French valve factory expansion

07 November 2008

Emerson Process Management has announced the completion of a significant expansion of the manufacturing capabilities at its control valve manufacturing plant located at Cernay, in the Alsace region of France. The investment will enable Emerson to meet increasing demand for its Fisher control valve ranges, in particular for the larger sizes and for special valves such as those used on turbine bypass or anti surge applications.

French valve factory expansion

The European market for valves has increased consistently over the last three years and the output of the Cernay factory has doubled over the same period.

The project involved the building of additional manufacturing space as well as the internal reorganisation of the production and assembly areas in line with the latest “Lean” manufacturing strategies. The new building has provided 475 square metres of additional floor space and is 9 metres tall to accommodate the large special valves. New test equipment and a new painting facility have been installed, along with an integrated customer inspection area.

The Fisher range of control valves is suitable for use in general purpose applications as well as more arduous duties. Valves sizes range from ½’’ to 24’’ for sliding stem globe valves and from 1’’ to 72’’ for rotary valves. Emerson offers low noise Whisper Trim and anti-cavitation Cavitrol trims as well as a complete range of exotic materials and coatings including Hastelloy, Titanium, Inconel 625, Monel and Super duplex.

The Fisher range of control valve instrumentation includes the industry leading Fieldvue range of digital valve controllers. The Fieldvue controller is a key component of Emerson's PlantWeb digital plant architecture which networks intelligent instruments that deliver diagnostic data for predictive maintenance, leading to increased availability of production and distribution facilities.

The Cernay plant is the largest of the five Emerson facilities manufacturing Fisher control valves in Europe. Its production currently represents more than half of the total European production. Cernay is also the only European plant compliant with nuclear industry requirements and is able to deliver valves and instruments for this growing market.