MESA International, the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association, announced the expansion of its MESA Europe group to serve Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, commonly referred to as EMEA.

The MESA International membership continues to grow in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In order to connect the successful MESA Middle East working group, the activities of the MESA South Africa working group, and further expansion in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, the MESA International board of directors decided to expand the European board to a board for EMEA.

In line with MESA’s mission statement, the objective of MESA’s EMEA board of directors is to share best practices in the context of European, Middle Eastern, and African requirements and regulations. MESA has approximately 900 active EMEA members.

Elections were held in November 2008 to fill the 13 positions on the board, which now includes members from the Middle East and European regions. The MESA EMEA board will work with the existing local MESA groups to create new working groups and collaborate with local organizations with dedicated activities focused on operations-centric enterprise solutions.

MESA EMEA is planning the MESA 2009 European Plant-to-Enterprise Conference in Utrecht, The Netherlands, on Oct. 26 and 27.