at least today, to come up with a top-to-bottom answer before anything is done. I think were going to have to try the individual pieces and work them together, as time goes by.”

Because of the ability of wireless to produce demonstrable business benefits on a sweeping scale, Emerson believes that wireless technology has the potential to impact the process industries more than any technology advance that has come before it, Berra declared. Benefits will come from wireless video surveillance, monitoring and tracking of both physical assets and personnel, as well as improvements in mobile maintenance and controls activities, said Berra.

But he was most effusive about the ability of wireless technology to provide a range of process information that has been impossible or too expensive to obtain with wires in the past. This will enable new levels of diagnostics and predictive intelligence, Berra said.

“The advantages are so compelling, and we need to get on with it. That’s really what this is all about—the wireless potential to unlock predictive intelligence, so people can have a fighting chance of making their plants run better, avoiding unplanned shutdowns, avoiding safety issues, avoiding excess energy consumption, avoiding emissions issues,” Berra said. “These are what an automation professional is standing ready to deliver, and wireless is the key that unlocks this potential for all of us to go deliver those benefits.”