COVID-19: We’ll keep you connected

/in

STATEMENT FROM MARK QUINN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, EMR INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS

 

The team at EMR continue to provide our clients with a combination of uninterrupted field and remote support.

And whether you need engineering services to keep your telemetry networks online, or two-way radio handsets to keep your staff safely connected, our full team is here to serve.

We’re very conscious that much of our work involves the support of critical national infrastructure across energy, renewables and water in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Our field engineering teams and remote staff in our Network Operations Centre are working as normal to manage support requests as they arrive.

We have adopted strategies to minimise risk exposure for staff, all of the team and our clients.  We continue to work in a safe and secure environment that respects the current advice from government and public health authorities.

Let’s get through the difficult weeks and months ahead together and please reach out to us if there’s anything we can do to help.

We hope you all stay safe.

EMR strikes oil with major communications upgrade for country’s leading petrochemicals manager

EMR strikes oil with major communications upgrade for country’s leading petrochemicals manager

/in

Utility network and wireless telecoms supplier, EMR Integrated Solutions today announced the deployment of a high performance, two-way radio solution for the Common Oil Pipeline (COP) located at Dublin Port.

Based on Motorola Solutions technology and managed by COP operators, Hugh Munro and Co, the system eliminates blackspots by providing improved radio coverage for staff and boosts health and safety compliance with lone worker tracking via integrated GPS.

The COP is a critical piece of infrastructure with over two-thirds of all petroleum fuel imported into the country, coming through this pipeline network that runs from the port jetties back to the tank farms of each individual oil company.  Organisations operating at Dublin Port include household names such as Applegreen, Calor, Circle K, Tedcastles and Valero.

Commenting on the deal, Peter Murphy, managing director with Hugh Munro and Co said:

“We have a long-standing commercial relationship with the team at EMR.  They have always demonstrated a deep understanding of our business that helps us to deliver for our clients.”

Design of the two-way radio system had to take into account the hazardous nature of the environment.  Motorola’s range of ATEX DP4801Ex portables met that challenge head on, delivering high quality audio, integrated GPS, text messaging and full-colour displays with day/night mode to make reading text messages easier.

The deployment of extra base stations throughout the facility helps to eliminate several blackspots and in a clever twist of technology, a custom-built Call Point was designed.

This Call Point is used by the on-site fire warden to communicate with port staff and has at its core, Motorola telemetry radio.  Once activated, radio signals can remotely open the jetty gate on demand.

A five-year managed service brings management and monitoring of the radio system to a new level, with a greater degree of proactivity.  And a managed service financial model, negates the need for large-scale, upfront investment as the cost is spread over a five-year cycle.

“We designed a robust solution based on best-in-class Motorola Solutions technology. Motorola’s robust design philosophy coupled with our managed service ticks all the boxes for Peter and his team.”

Mark Quinn, managing director with EMR

 

Pictured left to right above are:  Mark Quinn, Managing Director, EMR, Peter Murphy, Managing Director, Hugh Munro & Co and Dean Reardon, Account Manager, EMR

AIRSIDE SAFETY: Pic l-r: Rioch Farrelly, Operations and Quality Engineer, CLH Aviation Ireland, Mark Quinn, Managing Director, EMR and Dean Reardon, Account Manager, EMR

EMR boosts airside safety at Dublin Airport

/in

Dunboyne, Co Meath, Ireland, Wednesday, 14th August 2019:  Leading SCADA network and mobile telecommunications supplier, EMR Integrated Solutions today announced the introduction of an airside emergency fuel shut down system for Dublin Airport.

The system, which allows staff to immediately cut jet fuel supply to the underground fuel hydrant following the accidental release of fuel at aircraft stands, significantly boosts airside safety for staff and the 30 million passengers that pass through the airport annually.

Based on Motorola wireless radio technology, the emergency stop system consists of eight emergency shut down enclosures located at fixed points in Pier Four, where the airport’s new underground fuel farm is now live.  A fleet of 16 mobile fuel support vehicles have also been fitted with emergency stop buttons.

“We were under huge time pressure to get this emergency system in place,” said Rioch Farrelly, operations and quality engineer with CLH Aviation Ireland.

