Ralph Exton is responsible for providing strategic leadership and program direction for GE Water & Process Technologies’ marketing activities, communications, and commercial digital marketing efforts. He also sits on the board of trustees at the Water Environment Federation (WEF), where he currently serves as treasurer. Ralph is also a member of the Advisory Board for BlueTech Research.
It has been an exhilarating time for Water & Process Technologies’ CMO Ralph Exton. The €3.2 billion deal which saw Suez purchase the business earlier this month has kept him very busy.
“It was a lightning fast process,” says Exton. “Even some of the very well-established bankers who were involved commented that to sign a €3.2 billion deal in a four months’ process is extremely rare. The number of companies that expressed an interest and wanted to be part of the process was unprecedented, so it was thrilling to be part of that, and a unique opportunity.”
Once the final regulatory approvals are agreed and any requisite consultations completed, the transaction will lead to the integration of two complementary global players and will make Suez a leader in water resource management. It will also strengthen Suez’s position in the fast-growing industrial water market.
In June, Exton will join BlueTech Forum in Dublin to head up a roundtable on digital water, the internet of things (IoT) and smart water.
Digital pull
“In terms of general trends in digital and the water industry, at Water & Process Technologies, we’re now feeling the pull.
We have been using software for quite some time – we developed our own asset performance management, or APM, platform, InSight, which is quite mature in industrial applications. It’s cloud-based and we’ve got some 40,000 assets under management and over 4,000 customers utilising InSight. Supporting this are a number of service centres and satellite centres located around the world that provide the infrastructure to for the tool and assistance for our customers.”
“The next step, and what we’re actively pursuing today, is taking our industrial expertise and using it to apply InSight to the municipal and utility space and our utility customers are expressing great interest. Customers are asking how to use data and analytics to better run their operations or utilities – such as piping and distribution, prevention of sewer overflows, stormwater management.”
“The players in this space are saying, ‘We think there’s something here and we want a road-map for implementation.’ That’s music to our ears and a significant shift from where we were just a few years ago in terms of the use of digital, software, data analytics and algorithms that help customers manage problems before they occur.”
According to BlueTech Research chief executive Paul O’Callaghan, the core strengths of the Water & Process Technologies business are the advances into energy neutrality, the acquisition of Monsal’s advanced anaerobic digestion technologies and the fusion of membranes with anaerobic treatment and Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR) treatment.
But the backdrop to this evolving narrative is the ability to remotely monitor and use predictive analytics to optimise the performance of plants. With Suez’s oversight, growth in the industrial sector can also be fast-tracked.
Industrial strength
“The industrial growth that may evolve after acquisition are exciting to think about,” says Exton. “The Water & Process Technologies business has an unparalleled industrial footprint and is a global leader in water solutions to industrial clients; these are areas that SUEZ is interested in growing.”
“We’ve had a great run at GE,” Exton reflects, “and it’s given us the platform to build one of the most valuable water & process technology companies in the world.
“Suez is a water, waste and environment company at its core It and has an understanding of our technology portfolio, of the customers that we serve, of the markets that we’re in. The future under Suez’s ownership is exciting to think about.”
Partnering for Impact
It is not a great leap to see why Ralph Exton is also excited by his role representing WEF at BlueTech Forum. GE Water and Suez both have history as supporters of the Water Environment Federation and when the global water association held a Partnering for Impact session November 19th 2016, Exton was a key participant along with many other key industry stakeholders including BlueTech Research.
He says, “At WEF we’ve had the idea of bringing together people from the range of water sector organisations to talk about more effective partnering for greater impact within the industry. It’s a gathering of people for a bigger vision of what needs to be done.
“We ended up with three sub-groups we’ve called Shared Vision, Branding & Storytelling and Climate Change. The idea is to bring influential, interesting and passionate people from the trade bodies, utilities, consultancies, academia, into this collective effort.
“I’m part of the Shared Vision team, which is tasked with shaping the big picture themes; saying what needs to happen in relation to key areas including access to clean water, water recovery & reuse, resource & energy recovery and water quality.”
Digital roundtable
Exton is also looking forward to BlueTech Forum, where he’s hosting a round table to share experiences of digital technologies in the water sector. He’ll be joined by delegates seeking insights and other thought-leaders in the smart technology and internet of things (IoT) arena.
“At Water & Process Technologies we’ve seen the value of BlueTech Forum and I don’t see that changing,” says Exton. “The areas that BlueTech focus on are very much in line with our business interests and our technology priorities.
“I really enjoyed the event last year. I was excited to hear that it was going to be in Dublin and I’m very much looking forward to the hospitality on BlueTech’s home turf.”
BlueTech Forum takes place in Dublin, Ireland on 6-7 June 2017. Ralph Exton will chair the round table on The Internet of Water – Digital Water, one of 14 discussion groups hosted by industry experts.
To register for BlueTech Forum, visit www.bluetechforum.com.
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