The countdown to the 2015 SKF National Maintenance Engineering Conference is on with registrations filling rapidly. The much heralded event, provided by the Maintenance Engineering Society of NZ and sponsored by SKF has relocated to a new permanent base at the Claudelands Event Centre in Hamilton on November 18, 19. The move to the world class Claudelands venue is one of a brace of changes designed to accommodate growth and further evolve the event to return value to the delegates.
Having sold out every exhibition venue in recent years, the organisers have taken the step of separating the conference venue from the accommodation. Delegates are now presented with a range of discounted options at either the Novotel or Ibis Hotels, a short walk from the venue complimented w3ith a conference shuttle bus.
At the core of the event, the conference agenda is a tribute to the work of the MESNZ team, who with SKF’s support will present a wide range of international and expert speakers presenting real life case studies on relevant topics to maintenance, manufacturing and line management. As ever, the ethos is to inform and inspire.
In addition to the conference papers, the event will feature the presentation of the MESNZ’s Bill Buckley Scholarship for engineering students and the Competenz sponsored Stuart Tolhurst Trophy, whilst the MESNZ AGM will provide an opportunity for those interested in becoming more involved in MESNZ activities to put their hands up.
Key behind the move to Claudelands is the enormous exhibition area. The sheer size of the halls is stunning and delegates will be treated to the largest array of industry exhibitors ever seen at this event. From reliability engineering to valves, filters, gaskets, compressed air, services and consulting, the exhibition hall presents a unique annual opportunity for delegates to explore a multitude of solutions to take back to their workplace.
Regular attendees to the National Maintenance Engineering Conference will be familiar with the unique personable ethos of the event, mirroring the society itself in bringing diverse people together. The social evening is the epitome of this ethos, providing legendary mirth and memories without sore heads the next day. The social event is traditionally a closely guarded secret, but in yet another step change, this year the organisers have gone public with the details. The DEMM 100, a soap box trolley derby, will be staged at Claudleands with teams of delegates building, preparing, scheming and racing soap box trolleys in a bid to win exceptional prizes.
MESNZ have enlisted industry suppliers to provide components and sponsorship for the pre-prepared trolleys. NMEC exhibitors Kembla used their versatile KemPress Stainless Steel piping system to provide roll/push bars, whilst SAFE Engineering provided design and fabrication resources and SKF are looking after the rolling bits. Given the history of NMEC, the night promises fun for all tastes and laughter for all.
NMEC has for some years, strived to provide contiguous activities leading up to the main conference, inspiring delegates to arrive early for the main event. This continues in 2015, with the preconference Tuesday providing lots of casual and public activities. Delegates can attend short course training in the Training Village, take an afternoon field trip to NDA’s industrial site, or enjoy a sneak preview of the Exhibition Hall over cocktails at the Tuesday Evening Private Trade Expo.
For the public, a short opportunity is provided to view the Exhibition Hall with a free Public Trade Expo from 12-5:30pm on the Tuesday.
The national conference is a natural extension of the MESNZ, its activities and everything it stands for. Engineers are solution providers. Their task is to stay abreast of relevant topics, keep the plant running, instill confidence in the operational staff, keep internal customers happy, create a proactive effect on operational efficiency and share a board room level understanding of the effect of their actions on the bottom line. The NMEC goal is to provide a networking forum where engineers can tap into personal growth and bring something back to their workplace that will inject REAL value into the operation.
At MESNZ, we understand how engineers think and what keeps their attention. As engineers we ARE technonerds, we do enjoy a bit of technical titillation, but we turn off to presentations with excessive details or sales pitches. We enjoy presentations that are short, sharp and snappy, relevant and revealing. When it comes to exhibitors, we do want to touch and feel the latest products and services, or confirm that traditional suppliers are still supporting the industry. But hard sales pitches – forget it, we would rather have a beer with you, understand your products and services and file your details in our back pocket for when the need arises.
The NMEC presents an opportunity for a diverse range of cross seeding of engineers across industries, regions and disciplines, creating more cross-pollination than a genetics laboratory! We never tire of seeing engineers from one industry or region discovering that someone else has already experienced a similar problem and found a solution. Sometimes, even hearing a bit of hard advice from your own peers is just the kick in the pants we all need to resolve to do something. There is nothing more reassuring when encountering a daunting new problem than finding someone who has run into the problem before.
The National Maintenance Engineering Conference pulls all these factions together, engineers, experts, advisors, and suppliers and intentionally melds them into one sociable group who can talk, learn, compare, establish new contacts, strengthen existing ones and take back new solutions visions and energy to their workplace. Whether you are an engineer, an engineer’s manager or a supplier, you need to seriously think, “Can I afford to NOT be there?”
The 2015 SKF National Maintenance Engineering Conference continues to offer the lowest participation cost ($725pp+GST) of any 2 day event in the Southern Hemisphere with discounts for MESNZ members and a “bring a workmate” option of only $495pp+GST. You can find out more information or even register online at http://www.mesnz.org.nz/conference/registration/ or simply calling the event management team at (09) 296 1333. Hurry to book your place today; seats are filling fast!
