MESA Seeks Volunteers for Oil & Gas Working Group

Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association

The Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association, MESA International, said Monday that the organization has established an Oil & Gas Working Group, created from the successful start of their Middle East Working Group. This working group has a global focus on the challenges and opportunities for companies in the oil and gas industries (both upstream and downstream), in adopting technologies for improved manufacturing operations.

The newly formed MESA Oil & Gas Working Group has been established by committed work of individuals from the United States, Europe, and the Middle East region, as a result of high levels of activities in the MESA Middle East Working Group, itself established in July 2005. Despite the preconceived notion that MES has no or little added value to continuous processing, actual examples are proving otherwise -- and so is the momentum behind this working group.

In a very short time, the MESA Middle East Working Group has already had several meeting activities and today counts more than 25 individual members from major oil and gas companies as well as from major automation and control solution provider and IT companies.

According to Fayez Kharbat, New Technology Advisor (Application & Systems Specialist) for Saudi Aramco, Chair of MESA's Middle East Working Group, and appointed Chair of the new Oil & Gas Working Group, the numbers speak for themselves. "MESA's Middle East Working Group has had four events since December of 2005, with a significant and continuously increasing number of attendees, as well as support from most of the major players in this field. We're pleased to establish this Oil & Gas Working Group and look forward to our kick-off meeting which will be announced soon."

Within MESA, the Oil & Gas Working Group is chartered to educate users in the oil and gas industry on MES, from a global perspective beyond the activities of the Middle East region. While the working group will not be directly involved in developing industry standards, one of the key areas of interest is to collaborate closely with standards organizations, and provide feedback on standards requirements, as seen from a point of view of a continuous process manufacturer.

Kharbat continues, "Our focus over the next 6-12 months is to recruit more people to join us from major oil and gas companies around the world, for increased learning and sharing of valuable experiences. At the same time we will be working on creating white papers to highlight the specific challenges, and opportunities for improvements, that exist in our industry by adopting MES."

For MESA, the formation of the Oil & Gas Working Group represents the first time where activities are centered on a specific industry. "It's important to note that MESA is not about to become an organization structured around industry verticals. Our mission of sharing best practices, strategies and innovation in managing manufacturing operations, applies across all industries and will continue to do so," says Matt Bauer, Chairman of MESA. "But we felt this was a good opportunity to extend our reach and contribute to an increased adoption of MES outside the traditional bounds of our organization."

To learn more about the group's activities and those of MESA, contact Fayez Kharbat (fayez.kharbat@aramco.com) or George Bauer, Siemens (george.bauer@siemens.com), appointed Vice Chair of the Oil & Gas Working Group. All MESA members are encouraged to join this new working group.


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