Item 1. BUSINESS

Emerson (“the Company”) was incorporated in Missouri in 1890, and has evolved through internal growth and strategic acquisitions and divestitures from a regional manufacturer of electric motors and fans into a diversified global leader that brings technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions for customers in a wide range of industrial, commercial and consumer markets around the world.

In connection with the strategic portfolio repositioning actions undertaken to transform the Company into a more focused enterprise, its businesses and organization were realigned. In fiscal 2017, the Company began reporting three segments: Automation Solutions, and Climate Technologies and Tools & Home Products which together comprise the Commercial & Residential Solutions business. The Automation Solutions segment includes the former Process Management segment and the remaining businesses in the former Industrial Automation segment, except for the hermetic motors business, which is now included in the Climate Technologies segment. The new Tools & Home Products segment consists of the businesses previously reported in the Commercial & Residential Solutions segment in fiscal 2016. See Note 18. This reference and all other Note references in this document refer to Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements set forth in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, which notes are hereby incorporated by reference. A summary of the Company's businesses is described below.

•	Automation Solutions - enables process, hybrid and discrete manufacturers to maximize production, protect personnel and the environment, and optimize their energy efficiency and operating costs through a broad offering of integrated solutions and products, including measurement and analytical instrumentation, industrial valves and equipment, and process control systems.

•	Commercial & Residential Solutions - provides products and solutions that promote energy efficiency, enhance household and commercial comfort, and protect food quality and sustainability through heating, air conditioning and refrigeration technology, as well as a broad range of tools and appliance solutions.

Sales, earnings before interest and income taxes, and total assets attributable to each business segment for the three years ended September 30, 2017 are set forth in Note 18. Sales by business in 2017, as a percentage of the total Company, were: Automation Solutions, 62 percent and Commercial & Residential Solutions, 38 percent. Total Emerson sales by geographic destination in 2017 were: the United States and Canada, 52 percent; Asia, 21 percent; Europe, 16 percent; Latin America, 5 percent; and Middle East/Africa, 6 percent.

The Company's strategic repositioning actions resulted in the sale of the network power systems business which closed in the first quarter of 2017, and the sale of the power generation, motors and drives business which closed in the second quarter of 2017. These businesses have been reported in discontinued operations for all periods presented. Additionally, on April 28, 2017, the Company completed the acquisition of Pentair's valves & controls business, which is reported in the Automation Solutions segment and complements the Valves, Actuators and Regulators product offering. Information with respect to acquisition and divestiture activity, including the discontinued businesses, and restructuring costs is set forth in Notes 3, 4 and 6. See also Item 1A - “Risk Factors” and Item 7 - “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

AUTOMATION SOLUTIONS

The Automation Solutions segment offers customers products, software and technology, and engineering, project management, consulting services and integrated manufacturing solutions for precision measurement, control, monitoring, asset optimization, and safety and reliability of oil and gas reservoirs, manufacturing operations and plants that process or treat various items. The Company’s array of products and services enables customers to optimize their plant capabilities in the areas of plant safety and reliability, product quality, energy and emissions, and output efficiency. Significant end markets served include oil and gas, refining, chemicals and power generation, as well as pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, automotive, pulp and paper, metals and mining, and municipal water supplies. Sales by geographic destination in 2017 for Automation Solutions were: the United States and Canada, 44 percent; Asia, 23 percent; Europe, 20 percent; Latin America, 5 percent; and Middle East/Africa, 8 percent.

Measurement & Analytical Instrumentation

Measurement instrumentation measures the physical properties of liquids or gases in a process stream, such as pressure, temperature, level, rate and amount of flow, and communicates this information to a process control system or other software applications. Measurement technologies provided by the Company include Coriolis direct mass flow, magnetic flow, vortex flow, ultrasonic flow, differential pressure, ultra-low flow fluid measurement, temperature sensors, radar-based tank gauging and magnetic level gauging. The Company’s measurement products are also often used in custody transfer applications, such as the transfer of gasoline from a storage tank to a tanker truck, where precise metering of the amount of fluid transferred helps ensure accurate asset management. Complementary products include onshore and subsea multi-phase meters, wet gas meters, downhole gauges and corrosion/erosion measuring instruments.

Analytical instrumentation analyzes the chemical composition of process fluids and emissions to enhance quality and efficiency, as well as environmental compliance. The Company’s analytical technologies include process gas chromatographs, in-situ oxygen analyzers, infrared gas and process fluid analyzers, combustion analyzers and systems, and analyzers that measure pH, conductivity and water quality. The Company provides sensors to detect combustible and toxic gases, and flames. These devices support the safety of both people and process plant assets.

Measurement and analytical instrumentation technologies are also available with highly secure and reliable wireless communication capability, allowing customers to monitor processes or equipment that were previously not measurable (remote, moving/rotating) or not economical to measure due to the high cost and difficulty of running wires in industrial process plants.

Valves, Actuators & Regulators

The primary role of an industrial valve is to control, isolate, or regulate the flow of liquids or gases to achieve safe operation along with reliability and optimized performance.

