VPVan takes to the Canadian highways

By Charlie Johnson, Yokogawa Canada National Sales Manager The Yokogawa VPvan crossed the Canadian border June 1st into Vancouver, British Columbia, with the much anticipated 30-day tour for the Canadian customers.

More than 300 "over-the-top excited" customers
Our first stops were BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology) and Chevron in Burnaby, BC. The van toured more than 14 locations and logged in thousands of miles. From southern BC, the van moved north to Alberta and the boom town of Ft. McMurray. From that point, stops were made in Edmonton, Ft. Saskatchewan, Calgary, Joffre and Medicine Hat. More than 300 customers visited the van and all were "over-the-top" excited with this very impressive marketing tool.

Limited resources not a problem
The month we had it here in Canada was very productive. We received many new leads and opportunities despite our limited resources. We required that no less than two Yokogawa employees be with the van at all times and staged many events on Monday in order to take full advantage of the week. This required many of our guys to travel every Sunday for the month of June to be ready for a Monday start. Customers we visited along the way included: Chevron, BP Noel, Canfor, Daishowa, Syncrude/Exxon Mobil, Suncor, CNRL, Esso Resources, Husky, Dow, Enbridge, Thermo Design, Cominco, and Canadian Fertilizer.

VPVan helps snag order
To bring an exciting end to the van visit, Scott Cadger, Systems RSM picked up a $2.2M PO from Canadian Fertilizer during our visit there at the CFI plant in Medicine Hat, AB. The van generated many new leads and our channel Partner CB Engineering was with us on all visits as well.

Event timed with Calgary Stampede
Because of logistical issues and budget, we could not find a viable location in downtown Calgary so we had the van parked in front of our building in Calgary. Since it was the week before the Calgary Stampede, we staged a pre-Stampede event at the Yokogawa Canada office and invited customers out for a BBQ burgers and hot dogs lunch on the 25th and 26th of June. The attendance was tremendous as we had more than 100 customers come by to join us. We took full advantage of this opportunity to give them all a tour of our facility as well as tour the VPVan.

Special thanks
I would like to express my thanks to everyone who helped us make the VPVan’s visit to Canada a successful one. Thanks to:

• CB Engineering and their account managers
• The Yokogawa Canada office staff for their assistance with making the two-day Calgary event so successful
• All of the Yokogawa Canada RSM’s for giving up your Sunday’s for the month of June
• And last, but certainly not least, a very special thanks to Chris Delahoussaye, our VPVan driver. The success of this Canadian trip would not have been possible without his help and support at all these locations. Thanks for being a part of our team.

YCA's most effective marketing tool
In conclusion, we have already started planning our next visit. It is scheduled for eastern Canada. Our enthusiasm is high and the water cooler talk has already begun based on feedback from our customers. This mobile demo room has been the best marketing tool we have ever invested in and I personally would like to see more tools like this as it is the best way for us to get the products and message to our customers. I find this tool to be more valuable that any trade show I have ever attended and would see far more benefits by having access to this vehicle to support the growth of our business.

Yokogawa Australia’s John Hewitt participates in CEO Sleepout fundraiser

YOKOGAWA Australia Managing Director, John Hewitt, participated in the CEO Sleepout on 18 June to raise funds for Sydney’s homeless. Hewitt was required to sleep overnight on a sheet of cardboard in the forecourt of Sydney’s Luna Park, regardless of the weather, in order to have the kind of experience that literally tens of thousands of men, women and children go through every night.

The CEO Sleepout is a fund-raising initiative of the St Vincent de Paul Society, which is now in its fourth year. Money raised through the sponsorship of CEOs participating in the event went directly towards providing relief to the homeless through crisis accommodation, domestic violence support, access to budget counseling, legal advice and education.

According to Hewitt, the statistics regarding the number of homeless people listed on the CEO Sleepout website are quite harrowing. “We think we’re going through a challenging period in our industry right now, but at least we’ve all got homes to go to, food on the table, and friends and family to support us,” he said. Hewitt hopes to provide a focus for Yokogawa employees, customers and suppliers to help those who are less fortunate.

Dick Smith, Brian McCarthy of Fairfax Media and Tony Stuart of the NRMA were among the group of CEOs who participated in the event. An unknown Yokogawa employee said the night was "one of the longest and coldest nights of the year".

