MESA International
Just in from MESA International regarding its 2015 conferences. Yes, that’s plural. MESA has partnered with Industry Week magazine for several years in order to participate with the IndustryWeek Best Plants Conference & Expo.
The thinking goes along the lines that this venue attracts attendees whose positions include plant manager to director of manufacturing. These are the people most interested in the direction of the company’s Manufacturing IT direction and implementation.
The Americas Board-of-Directors for MESA International announced its North America events include plans to co-locate its annual conference within the IndustryWeek Best Plants (IWBP) Conference & Expo. The MESA conference will be held at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, May 4 – 6, 2015. Registration for the MESA community will open mid-December 2014.
The theme of the MESA North American Conference is “Advancing. Manufacturing. IT.” and will focus on highlighting the business value of solving plant and enterprise-level manufacturing challenges with Information Technology (IT)-based solutions.
The MESA event consists of one dedicated track of speakers within the IWBP schedule-of-events, an exhibitors’ pavilion (the MESA ‘Manufacturing Meets IT’ Pavilion) within the IWBP Expo hall, and several MESA unConference sessions in Monday’s IWBP pre-conference workshops.
Commenting on the decision to co-locate with IWBP, Dennis Brandl, Chairman of MESA’s Americas Board, said, “The business leaders who read IndustryWeek want to know how modern Information Technologies, when properly understood and utilized in their operations, can change their manufacturing business for the better. I encourage them to join us in North Carolina to learn how leading companies are using advanced manufacturing IT solutions and to interact with others on the same journey to improved operations.”
Future Process Industry Plans
MESA is currently looking for the right venues and locations in the second half of 2015 that address the diverse makeup of its members. Brandl added, “Batch and continuous processes are equally important to MESA as is discrete manufacturing. Many companies have combinations of all of these processes, and supporting the right events that represent the breadth of these processes is the right way to cement and advance the MESA community.”
Commenting on the events plans in North America for 2015, Mike Yost, MESA President, said, “Everyone has a ‘Manufacturing-IT Strategy’. If it’s not clear to everyone in your organization – including the business value of your approach – you need to know the industry professionals that make up the MESA community. So, mark your calendar for May and stay tuned for more details about a fall event.”
