life Sciences vertical team. It will be presented by ARC Principal Analyst John Blanchard and ARC Strategic Services Director Rick Devolve.
Improving Plant Performance through Design, Operate, Maintain Interoperability: May 18, 2006; 11 am ET
This WebForum will discuss Plant Performance Improvement. A new model incorporating Design, Operate, and Maintain (DOM) as the three factors of Plant Performance will be described and the critical interdependencies between these factors will be examined. DOM Interoperability is identified as a vital component of Plant Performance Improvement. This WebForum will outline the steps you can take to implement DOM Interoperability. It will be presented by Sid Snitkin, ARC Vice President and General Manager, Enterprise Advisory Services.
Robotics: A Key Automation Technology: June 7, 2006; 11 am EST
Manufacturers in all industries are recognizing that significant increases in productivity can be realized by implementing the appropriate mix of established and emerging automation technologies. The constraints of the high cost of capital equipment and the need to adapt quickly and nimbly to new product introduction and market changes are leading manufacturers to seek automation equipment that is multifunctional, flexible, and agile. One of the key automation technologies characterizing this blend of conventional expertise with enabling technology is robotics. The advances in the methods in which humans interact and work with robots and the ability of robots to work together will drive the market into new industries. This WebForum will educate you on the robotics space and provide information to help you make an informed decision. This WebForum will be presented by ARC Analyst Stefan Surpitski.
Emerging Wireless Technologies in Manufacturing: June 12, 2006; 11 am EST
A new generation of wireless field devices and sensors is beginning to appear on the market. The development of such battery-powered wireless products has been very challenging and long in coming. How can manufacturers deploy them successfully for the long term when their underlying technology is changing so rapidly? What should serve as a long-term roadmap and what will be the impact of other technologies or industries? This WebForum will explore these questions and give you a solid perspective of where wireless is headed in manufacturing. This WebForum will be presented by Senior Analyst Harry Forbes.
For further information or to register for any of these webcasts, please go to: www.arcweb.com/events/webforums/webforum.htm.