Marty Edwards and David Farr open the Exchange

Sept. 10, 2007
Once again, it is time for Emerson Exchange. Exchange chair Marty Edwards announced that once again there has been a record breaking attendance, almost 2400 attendees-- more than a ten percent growth over last yearks exchange. This year Emerson Exchange has a "personal scheduler" that could replace the huge wall with all the presentations on it. Special keynote: Peter Schutz former CEO of Porsche AG. David Farr, Chairman and CEO of Emerson Electric was the first keynote following Marty Edward...
Once again, it is time for Emerson Exchange. Exchange chair Marty Edwards announced that once again there has been a record breaking attendance, almost 2400 attendees-- more than a ten percent growth over last yearks exchange. This year Emerson Exchange has a "personal scheduler" that could replace the huge wall with all the presentations on it. Special keynote: Peter Schutz former CEO of Porsche AG. David Farr, Chairman and CEO of Emerson Electric was the first keynote following Marty Edwards' introduction and welcome: Leaders are about creating value for the future. Emerson is in the stage right now where we are investing in new technologies and we need the feednack from our users. We plan to win. I have an enormous passion for winning. I have an enormous passion for the process business. This year Emerson will be about $22 billion in sales with about $2.8 billion in cash on a 13.5 percent CAGR. Process management represents 23%of revenue and for the first time, Emerson now has more income outside the US than inside it. Emerson is a global company. Global trends are shaping Emerson's strategic imperatives: business without borders; energy efficiency;communications revolution; resources for the world. These areas are having a huge impact on how we will all live in the future. You don't see me going around telling people how green we are "I don't need that PR bullshit." We are strengthening our business platforms. We are pursuing technology leadership. We are a small company in St. Louis Missouri. We don't talk about it, we just do it. We have moved to globalize our assets and made huge investments in emerging markets. There's a reason we now have 52% of our sales outside the US. We drive business efficiency because that exceeds customer expectations...and when we create a higher return on capital, we can reinvest in our technologies. We invest in technology. In the downturn we hired new engineers and technologists. We have 7600+ engineering and development personnel. Our goal is to get to 40% of sales from new products. Wireless will transform the industry-- it may take 20 years, but it will happen. We focus on gamechanging technologies as we pursue technology leadership, not just in the process industries but all across Emerson. For the first time our dollar growth is greater globally than domestically. This has a major transformative impact for the future. Driving business efficiencies is another strategic imperative. We use less capital, increase our cash flow and improve our Return on Total Capital. We pay our dividends, p) down debt, and above all we invest in new technology. We are among the most admired companies in the world. The other companies on Fortune's list are much bigger than we are. "Siemens could eat me for lunch if they wanted to." We intend to be the winner and the leader in the process world for a long time. We are building the process management business platform.We want to change the game again. We want to take the game to an even higher level in the future. It is fun to win. We love to have people picking on us. We're big, we're nimble, and we're going to play to win. Wherever you want to invest, we have people. I'm not planning to retire anytime soon. And as long as I'm around, Emerson Process Management will get the attention and the investment it needs to continue to win. New Austin training center; new Nanjing flow facility; new Singapore performance flow loop; Tianjin advanced flow labs; Marshalltown development center-- around the world we've made these investments to create the future NOW. We are technologists. 76% of Emerson senior management holds science and engineering degrees. I love manufacturing-- my dad ran manufacturing for Corning for many years and I love to take my own kids into the factory on Saturdays and Sundays like my father did for me. You have made this Exchange the most successful event in the industry. This is our opportunity to listen to you. You are our guides; we want to know how you employ advanced knowledge, diagnostics, etc.Thank you for being here.