Control, isolation and pressure relief valves respond to commands from a control system to continuously and precisely modulate the flow of process fluids. Engineered on/off valves are typically used to achieve tight shutoff, even in high pressure and temperature processes. The Company designs, engineers and manufactures ball, gate, globe, check, sliding stem, rotary, high performance butterfly, triple offset, and severe services valves for critical applications. The Company also designs and manufactures sophisticated smart actuation and control technologies that continuously monitor valve health and remotely control valve positions to foster proactive and predictive maintenance as well as decrease the risk of unplanned shutdowns.

The Company provides pressure management products, including pressure relief, vacuum relief, and gauge valves designed to control fugitive emissions. The Company also supplies a line of industrial and residential regulators, whose function is to reduce the pressure of fluids moving from high-pressure supply lines into lower pressure systems, and also manufactures tank and terminal safety equipment, including hatches, vent pressure and vacuum relief valves, and flame arrestors for storage tanks in the oil and gas, petrochemical, refining and other process industries.

Industrial Solutions

Industrial Solutions include fluid power and control mechanisms, electrical distribution equipment, and materials joining and precision cleaning products which are used in a variety of manufacturing operations to provide integrated solutions to customers. Fluid power products control and power the flow of liquids and gases in manufacturing operations such as automobile assembly, food processing, textile manufacturing and petrochemical processing, and include products such as solenoid and pneumatic valves, valve position indicators, pneumatic cylinders, air preparation equipment, and pressure, vacuum and temperature switches. Electrical distribution consists of a broad line of components for current- and noncurrent-carrying electrical distribution devices, including conduit and cable fittings, plugs and other receptacles, industrial lighting, enclosures and controls. Electrical distribution products are used in hazardous, industrial, commercial and construction environments, such as oil and gas drilling and production sites, pulp and paper mills and petrochemical plants. Plastic and metal joining technologies and equipment are supplied to a diversified manufacturing customer base, including automotive, medical devices, business and consumer electronics, and toys. The Company also provides precision cleaning and liquid processing solutions to industrial and commercial manufacturers. Products include ultrasonic joining and

cleaning equipment; linear and orbital vibration welding equipment; systems for hot plate, spin and laser welding equipment; and aqueous, semi-aqueous and vapor cleaning systems.

Process Control Systems & Solutions

Process control systems and software control plant processes by collecting and analyzing information from measurement devices in the plant, and then use that information to adjust valves, pumps, motors, drives and other control hardware for maximum product quality and process efficiency and safety. Software capabilities also include life sciences operations management, upstream oil and gas reservoir simulation and production optimization modeling, pipeline and terminal management, operations management simulation, and training systems. The Company’s process control systems can be extended wirelessly to support a mobile workforce with handheld tools/communicators, provide site-wide location tracking of people and assets, and enable video monitoring and communication with wireless field devices, thereby increasing the information available to operators.

TM

Plantweb Digital Ecosystem

The Plantweb Digital Ecosystem combines the Company’s intelligent field sensors, communication gateways and controllers, software, and complementary partner technologies to create a comprehensive Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) architecture to improve customer operational performance. Newly developed sensors (usually wireless) monitor variables such as equipment health and energy consumption, providing data to software applications. Existing sensor information from control systems is also incorporated using secure communication designs. These applications contain analytic capabilities that provide insights into production performance, energy consumption, reliability of specific equipment or process units, and safety. Alerts are generated in areas such as impending equipment failure or excessive energy consumption. Complete solutions range from covering a few assets, such as pumps or steam traps with small applications, to complete facility monitoring using more sophisticated modeling.

Customers may also subscribe to IIoT “connected services” to improve the performance of their facilities. In this model, Company personnel who are experts in specific applications or asset classes monitor and analyze customer data that is supplied on a periodic basis and generate reports that provide specific information on actions to take to improve plant operational performance.

Industry Services

Automation Solutions provides a broad portfolio of services to improve automation project implementation time and costs, increase process availability and productivity, and reduce the total cost of ownership in industries such as oil and gas, chemicals, power generation, food and beverage, and life sciences. Consulting services help plant owners and operators improve plant safety, reliability, availability, cybersecurity, and operational performance through implementation of on-site and corporate-wide programs. Global industry centers offer engineering and project management services to help customers optimize cost and schedule on large capital projects. Lifecycle service centers provide maintenance, engineering, process, quality, and troubleshooting expertise to aid in process optimization for efficient and consistent operations, regulatory compliance, asset repair, asset replacement, shutdown/outage management and employee training. These offerings are available on demand or through long-term service agreements.

Distribution

The principal worldwide distribution channel for Automation Solutions is a direct sales force, although a network of independent sales representatives, and to a lesser extent independent distributors purchasing products for resale, are also utilized. Approximately half of the sales in the United States are made through a direct sales force with the remainder primarily through independent sales representatives and distributors. In Europe and Asia, sales are primarily made through a direct sales force with the remainder split evenly between independent sales representatives and distributors.

