October 1, 2008 - Emerson Process Management announced the distinguished winners and finalists in its Smart Wireless Innovators Application Contest. Designed to recognize creativity and business value from applications of the company’s Smart Wireless solutions, entries in this first annual contest were from production, manufacturing, and distribution facilities around the world.
A cross-industry panel of end user judges reviewed the anonymous entries to understand the application, challenges addressed, benefits obtained, and reason for use of wireless. They evaluated all entries to select “most innovative” and “highest business results” winners.
The “Innovation” criteria included the extent to which use of wireless was novel; the identification of previously unknown process issues; the degree to which wired technology wouldn’t have been possible; and the extent of real operations improvement.
The winning score went to Croda Inc., an international specialty chemical manufacturer, for its application to measure temperature in moving rail cars at its plant in Mill Hall Pennsylvania.
The “Business Results” criteria included demonstrated dollar savings in operations; installation savings compared to a wired approach; time savings for implementing with wireless; and the extent to which safety or environmental impacts were improved.
Scoring highest was CFE LAPEM, a laboratory analysis group within the Federal Electrical Commission of Mexico. LAPEM has five analysis teams that set up temporary measurement facilities at each of 140 power plants. One team’s easy establishment of a temporary wireless network in power plants made it possible to increase its productivity and plant coverage by 10 percent, increase annual service revenue by US $512,000.
“We are excited at the great range of wireless applications across industries and around the world that we received,” commented Peter Zornio, chief strategic officer of Emerson Process Management. “The contest unveiled what is really an amazing display of ease of use, flexibility, reliability and business value delivery.”
“These early adaptors of Smart Wireless technology are finding practical applications that didn’t pass the investment return hurdles in the wired world, but are now making meaningful contributions in safety, environment, and asset health leading to significant ROI,” continued Zornio. “What’s more, there’s considerable use in measurement of equipment that moves or rotates, and monitoring done through wireless devices quickly installed on a temporary basis is turning out to be a popular application.”
“I have to say how very proud we are of all the many innovators we’ve worked with in these first few years of Smart Wireless delivery,” concluded Zornio. “Their success bodes well for rapid deployment and broad improvements in the age of wireless, and demonstrates what our inventive customers can do when given a technology breakthrough to exploit. We'll see many more pioneering applications in years to come."
About Emerson Process Management
Emerson Process Management, an Emerson business, is a leader in helping businesses automate their production, processing and distribution in the chemical, oil and gas, refining, pulp and paper, power, water and wastewater treatment, mining and metals, food and beverage, pharmaceutical and other industries. The company combines superior products and technology with industry-specific engineering, consulting, project management and maintenance services. Its brands include PlantWeb, Fisher, Rosemount, Micro Motion, Daniel, DeltaV, Ovation, and AMS Suite.
About Emerson
Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions to customers through its network power, process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, and appliance and tools businesses.
