Celebrating  30 years of community, creativity and connecting

ABinBev walked away with the CEO Award for the effective use of AVEVA industrial software solutions at the 30th Xchange Conference, held by IS³ (Industry Software Solutions and Support) in the Drakensberg, KwaZulu-Natal, this week. 

Dion Govender, Managing Director of IS³, praised ABinBev at the event’s vibrant awards ceremony for “redefining success through its excellent use of our operations control suite. The company has achieved this through building exceptional skills and a learning ecosystem within the group.”

IS³ is the AVEVA Select Partner in Sub-Saharan Africa and serves a range of industrial sectors, including mining and metals, automotive, pharmaceutical, energy and power, food and beverage, construction and engineering, and transport and logistics with AVEVA software solutions. 

IS³ also honoured gold miner Harmony with its Innovation Award for being a gamechanger in its innovative use of AVEVA software, spanning from operations 3km underground to cloud solutions.

The Longevity Award, which recognises a customer that has consistently expanded and optimised their systems environment over time, was awarded to Sibanye Stillwater. Sibanye placed its trust in IS³ and AVEVA many years ago when it signed up for ArchestrA (originally a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Human-Machine Interface (HMI) platform). Sibanye has, over the years, advanced to using Asset Operations and Maintenance Flexibility (AOC Flex), a comprehensive suite of tools and capabilities aimed at optimising asset management and maintenance processes.

IS³ also celebrated the esteemed Mike le Plastrier, who started the predecessor of IS³ with a Founder Award. IS³ celebrated 30 years of significant exchanges and collaboration among its customers from Southern, East and West Africa at XChange. The event has seen industry leaders return year after year to gain new insights and network with about 400 delegates from this pioneering community. 

Govender reminded the conference delegates that XChange has always been about connectivity, creativity and its extraordinary community. “The community has faced some challenging times but have remained resilient.”

Likening the strength of the conference’s interactive community with the power of AVEVA’s Connect platform, a cloud-based solution enabling secure access, sharing, and collaboration on operational and engineering data, he emphasised: “The future belongs to those who Connect.”

*The XChange 2024 conference is presented by IS³, a business unit of Digital Industries. It is Africa's premier industrial software conference, offering businesses in the industrial sector the opportunity to modernise their environments through engagement with cutting-edge technologies, expertise, and partners.