Berntsen International Named a Finalist in Wisconsin Innovation Awards
MADISON, Wis.—Berntsen International, a leader in infrastructure marking systems designed for a connected world, is a finalist in the 2017 Wisconsin Innovation Awards.
The Wisconsin Innovation Awards celebrate and inspire innovation by highlighting the development of groundbreaking ideas. Berntsen’s InfraMarker solution is one of 233 products, businesses and services nominated across the state.
“We’re excited to be named a finalist and be part of this impressive group of Wisconsin companies,” said Mike Klonsinski, president of Berntsen, a family-owned small business founded in 1972. “We’re especially proud to be a traditional manufacturer that has evolved to create products for the Internet of Things world.”
For nearly five decades, Berntsen has produced high-quality survey markers used in the utility and construction industries and national parks and monuments. In recent years the company identified the need to create a “smart” marker that could “communicate” from below the earth’s surface. After extensive research, testing and collaboration with private and public partners, the company patented and launched InfraMarker as the centerpiece of its new line of connected marking products.
InfraMarker uses a mobile app, GIS software, and RFID-enabled markers and readers to precisely locate, monitor and manage underground assets such as pipelines and water mains. InfraMarker’s digital platform relays data, photos, videos and other documentation in real time via the cloud to company enterprise systems. This allows utilities, municipalities and other asset owners to capitalize on the data-rich benefits of IoT to analyze trends, streamline operations and make better decisions. In addition, data-driven asset management promotes greater transparency, easy data sharing and audit trails to enhance regulatory compliance.
Once installed on underground pipelines, InfraMarker’s RFID precision locating improves public safety by solving the decades-old problem of knowing exactly where underground pipelines are buried. On average an underground utility line is damaged every two minutes, sometimes with tragic consequences.
Thirty Wisconsin Innovation Award finalists were determined by a panel of 23 statewide industry experts. Winners will be announced Oct. 4, 2017 at an awards ceremony in Madison.
About Berntsen International, Inc.
Madison, Wisconsin-based Berntsen International, Inc. manufactures boundary and survey markers and is an innovation leader in smart marking solutions designed for a connected world. Since its founding in 1972, Berntsen has been marking global infrastructure and boundaries with a high-quality product line of 1,000 markers located in more than 100 countries. Berntsen’s patented InfraMarker solution, which uses a mobile app, GIS software, and RFID-enabled markers and readers to locate and manage underground assets, recently received the Geospatial World Excellence Award for Technology Innovation and the RFID Journal Award for Best Use of RFID to Enhance a Product or Service. For more information, visit www.BerntsenInternational.com.
Media Contact:
Linda Abbott
labbott@berntsen.com
608.826-6215