The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

As any financial adviser will tell you, you have to take the long-term view if you want to capitalise on your savings. And for some strange accounting reason, five years seems to be the shortest timeframe for the thrifty to hold on to their investments. Well, here at Process Engineering it is now exactly five years since we last changed the look of the journal - and it's time for us to capitalise on our investments over those years.

The first step we have taken is to acknowledge that the industries we report on are themselves not the same as they were five years ago - in fact, in many cases they differ dramatically from what they were five months ago. The worldwide mania for mergers and acquisitions has brought a radical new look to almost every industry sector, from oil to chemicals (see News Analysis this month on page12), pharmaceuticals to food, and yes, even publishing.

Process engineers are still in great demand - and still well-rewarded compared with other engineering disciplines - but their remits are broader than before. Thanks to the wonders of multitasking software (not to mention the effect of all those mergers), engineers are now expected to be as multiskilled as the next polymath. A manager one day, a troubleshooter the next, a plant designer and equipment specifier the day after - the role of the process engineer is constantly changing.

In the face of these changes, finding the time to keep abreast of developments in their own industries and technologies is a challenge to all engineers. We have recognised this by now incorporating our former sister title What's new in Process and Control into each month's issue of Process Engineering. Our goal is the same as so many of the companies that employ our readers - to build on the combined strengths of the two partners to the merger.