Sponsorships A $50 sponsorship provided bedding, a meal and a fresh change of clothes for a homeless person staying at a St Vincent de Paul Society hostel or refuge. A $100 sponsorship helped to equip the Vinnies Night Patrol vans with the food, warmth and friendship they bring to homeless people across cities every night of the year. A $500 sponsorship enabled a homeless person to complete a life skills course -- preparing him/her to re-enter the community and make a contribution to society. A $1,000 sponsorship enabled a survivor of domestic violence and his/her children to make the supported transition from a St Vincent de Paul Society refuge into independent housing.

Yokogawa joins UN Global Compact

On January 9, 2009, Yokogawa proudly became the 76th participant from Japan to join the United Nations Global Compact. Proposed by the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and officially launched in the year 2000, the Global Compact is a voluntary corporate citizenship initiative consisting of ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment, and anti-corruption.

Since its inception in 1915, Yokogawa has been dedicated to fulfilling its responsibilities towards society through various projects such as establishing of the Standards of Business Conduct for the Yokogawa Group (1994), the Yokogawa Group Compliance Guidelines as a specific action guideline (2007) and the Corporate Social Responsibility Headquarters (2008). And now, as a participant of the United Nations Global Compact, Yokogawa can continue its "work hard to fulfill commitments" ethic.

Yokogawa plays key role in Khurais producing facilities Project

by Namrata Merchant, YME

As the Process Control Systems supplier for the Khurais Central Producing Facilities Project, Yokogawa Middle East & Yokogawa Saudi Arabia have delivered top-of-the-line Distributed Control Systems (DCS) and given a boost to Saudi Aramco’s prowess in providing a fully-integrated, world-class crude oil processing and stabilizing facility at Khurais.

Yokogawa also delivered a fully-redundant, state-of-the-art Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to monitor and control the production, transportation and delivery of oil from wells spread over a wide area, including Khurais, Abu Jiffan, & Mazalij.

In addition to several other challenging initiatives in the regional energy sector, the Company is playing a pioneering role in Saudi Aramco’s Khurais Central Producing Facility. This plant, the biggest in Saudi Arabia, is designed to produce 1,200 MBCD of stabilized Arabian Light (AL) crude blend from the three fields with an approximate water cut of 30%.

In August 2006, Saudi Aramco chose Yokogawa to work with its Lump Sum Turnkey (LSTK) contractors as the Process Control System (PCS) supplier for Khurais Central Processing Facility Project. The project was divided into three sections and awarded to three different major LSTK contractors from Italy and South Korea. The plant is a large scale unit, with 16,000 hardwired DCS inputs/outputs, 11,000 hardwired ESD inputs/outputs and 1,200 VMS points. YME deployed three teams catering to individual LSTK contractors.

Yokogawa equipped their new facility in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, to stage and test the entire system configuration in a fully-integrated manner. Yokogawa’s project teams were comprised of 60 engineers who were seconded at LSTK contractor’s location to assist and provide technical support in designing the system to customer’s requirement. As part of its commitment, Yokogawa recruited several of its Saudi engineers trained and capable of interacting with Saudi Aramco & LSTK engineers during the engineering and testing phase. Additionally, Yokogawa is providing the STARDOM RTUs for the Wasia water wells, which are integrated into the utility DCS.

This scope was awarded in January 2008 and was executed in a span of six months to meet the project requirement and schedule. Yokogawa supplied state-of-the-art consoles from Evans Console in Calgary to meet the modern design of the Central Control Room (CCR) planned by Italian architects from Snamprogetti, Italy. The new CCR will control and monitor the GOSPs, stabilizing facilities, water injection facilities, gas facilities, and SCADA units from individual operator consoles. The site installation and the Site Acceptance Test has already been completed for each facility.

Yokogawa is supporting contractors and Saudi Aramco with loop check activity and will proceed with commissioning activities in the months to come. Through the successful execution of these contracts from its base in Bahrain and the new facility in Saudi Arabia, Yokogawa has once again proven its capability to execute large-scale projects in the Middle East, to the fullest satisfaction of its customers.

Yokogawa receives power plant control system orders from Egyptian electricity holding Co. (EEHC)*1

by Namrata Merchant, YME

Yokogawa Middle East will provide the CENTUM integrated Production Control System (PCS) to five power plants in Egypt and carry out engineering, commissioning, and supervision of installation.

Egypt is planning to construct many new power plants as well as upgrade existing plants due to the rising demand for electric power driven by steady economic growth. Yokogawa aims to help satisfy this demand with its state-of-the-art control system by controlling the boilers and the balance of plant facilities in each of the following projects:

Power Plant Name	Type	Capacity (MW)	User or Buyer of Automation System	Consultant for User
Cairo West Power Plant	New	700	Cairo Electricity Production Company	PGESCo.*2
Nubaria III Combined Cycle Power Plant*3	New	750	Middle Delta Electricity Production Company	PGESCo.
Kafr El Dawar Power Plant	New	110	West Delta Electricity Production Company	Not Applicable
El Atf Combined Cycle Power Plant	New	750	Middle Delta Electricity Production Company	PGESCo.
Sidi Krir Combined Cycle Power Plant	New	750	West Delta Electricity Production Company	PGESCo.

