The OPC Foundation will continue to expand its role as the “United Nations of Automation” - the foundation where different organizations work together to standardize and harmonize.

Finland's state-owned research institute VTT's new piloting platform for process chemistry in VTT Bioruukki Pilot Centre has been designed to accelerate corporate bio- and circular economy projects. The modernisation and digitalisation of processes offer improved tools for developing, for example, chemical plastics recycling. A virtual opening of the piloting platform for process chemistry at VTT Bioruukki was be held on 23rd September 2020.

Vattenfall and Modvion have entered into collaboration on using wooden towers for onshore wind turbines, a venture expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in manufacturing by at least 25 percent. Vattenfall will be assessing Modvion's wooden tower for potential use in future wind farms.

Emerson has introduced two new compressed air dryers designed to significantly extend maintenance intervals, minimize downtime and reduce energy costs in rail applications, including brakes and door control. Typically, air dryers have an average service interval of fewer than two years. The AVENTICSTM RDD (Roll-Up Desiccant Drying) and RDDmin air dryers have a service interval of eight years or 25,000 operating hours. 

ODVA  announced that it has entered into separate agreements to further integrate FDT and FDI technologies into EtherNet/IP™. Additional device description work on the next generation xDS™ for CIP™ devices also continues to move forward. 

Thirty-five years after the Russian cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya was the first woman to take a spacewalk, a new historical event took place above our heads on 18 October 2019. Two Nasa astronauts took the first all-female spacewalk. It was not just for fun, Christina Koch and Jessica Meir were responsible for replacing defective equipment from the International Space Station (ISS), and in that way also formed the first female maintenance team in the space.

Euromaintenance 2016 will take place in Athens at the end of May. It is the ideal moment to reflect on maintenance in a European context. Euromaintenance is known as the summit for all involved in maintenance across Europe, it’s the place to be. The conference, with the support of the EFNMS, is the only commercially independent conference covering the topics we deal with in the maintenance world.