Founded in 1969, Eastern Controls, Inc. (ECI) has built its success with the “customer first” mindset put in place from the beginning by founders Cliff McLaughlin Sr., his wife Elke, John Bravacos, and Dick Bright. In its founding year, ECI opened a sales office just outside Philadelphia, PA as a manufacturer’s representative for Masoneilan (a major process control valve and instrumentation manufacturing company).

Now, with over 30 manufacturing partners across the Mid-Atlantic region, ECI has the ability to provide you with state-of-the-art products and  services covering a wide variety of industries – Power, Chemical, Petrochemical, Life Science, Food & Beverage, Refining, and more. With the addition of the PTU (Process Training Unit), our facility is your one-stop shop for product demos, training, and informational seminars!

Throughout the year, we’ll be showcasing specific milestones within our 50-year history highlighting noteworthy events and accomplishments!

The “Internet of Things” (IoT) is quickly becoming a well-known term thrown around nowadays both in the workplace and outside of it. Simply put, IoT is the concept of connecting any device with an on and off switch to the Internet (as well as with each other). With its potential to impact how we work and live, it seems only appropriate to try and understand how it will continue to evolve. Below are Forrester’s predictions on how IoT will transform throughout 2019.

Bundled IoT Services will try to motivate a slow consumer market

As of right now, consumers aren’t too keen on an interconnected, centralized smart home. We’ll see businesses try to bundle services together and tack on discounts as incentives.

The term “IoT” will diminish

We’ll find the conversation shifting away from this ambiguous buzzword to actual use cases, applications, and performance management solutions.

Since acquiring the PTU (Process Training Unit) in 2016, we have formed a solid workforce development program training our customers on various equipment found in real-life process plants, such as control valves and instrumentation. With classes ranging from Control Valve 101 to Fundamental Instrumentation School, our training curriculum covers all areas of the industry.

The PTU is what sets our training program apart. It’s is a full-scale working process plant with on-line instrumentation and controls integrated with the PlantPAx process automation system from Rockwell Automation. It’s the perfect learning tool for engineering and maintenance professionals already in the workforce.

With an aging workforce, however, a focus needs to be on the next generation of workers. Keeping that in mind, we formed a partnership with Delaware County Community College (DCCC) to provide students

1. ISPE Aseptic Conference

03/18 – 03/19

The 2019 ISPE Aseptic Conference, now in its 28th year, will focus on the future of aseptic processing, including containment, multi-product facilities, and the increasing use of robotics.

2. ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium

08/06 – 08/08

Enjoy two full days of presentations on instrumentation, system integration, automation, new technologies, and much more at the WWAC2019 in Orlando, FL!

3. Chem Show

10/22 – 10/24

Find new products, technology, and ideas to optimize your process operations at the Chem Show! With thousands of industry professionals and more than 270 exhibiting companies, the Chem Show is the largest North American event exclusively focused on the processing of fluids, powders, and gases.

Eastern Controls often has loyal Masoneilan control valve users reach out about replacing their old valves. One of our experienced Application Specialists recently received an inquiry from a customer about replacing a 72 year-old Masoneilan 21K series control valve! Flow data changes over time, and since this customer had such an outdated valve, we were able to provide a solution with the necessary updated flow data.

With the technology Masoneilan control valves possess today, replacing this 72 year-old valve ultimately saved the customer time and money, while enhancing
their process efficiency. Our customer was so impressed with the install that they actually snapped the pictures above and sent to us completely unsolicited!

This is just one of many success stories involving Masoneilan’s superior line of control valves. With valves as old as the one illustrated above, it’s clear that Masoneilan’s valves are built to last!