Yokogawa has received these five contracts for the following reasons:
1. The Company's extensive, global track record in providing control systems for power plants such as an 800 MW combined cycle facility in Spain.
2. Yokogawa’s highly-regarded power plant automation expertise and engineering capability.
3. Yokogawa’s global approach to project execution based on the One Global Yokogawa initiative which brings together the expertise and capabilities of the entire Yokogawa Group and is based on leading-edge technology.

Global demand for power plant control systems is predicted to grow approximately 20% between 2008 and 2010*4. While growth is expected to slow down in 2009, the forecast is for steady growth in the power plant control system market driven by rising demand for electricity in emerging countries.

Yokogawa entered the international power plant control market in 2001 and has been expanding this business by developing close relationships with customers and carrying out extensive sales, engineering, and service activities through its regional subsidiaries. Since the establishment of Yokogawa Middle East in Bahrain in 1990, Yokogawa has begun to experience steady growth in the Middle East. With the growth of its business particularly in the oil and petrochemical industries, the company has achieved a full-scale entry into the power market.

Encouraged by this success at securing orders in Egypt, Yokogawa will accelerate its global business activities in the Middle East and other regions, and plans to receive 30 billion yen of power plant system orders in fiscal year 2010.

*1. A governmental electric company which regulates the production, transmission and distribution of electricity throughout Egypt.
*2. Power Generation Engineering & Service Company - A consulting company operated by a joint venture between EEHC and Bechtel.
*3. A more efficient type of plant that makes combined use of gas and steam turbines.
*4 Source: Distributed Control Systems Worldwide Outlook, Market Analysis and Forecast Through 2012, published by the ARC Advisory Group on May 8, 2008.

Launch of Yokogawa’s Response Center Middle East

by Namrata Merchant, YME

Yokogawa Middle East launched its new “Response Center Midlle East (RCME)” at its regional headquarters in Bahrain in the first half of 2009.

The RCME will enhance the level of service to Yokogawa's valued customers by providing a quick and effective response -- helping reduce the impact and cost of downtime. Downtime translates into lost efficiency and revenue that could be minimized or even eliminated by resolving technical issues as quickly as possible.

The Response Centre will have the advantage of offering a single point of contact where all calls and requests will be received by one centralized point, acknowledged, ticketed, and assigned to the appropriate expert for swift resolution. Also, customers will now be able to call the Response Center via convenient contact methods such as the phone, email or an on-line self-service option (phase #2), depending on the priority.

The new Response Centre also offers our valued clients more flexible need-based support programs. It will enable it to incorporate different levels of support into the annual maintenance contract facilitating a customized solution depending on the size and complexity of your requirements. Our ever-Vigilant product specialists dedicated to the Response Center will be available to handle situations in order of priority to provide instantaneous expert attention.

Being part of an integral part of the Global Response Centre Network, the YME RCME can now help our treasured customers to reap the advantages from the global knowledge-base as well as the expertise available in all the Response Centers in Yokogawa Regional Offices and Headquarters.

In fact, the new Yokogawa Response Center provides much more than software or hardware support- it offers an end-to-end protection for all aspects of your assets in Yokogawa.

A formal announcement was provided to all customers. All Yokogawa employees may contact your local Yokogawa service representative for more details.

Yokogawa receives control systems contract for coal fired power plant in Vietnam

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that its subsidiary Yokogawa Engineering Asia Pte. Ltd. has received a contract from LILAMA Corporation to supply control systems and instrumentation for the Vung Ang 1 power plant, which is being built for the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam). The contract is estimated to be worth $16.6 million.

Situated in Ha Tihn Province, the Vung Ang 1 power plant will have two 600 MW units, for a combined generating capacity of 1,200 MW. Unit 1 is planned to be operational by mid-2012 and unit 2 by early 2013.

In this project, Yokogawa Engineering Asia is providing control systems and instrumentation for the boilers and other utilities. These include a CENTUM series integrated production control system, the ProSafe-RS Safety Instrumented System, the Exaquantum™ Plant Information Management System, and DPharp series pressure/differential pressure transmitters. As part of its full turnkey project solution, Yokogawa Engineering Asia is also providing engineering, installation supervision, and commissioning services.

