Emerson Process Management: Accelerating on the Internet

If you were selling automation products for manufacturing plants, the 1970s were a wonderful time—sales
were booming. By 2000, however, the market had changed. Sales had slowed and purchasers were beginning
to think of automation products as commodities. So many buyers were using fewer suppliers.

That was the situation that the Fisher-Rosemount division of Emerson Electric faced. How could it attract the
interest and attention of industrial purchasers for services that helped buyers optimize their plants and
processes? Such decisions are made infrequently and can involve big money, ranging from $25,000 to
$25,000,000. How could Fisher-Rosemount demonstrate in an engaging and dynamic way the benefits of
reworking processes in customers' existing plants? How could the company show what its services could
accomplish?

Fisher-Rosemount tackled this situation by first repositioning its services. By looking at the relevant purchase
processes from the customer's point of view, it realized that customers were not looking for individual products
that they had to assemble themselves, if they had the needed in-house expertise. Instead, they were looking for
complete solutions. Competitors—especially software vendors—had already realized this. Seeking to
capitalize on their own expertise, the competitors had assembled product portfolios that included everything
from PC-based process control solutions to supply chain management solutions. However, although Fisher-
Rosemount's repositioning strategy was similar to that of other industry suppliers, the company had the
advantage of being part of a much larger organization.

Emerson Electric was founded in 1890 in St. Louis, Missouri, to manufacture reliable electric motors. By
1892, it was selling the first electric fans in the United States, still one of its major lines. Over the years,
however, Emerson Electric has benefited from stable management and consistent growth in its product and
service lines. Today, it has over 60 divisions selling a variety of products from fans to process solutions, from
to refrigeration and air-conditioning technologies to tools for do-it-yourselfers and professionals, from plastics
joining and cleaning compounds to world-class engineering and consulting services. In 2000, Emerson
reported sales of $15.5 billion—a 9 percent increase from the previous year. The company also reported
increased earnings for the forty-third year and increased dividends for the forty-fourth year in a row. To
achieve such an enviable record, Emerson stresses increased growth—particularly in global markets—and
innovation.

One way Emerson stays ahead of the competition is through heavy use of the Internet. It has over 115 e-
business projects under way. In 2000, it transacted 10 percent of its sales (that's $1.55 billion) online and 70
percent of its 60-plus divisions had Web projects up and running.

The Internet provides a good channel for selling technical products. A survey of industrial users of the Internet
indicated that much of the industry (85 percent) has access to the Internet, and that engineers are among early
adopters and frequent users of the Net. They use the Internet primarily to gather information, but given the lack
of relevant information found there, they spend only up to three hours a week on the Net. Therefore, it appears
that supplier companies can best increase the value of the Internet in selling their services by providing more
detailed information about products and services.

The folks at Fisher-Rosemount must have seen this report, because they chose to develop an information-
packed site called ThePlantWeb (www.plantweb.com). The home page of this Web site provides visitors with
information on ThePlantWeb. Right away, visitors learn how they can understand today's technologies better,
access information more quickly, reduce costs, and increase revenues. They can do this by taking advantage of
PlantWeb University, which provides short business courses on how to improve plant profitability, and
engineering courses in which they can explore leading automation technologies. The page also provides short
"testimonial-descriptions" of companies that have recently used ThePlantWeb to improve their operations.
Visitors who want more information than that provided by the short testimonials can call up longer case studies
for information. ThePlantWeb News provides recent examples of new users of ThePlantWeb services and
gives a chronological listing for the last five years of successful applications of its services.

What is most interesting, engaging, and unusual about this Web site is a feature called TestDrivePlantWeb. In
the test drive, visitors can see how much PlantWeb architecture can reduce capital expenditures compared to
traditional DCS (Distributed Control Systems) architecture. What does that mean? Assume that you are a

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manager of a pulp and paper plant. Visit the Web site, go to the TestDrivePlantWeb page, and click on one of
the industries listed on the left side of the page. Click on Pulp & Paper, then continue with the test drive, and
you'll get a diagram showing all the processes in the pulp and paper industry, from waste treatment through
papermaking, recovery, bleaching, and pulping. By using the various buttons, such as Customize Areas and
Design Cost Assumptions, you can input data for your plant. All the while, the site provides an estimate of
how much you can save using process management from Fisher-Rosemount. In addition to a summary of
savings, you'll received information detailing how you would achieve those savings. Can't you just imagine
engineers inputting various data to see how much they could save? In fact, the site has proven very effective in
attracting new customers. No doubt that's why TestDrivePlantWeb has won several awards.

What is PlantWeb? According to the Web site, it's a revolutionary field-based architecture that changes the
economics of process automation. TestDrivePlantWeb allows you to build your own virtual plant to evaluate
the economics of process automation. It employs an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop interface that allows users to
customize models by adding or deleting process areas, units, or devices or by adjusting variables such as labor
rates and average wire run. The effects are shown immediately in the summary. Specific benefits of retrofitting
your old plant with automation from Fisher-Rosemount include reduced process variability, increased plant
availability, reduced capital and engineering costs, reduced operations and maintenance costs, and streamlined
regulatory compliance.

In 2001, as part of its corporate repositioning strategy, Emerson Electric renamed the Fisher-Rosemount
division, calling it the Emerson Process Management division. The goal was to enhance the overall corporate
brand and to provide insight into the division's services. The repositioning also involved the integration of
Fisher-Rosemount with other services in Emerson Electric, such as Emerson Performance Solutions, in order
to provide complete solutions to purchasers.

Emerson Process Management does not rely only on the Internet to sell its services. To promote ThePlantWeb,
it hired 50 sales reps (dubbed "PlantWeb Champs") and trained them on Internet technology. To support their
efforts, it used print advertising and direct marketing to reach prospects that it calls "technical evangelists."
The print ads used brilliant colors and images that contrasted old and new technology—for example, a weather
vane and a weather satellite. These ads stood out amid the wordy competitor ads surrounding them. Emerson
also used the TestDrivePlantWeb site to collect names of prospects and their affiliations. It then sent direct
mail to higher-level executives in each organization. The idea was to intrigue the "technical evangelist's"
supervisor, who was more likely to be involved in the purchase decision. Perhaps they would meet in the
hallway, and the technical evangelist, who was excited from taking a "test drive" on ThePlantWeb, would
exchange information with the supervisor who had questions about costs.

Such simple hallway conversations can be the beginning of a process that takes months to complete. During
that time, Emerson sends prospects promotional materials and invitations to seminars to keep their interest
from flagging. If all of those marketing efforts are not enough, PlantWeb has a guarantee that the purchaser
will reduce total installed cost using PlantWeb automation solutions as compared to traditional DCS
architectures.

Does this work? You decide. In the first 18 months that TestDrivePlantWeb was up, Emerson identified
65,000 unique visitors to the site, and that translated into 850 installations of ThePlantWeb product.

Questions for Discussion

1. What type of purchase decision is involved in buying solutions to a company's process systems from
Emerson Process Management (Fisher-Rosemount)?
2. Who might participate in the buying process? How can ThePlantWeb and the associated marketing
campaign impact each of the buying-decision participants?
3. How can ThePlantWeb and the associated marketing campaign affect each stage in the business
buying process?
4. What purpose do the testimonials, case studies, and PlantWeb Guarantee serve?
5. Is promotion and selling on the Internet a wise decision for Emerson Process Management? Why or
why not? What are the advantages of using the Internet compared with using only personal selling and
advertising? The disadvantages?

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6. In your opinion, is Emerson wise to reposition itself by branding all of its divisions with the Emerson
name? Why would this be beneficial in selling to business markets? How might it be a disadvantage?