EMERSON – Transforming measurement instrumentation for a connected plant in a connected world

As a leading provider of industrial automation, Emerson has built a reputation for consistent innovation, reliability, and excellence for more than 130 years. Part of this long history is the company’s extensive portfolio of measurement instrumentation technologies working at the forefront of industrial advancement and the next generation of automation. In this exclusive interview with Instrumetrics World, Andy Kravitz, vice president of Cross-Portfolio Technology Innovation, provides insight into the current and future role that Emerson plays in the global instrumentation and measurement market.

By Madeline McNabb & Christian Borrmann

At the heart of Emerson’s Measurement Instrumentation division is the Cross-Portfolio Technology Innovation team, which plays a pivotal role in aligning technologies and uniting expertise from across the company to meet the evolving needs of global customers. The team works closely with several of Emerson’s most recognized brands—Rosemount™, Micro Motion™, Flexim™, and Roxar™—and regularly collaborates across Emerson to deliver seamless, integrated innovation.

Instrumentation that redefines process performance

Across Emerson’s diverse portfolio, a unifying force drives innovation: connectivity. Whether through advanced instrumentation, wireless flexibility, or cloud-based insights, Emerson is steadily transforming how plants gather, interpret, and act on data to drive smarter decisions, minimize downtime, and reduce costs.

“Our goal is to look at the plant from the entire digital twin down to the individual devices,” Kravitz explains. “Our role within the instrumentation group is to identify ways that we can make our devices provide more value to our customers.”

That value is increasingly realized through the intelligent field, where sensing technologies deliver advanced diagnostics, predictive insights, and seamless connectivity. For instance, Micro Motion Coriolis Flow Meters are equipped with smart meter verification technology that detects corrosion or erosion. Similarly, Rosemount pressure transmitters feature statistical process monitoring, allowing users to detect problems such as plugged impulse lines by analyzing signal trends.

Complementing these intelligent instruments is Emerson’s edge and cloud solutions, such as Plantweb Insight™, which helps translate raw data into actionable insights. “Plantweb Insight is something we have been deploying on premises for a number of years to solve customer problems,” says Kravitz. “We are in the process of building our software service capabilities to expand these insights into the cloud for our customers to make is easier to access their data.”

A critical part of this ecosystem is the ability to choose between wired and wireless configurations for nearly every product, depending on the needs of the process. Selecting wired or wireless options often comes down to the application. In control or custody transfer environments, where real-time data is essential, wired flow meters are often preferred. “Critical flow meters have limited monitoring applications where wireless makes sense, but they are extremely important for control,” Kravitz explains.

In contrast, applications such as remote water pipelines are ideal candidates for wireless solutions, especially when integrated with cellular connectivity. “A cellular connection might be the best choice because you do not have a control system anywhere nearby, but you need to understand what the flow rate is on that pipe.”

In these cases, the purpose of the data drives the design. “The flow meter can totalize, and that total is required to understand what happened in the pipeline,” says Kravitz. In a PID control loop, flow rate data is needed more frequently, but for slower-changing variables like temperature or level, wireless remains practical and efficient.

Always informed, always connected: Turning data into clarity

As wireless technologies develop, Emerson is also rethinking how data is collected and used. Historically, data was routed to the DCS or historians. “With some of the newer capabilities we have been using, like steam trap and corrosion and erosion monitoring, data needs to be analyzed by edge devices and accessible remotely, because oftentimes, the expertise for that may not even be on a site-by-site basis,” says Kravitz. Centralized teams, like corporate corrosion experts overseeing multiple sights, can benefit from cloud-connected data.

Cellular technology plays a crucial role in making this possible. Unlike field protocols such as WirelessHART that rely on mesh networks and constant updates, cellular allows data to be transmitted periodically. “Instead of every update going back through the gateway, you might collect data for 24 hours and send it back once or twice a day,” Kravitz explains. This is ideal for low-frequency, high-value diagnostics, like corrosion monitoring or steam trap failures. “In normal conditions, you send out the cellular signal once a day. However, if an issue is detected, you can trigger the cellular device to send an instantaneous response.”

Emerson builds diagnostics into its products to deliver actionable insights at the device level. “We have the exact expertise needed for something like a Coriolis meter, radar gauge, pressure or temperature transmitter,” Kravitz says.

Whether deploying non-intrusive wireless sensors to detect pipe wall corrosion or cloud tools to optimize heat exchanger performance, Emerson’s approach remains the same: empower customers with smarter, more connected instrumentation. “Our goal is to be the senses of the plant: the eyes, the ears, the nose, the touch. Our objective is to make sure that we can provide any insights into that process that you could get from having an operator out there.”

Expanding possibilities with trusted measurement expertise

Emerson’s measurement instrumentation technologies have long served demanding sectors like oil and gas and the chemical industry. The company is increasingly applying its expertise to new and emerging markets where precision, reliability, and innovation are essential: carbon capture, hydrogen, energy transition capabilities, metals and mining, food and beverage, and life sciences.

“In life sciences, it’s often about meeting specific approvals, like polish and finish of products or using plastic covers instead of glass,” Kravitz explains. Solutions like DeltaVTM, a market leader in life sciences, show how Emerson adapts to highly regulated industries.