“The system had to be fully operational before the underground hydrant went live.  The team at EMR were extremely knowledgeable and they brought that expertise to bear in the design, planning and deployment of a quality system, which was completed within a matter of weeks,” he said.

Each enclosure consists of an emergency button connected to a Motorola radio, which when triggered sends a telemetry signal back to SCADA system located in the CLH operations centre.  This immediately shuts off the fuelling valves and halts the flow of jet fuel.  The system provides remote, real-time status reports on the emergency enclosures, negating the need for manual checks by airside staff.

The enclosure also includes a front-mounted security camera to capture the image of the activator.*  It records 10 seconds before and after the activation and an integrated USB port allows aviation staff or airport police to download the images as required.

Back at CLH operations, staff have a granular view of the power status at each enclosure and this is visually represented on screen via their SCADA system.  They know the exact location of each enclosure and this saves time when re-setting or troubleshooting the emergency system.

Thanks to a SCADA controller, also deployed by the EMR team, CLH can carry out scheduled testing of the enclosures and hydrant support vehicles, without interfering with the live system or aircraft flight schedules.  It is a critical component of health and safety operating procedure, strictly enforced by the airport operator, Dublin Airport Authority.

Under a 20-year contract, CLH Aviation has plans to build an underground fuel hydrant pipeline to serve Piers One, Three and Four.  With the recent completion of the pipeline at Pier Four, aircraft can be fuelled airside, accelerating turn-around times and protecting tight operational margins for some of the major airlines based there.

EMR has just been appointed a Platinum Partner for Motorola in Ireland.  This is the highest possible accreditation in the Motorola partner program and recognises the company’s expertise and success in bringing innovative mobile communications solutions to the island of Ireland.

ENDS

Pic l-r: Rioch Farrelly, Operations and Quality Engineer, CLH Aviation Ireland, Mark Quinn, Managing Director, EMR and Dean Reardon, Account Manager, EMR

EMR connects to TU Dublin for future engineering staff

/in

Leading SCADA network and telemetry supplier, EMR Integrated Solutions today announced its continued participation in the ‘Learn and Work’ programme with TU Dublin’s Blanchardstown campus.

This innovative programme combines training at TU Dublin with blocks of work placement at EMR.  This work experience gives students the opportunity to apply their learning, be coached by EMR staff and develop the work-ready skills to gain employment upon graduation.

The course is part-funded by Irish Medtech Skillnet which in turn is financially supported by member companies and the Training Networks Programme through the Department of Education and Skills.

The programme delivers lots of benefit for employers, in a market where automation skills are in much demand.

Commenting on the development, Derek Glynn, COO with EMR said:

“We have access to graduates who come with a high level of industry experience from day one.  Through their four-year placement with us, they’re already embedded in the culture of our organisation, understand how we work and what it’s like to work in a challenging environment.”

Richard Bodnar is the company’s student for the 2018/2019 intake and is pursuing a BSc in Process Instrumentation & Automation.  Similar to an apprenticeship scheme, Richard attends college every Monday and spends four days a week with the EMR team, when he gets the opportunity to work on small plant automation and SCADA design.  He is mentored by senior EMR engineers and even graduates from last year’s programme.

From September to January next year, Richard will attend TU Dublin, Blanchardstown.

EMR first engaged with the ‘Learn and Work’ scheme back in August 2017, when Mechatronics students Dean Glynn and Darragh Quinn joined.  The program is designed to provide highly-educated students for the changing needs of industry.

ENDS

Pic l-r are: David Peyton, Academic Coordinator with TU Dublin, Richard Bodnar, EMR and Mark Keyes, Work Placement Coordinator with TU Dublin

EMR's PMO with Niall Clancy, Michael Quinn, Colm Farrell

Contract win success drives establishment of EMR’s formal Project Management Office

/in

Leading SCADA network and mobile telecommunications supplier, EMR Integrated Solutions today announced the establishment of a formal project management office (PMO) with dedicated management and a dedicated team, to handle project delivery for its many customers across Ireland, UK and Europe.

The team has been set up in response to a strong upsurge in contract wins particularly in the UK, following the company’s entry to that market in late 2015.

