The Chemical Processing 2010 Readers' Choice Awards survey proved popular — a record 1,265 readers participated in this year's poll. In the seventh year of our survey, it was a heavy weight bout to determine which companies readers consider the technology leaders in 48 categories.
"For a number of the categories it was difficult to pick a top vendor because I have different favorites within the general categories listed, depending on the specific need," explains one participant.
"It comes down to reliability," says another. "Cheap products will rarely succeed in the long run."
And thinking green was a major point of consideration for yet another. "I like any product that helps clean up the environment… They heal the tragic damages we do to nature."
Vendors feel like winning prize fighters when they make the list and see their names ahead of their competition. . Those who don't make the list can consider what they might do to improve their changes in next year's rematch.
Going the Rounds
Emerson Process Management remains the heavy weight champion as it has over the years, finishing first in seven categories and placing in four others. Emerson also continued to receive the most comments when respondents were asked to identify one technology provider as the best and explain why. "Emerson continuously tries to understand the customer requirements and improve upon them," says one respondent.
Several vendors achieved multiple mentions. Alfa Laval, Aspen Tech, Dow, Fluke and GE each earned two first place finishes. ABB, Endress+Hauser, Honeywell, Rockwell Automation, Siemens, SKF and Yokogawa all placed highly in multiple categories.
More details about the winning companies in each category are included on the following pages. For additional information about any of the vendors or products listed, we encourage you to visit www.ChemicalProcessing.com and search for bearings, pumps or any other category that interests you. Results from previous Readers' Choice Awards also are available online:
• 2009 — www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2009/133.html
• 2008 — www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2008/112.html
• 2007 — www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2007/108.html
• 2006 — www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2006/111.html
• 2005 — www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2005/523.html
• 2004 — www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2005/363.html
How Results Were Gathered
Readers received e-mail, notices, electronic newsletters, used a link posted on our Web site (www.ChemicalProcessing.com) or responded to Twitter and Facebook postings to complete the questionnaire. The survey was open for responses for just over one month. A total of 1,265 readers cast their votes about which vendors they consider technology leaders in 48 different categories. Categories were listed, but respondents had to enter the name of the technology provider in a blank text box. By not providing a pre-selected list of companies in each category, the survey avoided bias.
The rankings show the percentage of total responses in each category that a particular company received. We only list firms that got at least 5% of the votes in a category. Scores within 3% of each other should be considered a statistical tie.
And The Winning Reader Is
Robert Bowen, a research scientist with Caddock Electronics Inc., Roseburg, Ore. is the recipient of the 8GB iPod Touch, which was offered as an incentive to participate in the Readers' Choice survey. His name was randomly selected by computer from all of the respondents.
And here is the year's list of choices in alphabetical order:
Bearings
SKF 50%
Timken 13%
Motion Industries 5%
Boilers/Steam Systems
Babcock & Wilcox 13%
Cleaver-Brooks 12%
Thermax 6%
Catalysts
BASF (Englehard) 17%
Honeywell (UOP) 14%
Johnson Matthey 8%
Centrifugal Pumps
ITT (Goulds) 26%
Flowserve 17%
Sulzer 9%
KSB 6%
Centrifuges
Alfa Laval 21%
Westfalia 10%
Bird 9%
Heinkel 6%
Compressors
Ingersoll Rand 24%
Atlas Copco 17%
Computerized Maintenance Management Software (CMMS)
SAP 25%
Maximo 13%
Siemens 6%
Honeywell 5%
Condition Monitoring
GE (Bently Nevada) 30%
SKF 12%
Honeywell 7%
Emerson Process Management 7%
Rockwell Automation 6%
Conveying (Mechanical)
Hapman 7%
Flexicon 5%
Conveying (Pneumatic)
Dynamic Air 11%
Hapman 7%
MAC 6%
Cooling Towers
Marley 30%
Paharpur 17%
Baltimore Aircoil 11%
Distillation Equipment
Koch-Glitsch 34%
Sulzer 27%
Dryers
GEA Niro 12%
Dust-Control Systems
Donaldson Torit 27%
Elastomers
DuPont 37%
Dow 9%
Parker 5%
Engineering/Design Services
Fluor 9%
Jacobs 6%
Explosion Protection Systems
Fike 32%
Fenwall 10%
R Stahl 5%
Fans & Blowers
New York Blower 10%
Howden Buffalo 9%
Chicago Blower 8%
Dresser Roots 7%
Feeders
K-tron 28%
Acrison 9%
Schenck Accurate 7%
Brabender 6%
Filtration Systems
Pall 15%
Millipore 7%
Flow Instrumentation
Emerson Process Management 50%
Endress+Hauser 14%
Heat Exchangers
Alfa Laval 26%
ITT 5%
Heat Transfer Fluids
Dow 45%
Solutia 22%
Infrared Thermography Equipment
FLIR 25%
Fluke 24%
Omega 7%
Instrument Calibration Systems
Fluke 25%
Emerson Process Management 14%
Honeywell 5%
Level Instrumentation
Emerson Process Management 38%
Endress+Hauser 20%
Magnetrol 6%
Mixing Systems
SPX Process Equipment 34%
Chemineer 9%
Ekato 5%
Motors
Baldor Reliance 33%
Siemens 18%
ABB 10%
GE 10%
Packings and Gaskets
Garlock 18%
Flexitallic 15%
John Crane 8%
Pipe/Tubing/Fittings
Swagelok 31%
Parker Hannifin 7%
Plant Design Software
Aspen Tech 28%
Autodesk 8%
Intergraph 6%
Chemstations 5%
Bentley 5%
Positive Displacement Pumps
Viking 16%
Pressure Instrumentation
Emerson Process Management 47%
Endress+Hauser 12%
Ashcroft 6%
Yokogawa 6%
Process Analyzers
Emerson Process Management 34%
ABB 14%
Siemens 6%
AMETEK 5%
Yokogawa 5%
Process Automation Systems
Emerson Process Management 29%
Honeywell 20%
Rockwell Automation 11%
Siemens 9%
Yokogawa 9%
ABB 7%
Process Simulation Software
AspenTech 53%
Honeywell 9%
Emerson Process Management 5%
Seals (Mechanical)
John Crane 38%
Flowserve 13%
Chesterton 10%
Burgmann 8%
Security Equipment and Services
ADT 16%
Honeywell 14%
MSA 10%
Spray Nozzles
Spraying Systems 41%
Bete 26%
Tanks & Vessels
Pfaudler 11%
CBI 7%
Temperature Instrumentation
Emerson Process Management 46%
Endress+Hauser 9%
Omega 6%
Honeywell 5%
Vacuum Systems
Nash Elmo 16%
Busch 9%
Graham 7%
Sihi 7%
Valves & Actuators
Emerson Process Management 29%
Flowserve 8%
Variable Speed Drives
Rockwell Automation 22%
ABB 17%
Siemens 15%
Toshiba 5%
Vibration Monitoring Equipment
GE (Bently Nevada) 61%
SKF 10%
Emerson Process Management 6%
Water Treatment Systems
Nalco 22%
GE (Betz) 14%
Siemens (U.S. Filter) 9%
Veolia 5%
Weighing Systems
Mettler Toledo 48%
