INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
BY JUDY TIBBS
An Innovation Center from an Innovative Company
Marshalltown, IA—the home of the new 136,000-square-foot Emerson Innovation Center, Fisher Technology—may be just a dot on the map, but
it now houses a facility with an enormous vision. This first-of-its kind R&D
complex has expansive capabilities and
is likely to have an impact that’s global
in scope. Key among them is the
world’s largest “flow lab,” which will
allow large valves to be tested in real-world plant conditions before installation at customer sites.
I had the opportunity to visit the
Innovation Center on May 11, the day
of its grand opening, as Emerson hosted more than 150 people—customers
from around the world as well as longtime friends of the company and members of the press. The excitement of the
Emerson team that helped bring this
$30 million center to fruition was palpable, and their enthusiasm and pride
was infectious.
“There’s nothing like it,” said Terry
Buzbee, president of Emerson Process
Management, Fisher. “And by a happy
coincidence, the opening of the center
The integration lab allows software testing to ensure compatibility.
coincides with the 130th anniversary
of Fisher,” which was originally founded by William Fisher, recognized as the
father of the now $52-billion industrial
control industry. [An interesting side
note: Mr. Fisher sold regulators and
bicycles at his first store.]
A model of the innovation center.
Mike Mason, executive vice president of Emerson Process Management–Fisher, and current chairman of
the board of the Valve Manufacturers
Association, explained why the company
built the Innovation Center in that area
of the country. “This center could be
anywhere, but we chose this location
because we have the best engineers on
the planet,” he said. The company
recruits and trains new engineers primarily from schools in the Midwest, and
“those schools work hard to recruit
young minds and give them a strong
foundation,” Mason said.
We also heard from Galen Wilke,
Emerson Process Management, vice
president of Fisher sliding-stem valves,
and William Rice, director of engineering for Westinghouse Engineering Corporation, on how Westinghouse would
be using the lab to test control valves
to be installed in its AP1000 nuclear
power plant. Rice said his company
plans “to take advantage of this new