Core measurements like pressure and temperature remain universally applicable. “They are used in virtually every single space you can imagine,” Kravitz notes, underscoring the versatility of Emerson’s sensor portfolio.

Power in cross-department collaboration

Behind Emerson’s industry-leading innovations is a highly coordinated internal engine—one that thrives on collaboration across departments and brands to deliver truly integrated solutions. “It is fundamentally important that we have the ability to provide these capabilities across the customer’s entire value chain,” says Kravitz. “We are one of the few companies out there that truly has the ability to provide the entire process control ecosystem to the customer.”

From the DeltaV systems to AMS (Asset Management Solutions), Bettis™ to Fisher™, Emerson’s brands work together to create unified customer experiences. A clear example of this cross-functional synergy is found in the development of reference designs for emerging connectivity standards. “Reference designs for Ethernet-APL and Bluetooth® technology are done in partnership with Fisher,” explains Kravitz. “Both teams have engineers on the programs, implementing the same technology.” The Reliability Solutions team is also an essential partner. For Bluetooth® devices, Emerson’s AMS Device Configurator tool is used to configure and support
the hardware, demonstrating how different areas of the business come together to build seamless, user-friendly solutions.

This level of internal integration enables Emerson to design comprehensive, plant-wide ecosystems. “Collaborating and working across teams within Emerson, we can develop an entire ecosystem to solve customer problems,” says Kravitz. By breaking down organizational silos and leveraging the expertise that exists across its many business units, Emerson ensures that its solutions are not just innovative but cohesive, scalable, and tailored to real-world customer needs.

A global footprint

While Emerson’s reach extends to nearly every country across the globe, the company brings a distinctly localized approach to its global operations. “If we do not have local support in a country, we have one local to the region, and that provides us the ability to really support the customers anywhere in the world,” says Kravitz.

A growing trend in North America and Europe is regulatory compliance. “Corrosion and erosion are great examples,” Kravitz explains. “If you have a leak, it can lead to be a hefty fine. Solutions that help detect and prevent leaks or gas releases are extremely valuable.”

In Latin America and Asia, the focus often shifts to plant efficiency and ease of use, particularly given the prevalence of younger workforces and less embedded expertise. “Making sure that our devices are easy to use, that they are drop-in capable, and that data is being used effectively, becomes more important,” says Kravitz.

Shaping the standards, sharing the expertise

A cornerstone of Emerson’s strategy is interoperability. The company is an active contributor to major global standards bodies, including the FieldComm Group’s FOUNDATION™ Fieldbus, ODVA’s EtherNet/IP, PROFINET® and PROFIBUS® International, and the OPC Foundation, among others. “If you cannot work with other systems and devices, it makes it much more difficult on end users,” Kravitz says.

Emerson’s efforts include significant technological contributions as well. The company helped create the original HART® Foundation, now the FieldComm Group, and donated HART technology to the industry. It was also a founding force behind the FOUNDATION Fieldbus initiative, contributing critical intellectual property and participating in standards development from the ground up, including in the early days of Ethernet-APL.

Beyond technology, Emerson is redefining how customers experience and interact with its solutions. “We have invested heavily in building customer experience centers and integrated plant environments,” says Kravitz. These simulated plants around the globe replicate actual operational conditions without the risk of hazardous materials, allowing customers to interact with nearly every type of Emerson instrumentation device. “They can use the exact same tools and techniques that they would use in their real plants inside of that environment,” Kravitz explains. “We find it is very beneficial to not only teach them theory and fundamentals but also apply that directly in a process control environment. Our customers appreciate our simulated plants and their visits. We will continue to develop this concept to cover a wider range of industrial scenarios so that even more people can benefit from these training courses.”

Looking ahead

While Emerson has built its legacy on innovation and industry-leading measurement instrumentation devices, the company remains firmly future-focused. According to Mr. Kravitz, Emerson’s eyes are on what lies ahead: not just what customers need today, but what they will need tomorrow.

One major area of focus is secure cloud connectivity, particularly in making it easier for customers to integrate Emerson’s solutions into broader systems and workflows. This includes a strong push into interoperability and technologies like Ethernet-APL and OPC UA Field eXchange (UAFX).

“Ethernet-APL is interesting because we want to unlock all the other data in the instrumentation—diagnostics and capabilities,” says Kravitz. This allows a single piece of equipment to serve multiple roles, from process monitoring to quality assurance.

The transformation from raw measurement to actionable intelligence is central to innovation. “We can use things like AI and machine learning and find new ways to analyze data in the field that go beyond initial measurement capabilities like pressure, temperature, level, and flow,” Kravitz adds. One example he shares is the ability to interpret acoustic signals using AI: “We can take an acoustic signal from the sensor, analyze it, and tell if a pressure relief valve has open or a steam trap is clogged or blowing through.”

To enable this kind of advanced analysis, Emerson Ventures is investing in next-generation platforms like Symmera’s SaaS solution and Atym’s orchestration technology. These efforts are focused not only on data access and cybersecurity, but also on making sure that plant data is both meaningful and manageable.

“Going forward, it is important that the data we are providing customers is usable and actionable,” Kravitz explains. “And making sure that the data that they do not need is not being collected anymore.” By continuing to evolve its technologies, from connectivity infrastructure to AI-enabled diagnostics, Emerson is not just reacting to the industry’s future; it is helping shape it.

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