MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 12, 2012-- Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK) today announced it has purchased the assets of SoftSwitching Technologies, a leading provider of industrial power quality detection and protection systems, located in Middleton, Wis.

SoftSwitching Technologies’ solutions improve uptime in manufacturing production by identifying and correcting brief power disruptions called “voltage sags.” Typically, voltage sags can cause computerized machinery to go off-line, precision instruments to fail, and control systems to shut down. These problems can be extremely costly for customers, particularly in the semiconductor, automotive, food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries.

“Brief power disruptions account for up to 70 percent of all unscheduled downtime in manufacturing today,” said Bob Lennon, vice president of industrial components. “Studies show that most of these events are caused by voltage sags lasting less than two seconds. SoftSwitching Technologies’ products strengthen our capabilities in plant-wide optimization, complement our current power quality solutions and protect our customers’ manufacturing assets.”

SoftSwitching Technologies’ battery-free, environmentally friendly products provide cost and performance advantages over battery-based, three-phase uninterruptible power supplies or constant voltage transformers. The global, centralized intelligent network system also provides power grid alerts so manufacturers can monitor activity and correlate power quality events with unscheduled downtime, saving hours of guesswork and mechanical diagnostics.

“This acquisition provides the necessary resources to extend all SoftSwitching Technologies’ unique technologies into many more applications through the Rockwell Automation global channels network,” said Jason Doescher, SoftSwitching Technologies’ chief financial officer.

IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 8, 2012-- Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) announced today that The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) and Fluor have signed a Strategic Global Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) and Construction Management Agreement in support of Dow’s global capital projects program ranging across all Dow products. This three-year agreement has a two-year extension option for up to five years and includes potential new project work spanning across the globe. Dow currently serves customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture.

“Fluor’s culture of safety, sustainability and project execution excellence complements Dow’s beliefs and culture. In addition, our global footprint matches well with Dow’s potential new project needs around the globe,” said Peter Oosterveer, president of Fluor’s Energy & Chemicals Group. “Our expertise in performing projects in challenging geographies across the world is unmatched, and we’re poised to assist Dow in meeting their new project needs aligned with their business agenda.”

Technip has been awarded a lump sum front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by Statoil ASA for the development of the Luva floating platform, offshore Norway, at a water depth of approximately 1,300 meters (4,265 feet).  The contract covers the design and planning for procurement, construction and transportation of a Spar(1) hull and the mooring systems as well as the design of the steel catenary risers(2). The award builds on the study work (including pre-FEED) that has been ongoing since early 2010 to document the suitability of a Spar platform in Norwegian waters.

Technip’s operating center in Houston, Texas will execute the contract in cooperation with the Technip operation centers in Norway and Finland, further highlighting Technip's strength of executing projects using multiple engineering centers

SNC-Lavalin (TSX: SNC) will provide project management, engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for Vale’s $2-billion Clean AER (Atmospheric Emissions Reduction) Project in Sudbury, Ontario.

Working closely with Vale and local contractors, SNC-Lavalin will retrofit and modernize Vale’s nickel smelter complex to reduce its current sulphur dioxide emissions levels by 70%, and its dust and metal emissions by up to 40% over current levels. Work will be carried out while the complex continues its regular operations with scheduled plant shut-downs.

“Vale is a repeat and long-standing client and we’re delighted they chose to retain us for the implementation phase of this major strategic environmental program,” said Feroz Ashraf, Executive Vice-President, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. “We’ll be using the most appropriate and available commercial technology in our designs, and taking necessary considerations to reduce emissions over the life cycle of the project.”