Hosted in Anaheim California from 8-12 October, Emerson Exchange 2012 showcased another outstanding year for the company, achieved under less than ideal operating conditions.
Emerson Process Management president, Steve Sonneberg, opened proceedings with a review of the financial performance over the last year. The graphs show another stellar year of double digit growth for Emerson, but what they do not indicate is the level of hardship caused by the supply chain disruption due to the floods in Thailand last year. A key electronic circuit board supplier was forced to close temporarily due to damage, severely hampering Emerson’s ability to deliver against orders. Sonnenberg’s apology for this during his opening address was refreshingly honest as he stressed the supply chain risk mitigation strategies that have subsequently been implemented to prevent any recurrence.
The tone resonated well with the objective announced at the 2011 event that Emerson is focused on becoming its customers’ most trusted adviser. Sonnenberg explained the four tenets of the strategy that would enable it to deliver on this:
1. Connect to customers. “We deepen the connection by solving problems, not just selling products,” he said. “If we are only known for our products then we are not conveying the full value of Emerson.”
2. Project engineering resources. “Emerson has 4600 project engineering focused employees in place right now. The plan is to grow this number by 50% in the next few years.”
3. Services. “We are investing in regional centres of expertise. These are designed to deliver the automation skills that provide a business turnaround for our customers.”
4. Technology innovation. “New technology is key, but it is an enabler not the end game. The end game is to solve the customer’s problem.”
While the new technology might not be the Emerson end game, the technology exhibition was a definite highlight of the Exchange. The plethora of do not miss new products on display included:
* A magnetic flowmeter suitable for hazardous area use.
* A vortex flowmeter upgrade to eliminate bypass lines.
* The first in-situ, 8-path ultrasonic meter for LNG custody transfer.
* The first guided wave radar sensor for level with integrated WirelessHART.
* The wireless on/off control valve. Monitored via WirelessHART, manual valves can now be operated automatically with wireless control signals.
* TÜV and Exida certified intrinsically safe (IS) CHARMs.
For me though, what really brought home the power of the Emerson solution services based strategy was the new iOps (intelligent operations) centre. The media were introduced to this during one of the press conferences.
Essentially, the operator has a set of easy-to-read interactive dashboard screens that show everything that is happening on the plant. Then, for instance, if the vibration level on a pump goes out of limits, said operator can contact an Emerson expert via the advanced video conferencing facilities. The expert, located at a service centre that may be somewhere else in the world, can access the same screens, analyse the problem and advise the best course of action. In this case, it turned out that a gas seal on the pump needed to be re-pressurised. Once the necessary remedial action had been implemented, the pump’s vibration signature returned to normal and the expert was freed up to deal with the next problem. It is a wonderful example of how the company is leveraging its expertise through the use of the latest technology platforms.
Couple all of this with the announcement of one billion hours of wireless transmitter operation across 10 000 systems around the world, then you realise that the Emerson Technology Tornado is indeed a primal force of nature in the world of process automation.
Steven Meyer
Editor: SA Instrumentation & Control
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