2012 - PageSuite

2012 Finalists
If innovation is one of the best indications of
a strong manufacturing economy, the finalists
for the Plant Engineering 2012 Product
of the Year awards are pointing the way to a
bright future.
Entries in this year’s contest were up by
more than 35%. This year’s crop of
finalists covers 15 categories, including
our newest category—Apps for
Engineers. This points toward a greater
use of handheld and Smartphone
devices on the plant floor, and we
expect this to be a very large category
in future years as more widespread
adoption of apps and mobile devices
continues.
Just as exciting this year are the
two categories with the most entries.
Automation & Controls is a category
that highlights the desire of manu-
facturers to measure and manage their
manufacturing process in the most efficient
fashion possible. The Safety category
highlights that the most important
asset on the plant floor is still
the human one.
This year’s 116 finalists stretch
across all areas where a plant
manager’s influence is felt and
his knowledge is required. From
motors and drives to maintenance and lighting,
the things a plant manager must specify
and purchase perform very different functions.
They all have one common element: they
must help him or her do the job better, smarter,
safely and more efficiently. That has been
the hallmark of
Plant Engineering’s
Product of the Year program for the
past 25 years.
It might have been tempting to make
a bigger deal out of the 25th anniversary
of Product of the Year. People
tend to like anniversaries and birthdays,
especially a silver anniversary
year. But Product of the Year is important
each year, on its own merits. We
certainly hope the cumulative effect of
Product of the Year has helped improve
your operation each year. But each
year, our task is simple: We showcase
the best in innovation each year, and
then put it in the hands of our readers
to determine the best of that best.
In 2012, for the 25th time, we again
give the decision of this year’s Product
of the Year winners to you. We
hope you vote, and we hope you make
use of this year’s outstanding innovations
in manufacturing products.
–Bob Vavra, Content Manager
By Brittany Merchut, Content Specialist
www.plantengineering.com PLANT ENGINEERING November 2012 • • 29 29