The primary role of PMO is to provide a blend of overarching project direction and ongoing control and it will serve as the central hub between senior management, supervisors, engineering, sales, finance, service, logistics and the customer.

Commenting on the development, Derek Glynn, COO with EMR said:

“We’re seeing increasing project volume, variance and complexity, particularly in our UK business.  The establishment of a PMO will guide multi-project management processes that closely tie into EMR’s existing ISO quality, environment and Health and Safety procedures.  This will generate a significant reduction in project cycle times and successful project delivery in line with customer expectations.”

The PMO is led by Michael Quinn, a seasoned industry professional who previously served as COO with Dennison Trailers and as a senior director with Tomra, a world leader in sorting technology for the food, recycling and mining industries.   He was also formerly group operations manager with Odenberg Engineering and VP of European Operations with MTI and brings a wealth of operational experience to the role.

Michael is supported in his role by Niall Clancy and Colm Farrell.    Niall has been with EMR almost three years now in a project management role while Colm has been promoted from within, moving from a field technician role into project management.

EMR recently announced a €500,000 investment in the business and plans to increase headcount to 50 over the next 12 months.

ENDS

Pictured above left to right are:  Niall Clancy, Michael Quinn and Colm Farrell

EMR and Viatel announce partnership on cloud computing for EMR's hosted SCADA service

EMR flies high with Cloud Compute solution from Viatel

/in

Irish cloud and connectivity company Viatel have today announced a deal with EMR Integrated Solutions, a leading provider of SCADA, mobile communications and instrumentation solutions in Ireland and the UK.

The deal will see Viatel provide cloud-based infrastructure to EMR, which delivers the company’s hosted SCADA as a Service to Irish Water and Dublin City Council.

EMR’s SCADA as a Service securely monitors and manages water production, water treatment and flood defense solutions using a combination of Infrastructure and Software as a Service delivery.  A helpdesk, manned by a dedicated support manager and engineering staff provides 24/7/365 support as well as more proactive services including SCADA application maintenance.

Commenting on the deal, Derek Glynn, chief operations officer with EMR said:

“We’re providing mission-critical SCADA services to a variety of organisations so it was important to choose a secure, reliable cloud services partner.  Viatel ticks all the boxes for us in terms of providing the type of secure, scalable, resilient infrastructure and robust SLAs our clients demand of us and we’re confident in our partnership as we grow our SCADA business in Ireland and beyond.”

EMR offers clients highly secure, co-located and virtual cloud application servers hosted in Viatel’s data centre with multiple Compute Cloud instances.  In the case of Irish Water, each local authority has its own cloud instance and can log into the EMR SCADA portal to view critical data associated with its water production and water treatment assets in the field.

With centralised physical servers in the Viatel Flexi cloud environment, EMR and its clients enjoy improved availability and resilience. Each VM on the Viatel Flexi Cloud is protected by Viatel’s backup service with full resiliency and failover back into EMR’s own datacentre.

Commenting on the announcement Viatel Director of Sales and Marketing Damien McCann stated:

“We are delighted to welcome EMR Integrated Solutions to the growing number of clients choosing Viatel for critical cloud and data centre applications. We look forward to building on this relationship for many years to come.”

Ends

Pictured above from left to right are:  Marc Lynch, Public Sector Director, Viatel, Derek Glynn, COO, EMR and Damien McCann, Sales and Marketing Director, Viatel

LtoR: Mark Quinn, managing director, EMR, Robbie Scott, UK & Ireland Channel Account Manager, Motorola. Picture: Maura Hickey.

EMR appointed Platinum Partner for Motorola Solutions in Ireland

/in

Dunboyne, Co Meath, Friday, 16th November 2018:  Leading SCADA network and mobile telecommunications supplier, EMR Integrated Solutions today announced its appointment as a Platinum Partner for Motorola Solutions’ range of mobile radio communications systems in Ireland, the highest accreditation in the Motorola Solutions partner program.

The appointment recognises EMR’s expertise and success in delivering innovative two-way radio systems that connect customers with critical information in moments that matter.

EMR is one of only two Platinum partners on the island of Ireland.

The EMR team has a long-standing relationship with Motorola Solutions, stretching back to the early 1980s and has supplied two-way radio solutions to a wide range of business users in sectors including energy, manufacturing, local government, education, construction and hospitality.

