KROHNE Micro-Watt Ltd. : Partners in Precision
Friday, July 11, 2008 | SUPPLIERPROFILE | ProcessWEST Online

In 1921 Ludwig Krohne, his wife Anna and son Karl founded Ludwig Krohne & Sohn to produce rotameters for gas flow measurement. The rotameters (also known as variable area flowmeters) were improved throughout the 1950s and float-type liquid level indicators were introduced. KROHNE entered the magnetic flowmeter business in 1953 when its industrial AC magmeters were introduced, and remains a leader in this technology today. Ultrasonics in 1980, continuing innovations in Coriolis Mass flow beginning in 1986, and a line of Vortex shedding flowmeters. Throughout its 87 years, KROHNE has specialized in fluid flow measurement and, in the last 20 years, has developed complementary liquid level instruments such as its contacting (TDR) and non-contact Radar level gauges. Recent acquisitions of specialized companies such as Skarpenord (Norway)and INOR (Sweden) help expand served markets for shipboard marine and temperature solutions, respectively.

KROHNE's original corporate objectives hold forth today:

• To pioneer the development of innovative process measurement instruments for tomorrow's markets.
• To be a synonym for reliability, punctual delivery, operational dependability and measurement accuracy.
• To be sensitive to the special requirements of our customers.
• To be a fair, honest and understanding partner to its employees and the companies with whom it has business relations.

Micro-Watt Control Devices Ltd. has been a leader in the supply of industrial control, monitoring and instrumentation products in Western Canada for almost 25 years. They offer a number of "off the shelf" solutions - but much of what they supply is customized for the specific needs of a given client and/or project. Micro-Watt is dedicated to the product support and customer satisfaction. Their promise to every Micro-Watt customer is to work with them to provide an effective and cost-efficient solution in order to get the job done - on time and on budget.

Together, KROHNE and Micro-Watt have joined forces in Alberta to form a stronger, united cooperative effort to serve North America's fastest growing industrial economy. The two companies will commit shared resources, including local inventories and dedicated technical personnel, to serve Western Canada's instrumentation customers.

KROHNE MICRO-WATT PRODUCT LINE



Have any extraordinary challenges or opportunities contributed to growth?
When Micro-Watt joined forces with KROHNE in 2005, both companies knew that a tremendous opportunity for growth existed - not just based on the meteoric rise of the energy markets, but also from the combination of excellent products and customer service - a reputation earned over many years by both companies in their served markets.

Has the company reached any recent milestones?
Most recently, the decision to work more closely together is a significant milestone - and one that we are both extremely excited about for our future. From a product standpoint, the two standouts are the OPTIMASS single straight tube Coriolis meters and the ALTOSONIC/UFM3030 time-of-flight ultrasonic meter platforms. Both have found a very receptive market in Alberta based on best-in-class performance, especially in hydro-carbon related applications

What are KROHNE's major markets?
Alberta's oil sands and the many chemical and petrochemical facilities top the list of served industries, but we shouldn't overlook KROHNE's significant offering in the municipal water and wastewater segment where the magnetic flowmeters are widely accepted.

What are your current Western Canaidan "hot" markets?
We have identified three growth areas in the Western Canada marketplace:
1. Large nominal sized water process meters throughout the oilsands extraction process
2. Custody transfer of liquid hydrocarbon products for upgraders and pipelines
3. TDR Level meters in a wide variety of applications including liquids, solids and products consisting of multi-phase measurement

Will these markets endure, or do you look to other markets to offer future opportunities?
We would love to see the current growth rate in these markets to expand indefinitely but that is not reality. Our major focus is the oil & gas industry and we target our focus within segments of this market. By observing segment changes we develop our products and our research into new products for future opportunities.

How will evolving technology play a part in market evolution? And how will KROHNE evolve in the next decade?
KROHNE is well known in the measurement instrumentation markets as an innovator. Since 2004, over 80% of the company's products have been improved or replaced with next generation technology, all the while maintaining support for existing products in the field.

We expect, based on technological improvements in computing power that more functionality and intelligence will continue to develop in the field instrumentation - up to and including more communications options. At its core, however, KROHNE believes that the sensors' designs and their performance are where the real benefits are, and KROHNE continues to exceed market metrics in terms of research and development funding.

Several exciting technological developments are just entering the commercialization phases, while many other products are also about to be released. The innovation reputation KROHNE enjoys will continue to be well-deserved, indeed, for some time to come.

Are new technologies in your markets now offering new sales opportunities?
One of our latest technologies - ALTOSONIC/UFM3030 Ultrasonic flowmeters (featuring time-of-flight ultrasonic meter platforms) has been tested on heavy bitumen applications with excellent results. We have conducted testing at the Alberta Research Council test facility proving our technology and have field installs in northeastern Alberta.

What gives your company a competitive edge?
KROHNE's competitive edge comes from product innovation and a desire to exceed our customer's expectations in every instance. Micro-Watt's edge comes from its broad network of local sales and service personnel who know their Western Canada customers' needs and provide the results they expect. Together, KROHNE and Micro-Watt are dedicated to providing the best products with the best local support in the market

What makes customers return to your company?
Our reputation, our people and our quality products. We believe these are the main reasons why customers return to us. Our customers know us and we know our customers. Our customers know when we offer a solution we will be there to support the customer and the equipment period.

Could you describe one of your company's most interesting orders?
One of our latest achievements is supplying highly accurate ultrasonic flow measurement to a new multi-national upgrader in the Alberta's Industrial Heartland. This order consisted of over 10 flowmeters in a variety of nominal sizes measuring a variety of products. What makes it interesting is we were able to utilize the same technology for all applications regardless of the wide range in viscosities. This ability streamlined the selection process and reduced maintenance training to one style of measurement device - Ultrasonic. And because of the use of this technology, it eliminated the need for spare parts.

What do you like best about conducting business in Western Canada?
For Micro-Watt, Western Canada is home and we've always done business here. Right now, Western Canada's dominance in North America's market growth makes conducting business here very exciting. But business success comes with its challenges, not the least being the demands of customers for continued local support. We feel the joint talents of KROHNE and Micro-Watt will greatly benefit both companies and, most importantly, our customers in the region. The combination of these two companies will allow us to continue to drive to our commitment of excellence - together.