One major reason why Yokogawa Engineering Asia won this contract lies in the strong reputation that the company has established over the years for providing reliable products to the thermal power control system market in Southeast Asia. Another positive factor was the extensive expertise and engineering capabilities demonstrated by the company in international projects.

Toward one global Yokogawa Industrial Automation

A message from Satoru Kurosu - Managing Director of YEI - March 2009

As you might already know, I am leaving the Industrial Automation Business Headquarters at the end of March. Though it was for such a short period of two years, it has been a privilege working with you and I appreciate your dedicated support.

The time flew by quickly. When I was first appointed to this position, the Industrial Automation Business Headquarters was facing a major issue that impacted its ability to meet extensive customer needs in our fast-growing international business: a shortage of Research & Development personnel. We took various measures over the two years such as increasing our Research & Development staff by approximately 280 (including new recruits and the hiring of 140 developers outside Japan), establishing new organizations for Research & Development management and standardization, and fostering Research & Development leaders through educational programs. These initiatives were only the beginning. We still need to shorten our time to market. We also need to verify the results of our activities and take further measures. It is unfortunate that I will not be able to see these efforts through to their conclusion. I know that you will continue these activities under Mr. Minaki, the new head of the Industrial Automation Business Headquarters.

In April, I will take charge of the Global Business Headquarters. For the first time in ten years, I will be in a sales management position. This new sales organization is different. This is a first for Yokogawa, a unified force that brings together sales, engineering, after-sales service, and value-added consultation services, and which includes personnel from all the YEI Group companies as well as the world headquarters. With 12,000 staff working together, we aim to provide our customers around the world comprehensive value-added services that will include sales, engineering, and maintenance.

With the increasing digitalization of plant data, customers look to suppliers for integrated solutions that get more value from data and improve productivity. This also leads to more requests for support throughout the plant lifecycle, which really is a big opportunity for us. To capitalize on this, it is necessary to maintain close coordination between our Research & Development unit that develops core products and organizations such as sales, engineering, and service that supply those products as integrated solutions. In this context, it is significant that a Global Business Headquarters is being established and I am being appointed as its head after being the development director.

In closing, I would like to mention my lunch meetings with the Industrial Automation staff. Though I did not meet everyone, I was able to talk with 825 people in total. Through these conversations, I heard many engineers saying, “I am not sure if the product I developed is really useful for customers.” When development projects become too large, the division of labor tends to go to extremes. They probably feel this way because there is then less chance to have direct contact with customers. Last month I accompanied President Kaihori to a meeting and had a chance to talk with the chairman of Saudi Aramco, a fully integrated international petroleum company that has the world’s largest oil reserves. Having coffee together, we heard this person at the top of the world’s energy business say gratefully, “We can take time and enjoy coffee here because of Yokogawa’s highly reliable systems and products.” This is solid proof that the products you develop are actually helping our customers and are an essential part of an energy infrastructure that people all over the world depend on. As our business expands, people’s expectations and the pressure on us will increase. Please take this as a proof of your success and continue to make highly reliable quality products with full confidence.

We are in the middle of our voyage toward becoming the Global No.1. As One Global YOKOGAWA Industrial Automation, I will continue working with you in the global marketplace. I would appreciate your continued support.

Satoru Kurosu

Yokogawa Foundation Fieldbus showcase a success

On February 8, 2009, Yokogawa Canada became the first Industrial Automation vendor chosen by the Foundation Fieldbus End User Council to host a Foundation Fieldbus demonstration.

Held at the Calgary facility, Yokogawa’s demo featured FFB H1 drops with EJA™, EJX™, PRM® and CENTUM VP® and “was as an excellent means for Yokogawa to showcase its system features to a focused group of potential end users,” said Scott Cadger, Regional Systems Sales Manager. “It was also a great place for potential end users to learn the features of each system that best meet their requirements.

“With the assistance of Amit Ajmeri, Steve Lazok and other support personnel, the meeting was a huge success. More customers than we expected -- approximately 40 -- from companies such as Suncor, Fluor, Shell, Jacobs, Neen, Conoco Phillips, DPH Focus, and many others, attended. Based on the positive responses from all attendees, Yokogawa is now making plans to deliver the same presentation in Edmonton and again in Calgary during the next few months.”

Other vendors participating in the Foundation Fieldbus demos for projects designed or built in Western Canada are below. The group will be visiting one vendor each month.

1. Honeywell
2. Emerson
3. ABB
4. Rockwell
5. Invensys
6. SMAR