Recent successes include a three-year framework contract with ESB Telecoms Services for the refresh of their digital mobile radio (DMR) network across 23 power stations nationwide.

Commenting on the accreditation, Craig Calvert, Motorola Solutions channel sales director for Northern Europe and Middle East said:

“Motorola Solutions has made great strides forward in the development of our Partner Program, PartnerEmpower, and we are very proud of what we have achieved so far. We are even more proud of our extensive network of partners across the whole EMEA Region that have decided to join us on our journey.

“I am delighted that EMR have now reached the highest level, being recognised and awarded the Platinum Partner status. This is testament to the management and staff at EMR and their continued focus and drive to provide top quality communications solutions that incorporate Motorola Solutions equipment. Congratulations to all involved.”

Motorola Solutions is a core part of the EMR business and one which the company is committed to developing into the future, as Mark Quinn, managing director of EMR explained:

“Significant sales, marketing and technical investment in the Motorola Solutions brand has really paid off for us and aligns with our strategy of providing best-in-class communications solutions to industry.

“Customers have responded very positively to the Motorola Solutions portfolio as evidenced by very strong revenue performance in our two-way radio business through 2018. We’re predicting continued growth into 2019 and beyond.”

The Motorola Solutions PartnerEmpower Program is recognised as one of the best channel programs in the industry.  It equips Motorola Solutions partners with the technical knowledge and commercial acumen to serve the complex needs of the company’s customers worldwide.

ENDS

Pictured left to right above are: Mark Quinn, managing director, EMR, Robbie Scott, UK & Ireland Channel Account Manager, Motorola Solutions

EMR picks up sixth successive award at the National Irish Safety Organisation’s Annual Conference

/in

EMR picks up sixth successive award at the National Irish Safety Organisation’s Annual Conference

Dunboyne, Co Meath, 22nd October 2018:  Leading SCADA network and mobile telecommunications supplier, EMR Integrated Solutions today announced that it has picked up its sixth successive award at the 27th Annual Occupational Service Awards.

The awards were hosted as part of the National Safety Organisation’s Annual Conference which took place in Killarney, Co Kerry.

EMR’s safety officer, Colm Farrell was on hand to pick up the award from Minister of State, Pat Breen T.D. as well as senior executives from NISO.

Now in its 27th year, the awards are an all-island affair, which recognise the positive and proactive culture of safety management that exists within Irish organisations.

Commenting on the win, Derek Glynn, chief operating officer with EMR said:

“As we transition towards ISO45001, a formal occupational safety accreditation, we’re focusing on the theme of ‘Work Safe, Home Safe’ for the next 12 months.  Health and safety at work is engrained into the cultural ethos of the business and that will continue apace as we hire new recruits in the months ahead.”

EMR is proudly participating in Construction Safety Week, with events and talks taking place each day on a different aspect of health and safety at work.

Ends

Pictured l-r:  Harry Galvin, president of NISO, Colm Farrell, safety officer, EMR, Minister of State, Pat Breen, T.D., and John Thompson, NISG vice chair

EMR Integrated Solutions today announced a €500,000 investment and plans to increase headcount to 50 over the next 12 months.

EMR announces €500K investment and plans to increase headcount to 50

/in

EMR Integrated Solutions today announced a €500,000 investment and plans to increase headcount to 50 over the next 12 months.

Leading SCADA network and mobile telecommunications supplier, EMR Integrated Solutions today announced a €500,000 investment and plans to increase headcount to 50 over the next 12 months.

This represents a doubling of the workforce since 2016.

The investment comes on the back of strong trading, with this year’s revenue set to increase by 18%.  The growth is due in large part to the success of its recent entry to the UK market and several significant contract wins in the utility and wind energy sectors there.

Increased project completions for long-established customers throughout Ireland, North and South have also boosted operational performance.

The company has moved to a new 5,000 sq. ft. premises at Dunboyne Business Park in Co Meath to accommodate growing headcount, while the existing premises, also in Dunboyne, will be retained as EMR’s primary engineering and logistics centre.

EMR specialises in designing and building telemetry networks and management systems for energy suppliers and water companies.

