Please note: This event finished on 29 April 2020

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The Future of Petrochemical & Chemical Manufacturing Digital Transformation Summit

Tuesday 28th & Wednesday 29th April 2020 @ Bridgewater Hall Manchester

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Digitalisation is impacting every aspect of the way we live and work, transforming our day to day lives. The manufacturing industry is no exception to this rule, with the sector undergoing a fundamental shift into the digital age. With machine intelligence, robotics, and 5G networks set to play major roles for increasing efficiency across the supply chain and enabling substantially higher levels of automation across the manufacturing process, building digital strategies have taken centre stage across the chemical and oil & gas refinery sectors.

The Future of Chemical Manufacturing Digital Transformation Summit will look at how digital transformation can progress the manufacture of chemicals and the oil & gas refinery sectors in the UK. Serving as a platform to navigate this developing digital landscape, the summit will bring together CTOs, CIOs, Technical Directors, Operations Directors, and Heads of Transformation, with investors and innovators.

With such a fundamental shift occurring within the industry, developing strategies for how best to approach this new digital age of manufacturing is at the forefront of industry discussion. This session will navigate strategies for transitioning to a digitally enabled business. Discussion will include addressing business challenges & needs, developing a bespoke digital transformation road map, where to focus digital efforts, transforming a business into a data driven one, and key areas for suppliers & contractors to change to support digitalization. The session will also consider the latest policy developments shaping the sector, including discussion of policy forecasts, strategies for supporting growth, investment drives, regulatory frameworks, and cross-industry collaboration.

Schedule:

9:25 Chairs opening address Dr Anne, Gaelle Collot, Director Environment & Sustainability, Chemical Industries Association
9:30 John Barratt, CTO, BASF
9:50 Martin Sellers, Downstream Ventures Technology Manager, BP
10:10 Barry Pedley, CIO, INEOS
10:30 Main Sponsor
10:50 Q&A
11:00 Coffee & Networking Break

This session will be looking at how connectivity of your infrastructure is key across the manufacturing process. Discussion will focus upon connected infrastructure as the foundation block for harnessing the use of other M2M learning technologies, data and the transition to a digitalised sector.

Schedule:

11:45 Case Study
12:05 Chris Jones, IS Infrastructure Manager, CF Fertiliser
12:25 Case Study
12:45 Q&A
12:55 Lunch & Networking

Big data is a phrase which has become synonymous with Digital Transformation, however with digital applications now producing an abundance of data, translating that data into manageable information and actionable results has become more of a challenge. This session will address how to interpret the magnitude of data produced and how to effectively use such data to enable measured results. Discussion will focus upon data management to improve efficiency, integrated systems and data analytics to reduce downtime, real-time data for increasing performance & productivity, and datadriven asset management.

Schedule:

13:55 Chairs afternoon address
14:00 Case Study
14:25 Panel discussion “How do you harness the real potential of Big Data?”

Paul Alexander, Head of Astrophysics, Cambridge University

Anil Kainth, Senior Manager, Technology & Innovation, SABIC
15:05 Case Study
15:30 Coffee & Networking Break

Alongside the countless solutions brought by digital transformation, the transition to a digital industry also brings with it a number of associated risks. One of the most pressing challenges facing the industry to date is cyber security. This session will address risk management for transitioning to a digital business. Key themes will include protecting critical infrastructure from cyber threats, encouraging security awareness across the industry, employing digital technologies without causing risk to operations, data protection & ensuring critical information remains secure, trusting machine-driven operations, and developing robust control systems to combat cyber vulnerabilities.

Schedule:

15:45 Case Study
16:05 Panel discussion: New age new problems how to mitigate any cyber security risks.

Chris Jones, Head of School/Professor of Computing Science, University of Glasgow

Sadie Creese, Professor of Cyber Security, Oxford University
16:45 End of Day 1

The dawn of the “Digital Twin” is one of the most ground-breaking solutions to emerge from the digital transformation movement. “Digital Twins”, namely a virtual model of a physical asset, are increasingly becoming a business imperative. Covering the entire lifecycle of an asset, digital twins can be used to optimize business outcomes, accurately predict results, reduce risk, improve productivity, and provide a foundation for other connected services or products. This session will address the latest developments within “digital twin” technologies, alongside the benefits of utilizing such technologies as an asset management strategy.

Schedule:

9:25 Chairs opening address
9:30 Michael Kumbhat, Technology Specialist & External Manufacturing Manager, DOW
9:50 Case Study
10:10 Case Study
10:30 Case Study
10:50 Q&A
11:00 Coffee & Networking Break

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Augmented Reality (AR) are set to take companies to the next level of efficiency, productivity and cost reduction. This session will look at case studies where AI & AR have been implemented and the impact upon operations.

Schedule:

11:45 Case Study
12:05 Anthony Hunter, Head of Intelligent Systems Research, UCL
12:25 Case Study
12:45 Q&A
12:55 Lunch & Networking

This session will discuss how a combination of robotics, machine intelligence and 5G networks will provide a wealth of opportunities across the supply chain, including maintaining compliance, faster deliveries for customers, eliminating production bottlenecks, as well as reduced costs. Attention will be paid to how smart manufacturing will interact with industrial automation, robots and machine intelligence across the production process including operations, supply, and inventory.

Schedule:

13:55 Chairs opening address
14:00 Case Study
14:20 Danny Perri, Head of IT EMEA, The Linde Group
14:40 Case Study
15:00 Palo Remagnino, Professor of Department of Computer Science, Kingston University London
15:20 Q&A
15:30 Coffee & Networking

The advent of the digital age has ignited a shift towards the future oil and gas workforce. With digitalisation rapidly re-shaping the industry, ensuring the right capabilities are in place to deliver new business models poses a key challenge moving forward. This session will address the future workforce needed to successfully support the adoption of a digital oil and gas industry. Discussion will include future workforce implications, balancing the mix of engineers & data scientists, training models moving forward, strategies for attracting a new technologically focused generation, and managing this shift internally.

Schedule:

15:45 Case Study
16:05 Panel discussion How will digitisation will change the dynamics of your workforce & culture

Julie Roberts, Dow, HR Geo Leader UK & Nordic, Workforce Planning & Talent Acquisition Leader. DOW

Gerard Penning, Executive Vice President Human Resources Downstream, Shell International
16:45 End of conference