PEMAC Annual Conference – PEMAC’s 16th Consecutive MainTrain Conference was hosted in the City of Edmonton
PEMAC NEWS RELEASE
MISSISSAUGA, (October 8, 2019) – Recently, PEMAC hosted MainTrain 2019 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel located in Edmonton, Alberta.
PEMAC's MainTrain conference has been the source for professional development for asset management, maintenance and reliability professionals in every industry, from both private and public sector organizations that invest capital in equipment and facilities. Canada's largest annual maintenance and physical asset management conference exhibition and networking event, MainTrain gathers leading experts, practitioners and professionals from across Canada and around the world to share their insights and strategies that will support professionals and their organizations.
Over 200 attendees joined PEMAC for an annual opportunity to “Connect, Learn & Contribute” to the Canadian community of professionals engaged in maintenance management, reliability management and asset management. “MainTrain conference attendees represent organizations that perform a variety of vital activities including (but not limited to): Astronomical Research; Facilities Management; Food and Beverage Processing; Forest Products Manufacturing; Municipal Infrastructure Management; Ore Production, Refining and Distribution; Petroleum Products Production, Refining and Distribution; Power Generation and Distribution; and Steel Manufacturing. The operations of these organizations tend to be either capital intensive, mechanically intensive or have high consequence of failure - often all three.” Cindy Snedden, PEMAC Executive Director.
During the four day conference, attendees participated in multi-track educational workshops and presentations led by industry experts, networked in our exhibitor hall with dozens of industry suppliers, heard thought provoking keynote speakers, and panel discussions on real issues and concerns that maintenance, reliability and asset management professionals are now facing; and contributed to collective learning through the cross sharing of industry relevant information at the MRO Round Table Discussion hosted by our media partners MRO, a division of Annex Media.
This year’s conference chair, Justyna Krzysiak P. Eng, Equipment Class Manager at Enbridge, shared highlights of what makes Edmonton unique - its recent downtown redevelopment, and its proud history of supporting Canada’s northern-based oil sands and mining industries. The city is growing and changing, and becoming increasingly recognized as a leader in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The conference program was designed to reflect the Edmonton region’s diversity and highlight local success stories in maintenance, reliability and asset management through keynote speakers, presentations and facility tours; to share best practices most relevant to practitioners, and to “connect, learn, contribute”. Justyna says “There has never been a more critical time for our Canadian maintenance, reliability and asset management professionals to balance cost, risk and performance; to attain value for all of our stakeholders; and to build on our proud history of resource economies, respond to the complexities of today and prepare for the uncertainties of tomorrow.”
In addition to the conference sessions, this heavily attended event hosts an awards banquet recognizing the efforts of those who have made significant contributions to their field and to our association. This year awards recipients included lifetime achievements, exceptional Capstone projects in Maintenance Management, and Asset Management, and contributions to our association as well as significant contributions to the field of Maintenance.
The MainTrain conference provided participants with the opportunity to earn credits towards globally recognized PEMAC Certifications. This year saw the end of an era, as Alan Johnson, a respected educator in the community, delivered his last MMP Module 1 course at the conference along with Len Middleton. PEMAC also hosted the ‘Becoming A Certified Asset Management Assessor’ course face to face at MainTrain. Other opportunities for accreditation at the conference included the Certified Asset Management Assessor exam, and the ICML exam.
This conference provided an excellent opportunity for attendees to network with each other and for our sponsors to gain exposure and make contact with hundreds of maintenance, reliability and asset management professionals. On behalf of the Board of Directors, PEMAC’s National President Susan Lubell gave a warm opening welcome, and encouraged each participant to learn from and contribute to the content of the conference and for each person present to make as many new connections as possible. The individual contributions from the volunteers, speakers, exhibitors, sponsors, instructors, and participants is what continues to drive the collective spirit of “connect, learn, contribute”, year after year. MainTrain returns in September 2020, but this time to the host city of Saint John, New Brunswick. We hope to see you there.
A special thank you to this year’s sponsors: SKF Canada, UE Systems, Wajax, Northern Lakes College, ARMS Reliability, Carver PA, CiM Maintenance, Prometheus Group, Clearstream Energy, Schneider Electric, ICML, and Machinery & Equipment MRO magazine.
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