Commenting on the development, Mark Quinn, managing director with EMR said:

“This investment represents the culmination of targeted execution and tremendous teamwork.  Early on, we recognised the rapidly changing nature of the utility industry at home and abroad, and set about developing the skills and expertise required to assist these organisations with the digital transformation of their networks.

“We’re now viewed as a trusted partner for many global organisations and we’re ambitious about the potential for further expansion into the UK market,” he said.

The company continues to invest in headcount with recruitment focused on apprentice electricians, mechatronic, electrical, automation engineers and project management roles.

The company also operates a graduate program with the Blanchardstown Institute of Technology, where mechatronics students can benefit from practical work placements during their period of study.

“Forging strong links between academia and business is very important to us,” explained Derek Glynn, chief operating officer with EMR.

“Getting the right staff with the right qualifications at an early stage allows us to embed them into our own mentoring program and this coupled with practical experience has helped us to build a reputation for engineering excellence in SCADA and telemetry networks.  Continued skills investment in all of our staff keeps us ahead of the competition,” he said.

EMR was founded in the early in 1980s and has a strong management team with a wealth of industry experience.  The company has a high profile client base including Irish Water, Northern Ireland Water, SSE and PowerHouse Generation on the island of Ireland as well as Affinity Water, Welsh Water and Greencoat UK Wind in the UK.  The company has also completed communications projects for ESB, Eir, RTÉ NL, Virgin Media, the Defence Forces and many of the country’s county councils.

ENDS

Pictured above is Mark Quinn, managing director of EMR Integration Solutions

Mark Quinn announces a contract with Affinity Water in the UK

EMR eases network modernisation drive for UK’s Affinity Water

/in

Mark Quinn announces a contract with Affinity Water in the UK

Leading telecommunications and SCADA network supplier, EMR Integrated Solutions today announced the completion of a project with Affinity Water to ease the company’s network modernisation drive and migration to WITS/DNP3*, with a phased transition from analogue to digital radio on its water distribution network.

This infrastructure upgrade is critical in allowing Affinity Water to enhance network security, remotely monitor and manage its water distribution assets in the field and significantly reduce maintenance costs.

Affinity Water is the UK’s largest water-only supplier and delivers an average 900 million litres of water each day to a population of more than 3.6 million people in South East England.

Using technology based on Racom’s RipEX Migration Station, which seamlessly supports analog and digital radio operation on the same channel, Affinity Water can upgrade outstations to WITS with RipEx digital radio on a site-by-site basis, without impacting the legacy outstations on the network. This reduces overall installation cost and drastically reduces downtime and project risk.

Commenting on the project, Andrew Fletcher, telemetry systems manager with Affinity Water said:

“The cost of migrating from analogue to digital shouldn’t be underestimated. With the RipEX migration master station that we now have, we don’t need to revisit sites twice to change frequencies and we don’t need additional base stations or licenses. There’s a big benefit to that and it significantly reduces the cost of resource on the ground,” he said.

The deployment of Racom RipEX radios at 5 scanner and 150 outstation sites allows for remote monitoring of network assets together with telemetry network performance monitoring, resulting in a reconfiguration of Affinity Water’s maintenance program at significantly reduced cost.

“The legacy analogue radio system was incapable of supporting the rollout of newer automation technologies,” explains Mark Quinn, managing director with EMR Integrated Solutions.

“We recommended Racom’s Master Station and RipEX radio based on the ease of implementation, software defined functionality and high data throughput with encryption and authentication as standard.”

EMR worked closely with the Affinity Water telemetry team on the pilot project, providing training and support for the initial scanner transition.  Affinity Water’s telemetry team will carry out the balance of the migration with ongoing support as required from the EMR crew.

“Our radio rollout is happening exceptionally fast,” adds Mr Fletcher.  “That tells me our engineers are comfortable with the technology.   EMR might be based in another country but their team are more than willing to make themselves available at short notice and that geographic distance doesn’t cause an issue.”

ENDS

*Editors Notes:  The WITS-DNP3 protocol defines a standard method to achieve water industry telemetry control and monitoring requirements with a single protocol to support multiple vendors.

Pictured above is Mark Quinn, managing director of EMR Solutions.