World’s only multi-day OPC User Group Conference includes training opportunities for an increasingly strained industry.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – Matrikon Inc.’s vendor neutral MatrikonOPC User Group Conference will assemble and educate discrete manufacturers, process control professionals and automation technicians over a two day conference, with training scheduled both before and after the event dates.
OPC is a set of standard interfaces that makes interoperability between automation/control applications, field systems/devices etc possible. OPC is designed to bridge process control hardware and software applications. It is an open standard that permits a consistent method of accessing field data from plant floor devices. The purpose of OPC is to define a common interface that is written once and then reused by any business, SCADA, HMI, or custom software packages.
Facilitating hands-on learning to overcome industry wide challenges, the MatrikonOPC User Group Conference provides end-users with the professional development that enables them to proactively counter-act challenges that can immobilize productivity.

Growing issues including limited resources, greater time pressures, new accountability regulations and budgetary restraints add pressure to professionals who are forced to optimize legacy systems and growing interoperability requirements. Ongoing training is crucial for companies to succeed in this competitive marketplace.

Professionals that are registered to attend the conference include; discrete manufacturers, process control operators, automation technicians, process control engineers, business development Managers, engineering technicians, software engineers, and applications analysts.

The many distinguished speakers include Dick Morley - father of the programmable controller (PLC),
Jim Pinto - industry commentator, Tom Burke - OPC Foundation President, Eric Murphy - OPC Foundation HDA Chairperson and other industry experts that will present case studies. Sessions will focus on Understanding the advantages of implementing OPC Technologies, advanced strategies to optimize existing systems and increasing system interoperability.

Training opportunities surrounding the conference dates include:
OPC Workshops Level I and II - OPC Integration and Diagnostics - This two day workshop will consist of lectures, presentations, and hands-on exercises. Learn in-depth strategies and OPC Technology implementation strategies.

SCADA Security Class - The SCADA Security Class will focus on the state of industrial security, patch management, intrusion detection and standards, advanced security landscapes, corporate awareness, and a risk assessment of your environment.

Executive OPC Standardization Roundtable - MatrikonOPC offers corporate, plant and industrial network managers and executives a seminar on streamlining industrial data throughout the organization. This non-technical seminar focuses on practical business strategies that optimize decision-making, productivity, profitability and security by using standards-based OPC technology.

Conference and training dates are scheduled for Houston, Texas in September 2006 and Koln, Germany in October 2006. More information is available at: www.matrikonopc.com/opcug/

Also featured at the MatrikonOPC User Group conference is an expanded Connectivity Showcase that will include industry representation from the OPC Foundation, Putman Media, Automation.com, MIMOSA, Open O & M, ModBus-IDA and other solutions based vendors.

About MatrikonOPC
MatrikonOPC, a division of Matrikon, is the world's largest OPC developer, with a collection of over 500 interfaces. Boasting more than 30,000 users and over 100,000 installations around the world, MatrikonOPC provides connectivity to every major control system and application on the market.

Matrikon and MatrikonOPC are trademarks or registered trademarks of Matrikon Inc.

For more information contact:
Gord Freiter – Marketing Communications, Matrikon
p: 780.448.1010 x4928 f: 780.448.9191
gord.freiter@matrikon.com