An RSS search feed pointed to a Process and Control Today news item about the opening on a new Emerson European flow center. This center provides comparison, selection, final assembly, configuration, calibration, testing, support and training for quite a range of Emerson Process management flow brands including Micro Motion, Rosemount, and Brooks Instrument. The flow technologies include Coriolis, magnetic flow, vortex, thermal mass flow, and variable area meters.

The center was built to help process manufacturers primarily in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. With so many technologies, each have their advantages in different applications, it was important to have a common area where manufacturers could work with product and application experts to properly select and configure the best solution for the application.

I caught up with Emerson’s Henk Verweerd who shared some highlights with me. The center, located between Arnhem and Utrecht in the Netherlands, supports seven languages, employs 275 people, and covers over 9000 square meters of floor space. In addition to the technical and application support, the team performs project and order management, repair management, and creation of documentation for projects and required regulatory agencies.

With the trend toward project modularization to decrease project schedules, the team helps instrument integrated systems for railcar, ship and truck loading/unloading, pipeline/LPG/LNG/gas metering, and proving Coriolis meters. The flow center includes four mini-plants fully instrumented with Foundation fieldbus devices to provide hand-on training for flow meters and applications, including the diagnostics these devices can provide to the automation systems.

Henk mentioned that the whole reason for the facility was to bring together experts from the various product lines to be able to work with manufacturers and quickly arrive at the best solution. It also helps provide better service, support, and input for future product improvements.