Brands

Service/trademarks and trade names within Automation Solutions include Emerson Automation Solutions, AMS, Anderson Greenwood, Appleton, ASCO, ASCO Numatics, Baumann, Bettis, Biffi, Branson, Bristol, Crosby, CSI, Damcos, Daniel, DeltaV, EIM, El-O-Matic, Fisher, Go Switch, Guardian, Keystone, KTM, Micro Motion, Net Safety,

Ovation, O-Z/Gedney, Plantweb, ROC, Rosemount, Roxar, Smart Process, SureService, TESCOM, TopWorx, Vanessa and Virgo.

COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL SOLUTIONS

The Commercial & Residential Solutions business consists of the Climate Technologies and Tools & Home Products segments, and provides products and solutions that promote energy efficiency, enhance household and commercial comfort, and protect food quality and sustainability through heating, air conditioning and refrigeration technology, as well as a broad range of tools and appliance solutions. Sales by geographic destination in 2017 for Commercial & Residential Solutions were: the United States and Canada, 64 percent; Asia, 18 percent; Europe, 9 percent; Latin America, 5 percent; and Middle East/Africa, 4 percent.

CLIMATE TECHNOLOGIES

The Climate Technologies segment provides products and services for many areas of the climate control industry, including residential heating and cooling, commercial air conditioning, and commercial and industrial refrigeration. The Company's technologies enable homeowners and businesses to better manage their heating, air conditioning and refrigeration systems for improved control and comfort, and lower energy costs. Climate Technologies also provides services that digitally control and remotely monitor refrigeration units in grocery stores and other food distribution outlets to enhance food freshness and safety, as well as cargo and transportation monitoring solutions. Sales by geographic destination in 2017 for Climate Technologies were: the United States and Canada, 55 percent; Asia, 24 percent; Europe, 10 percent; Latin America, 7 percent; and Middle East/Africa, 4 percent.

Residential and Commercial Heating and Air Conditioning

This business provides a full range of heating and air conditioning products that help reduce operational and energy costs and create comfortable environments in all types of buildings. These products include reciprocating and scroll compressors, including ultra-efficient residential scroll compressors with two stages of cooling capacity, as well as variable speed scroll compressors; system protector and flow control devices; standard, programmable and Wi-Fi thermostats; monitoring equipment and electronic controls for gas and electric heating systems; gas valves for furnaces and water heaters; ignition systems for furnaces; sensors and thermistors for home appliances; and temperature sensors and controls.

Commercial and Industrial Refrigeration

Commercial and industrial refrigeration technologies are incorporated into equipment to refrigerate food and beverages in supermarkets, convenience stores, food service operations, refrigerated trucks and refrigerated marine transport containers. Climate Technologies refrigeration products are also used in a wide variety of industrial applications, including medical applications, food processing and cold storage. Products include reciprocating, scroll and screw compressors; precision flow controls; system diagnostics and controls that provide precise temperature management; and environmental control systems. Transport and cargo monitoring solutions are also offered, which extend throughout the cold chain to ensure quality and safety as food travels from growers to processing and distribution facilities and finally to retail points of sale.

Services and Solutions

Services and solutions enable global customers to optimize the performance of facilities including large-scale retailers, supermarkets, convenience stores and food service operations. By providing expertise in air conditioning, refrigeration and lighting control, Climate Technologies performs as a complete facility manager for its customers. The Company’s expertise allows customers to reduce energy and maintenance costs, thereby improving overall facility efficiency and uptime. In addition to industry-leading controls, services include facility design and product management, site commissioning, facility monitoring and energy modeling.

Distribution

Climate Technologies' sales, primarily to original equipment manufacturers and end users, are made predominately through worldwide direct sales forces. Remaining sales are primarily through independent distributor networks throughout the world.

Brands

Service/trademarks and trade names within the Climate Technologies segment include Emerson Climate Technologies, Control Products, Computer Process Controls, Copeland, Design Services Network, Dixell, Emerson Climate Technologies Distribution Services, Emerson Climate Technologies Educational Services, Emerson Climate Technologies Retail Services, Fusite, ProAct, Sensi, Therm-O-Disc, Vilter, and White-Rodgers.

TOOLS & HOME PRODUCTS

The Company’s Tools & Home Products segment offers tools for professionals and homeowners and appliance solutions. Sales by geographic destination in 2017 for this segment were: the United States and Canada, 86 percent; Asia, 4 percent; Europe, 7 percent; Latin America, 2 percent; and Middle East/Africa, 1 percent.

Professional and Do-It-Yourself Tools

Pipe-working tools are used by plumbing and mechanical professionals to install and repair piping systems. Products include pipe wrenches, pipe cutters, pipe threading and roll grooving equipment, mechanical crimping tube joining systems, drain cleaners, tubing tools, and diagnostic systems, including closed-circuit television pipe inspection and locating equipment. Other professional tools include water jetters, wet-dry vacuums, commercial vacuums and bolt cutters. Do-it-yourself tools, available at retail home improvement outlets, include drain cleaning equipment, pipe and tube working tools, and wet-dry vacuums.

Appliance Solutions

This business provides a number of appliance solutions, including residential and commercial food waste disposers, ceiling fans, instant hot water dispensers and compact electric water heaters.

Distribution

The principal worldwide distribution channels for Tools & Home Products are distributors and direct sales forces. Professional tools are sold worldwide almost exclusively through distributors. Independent sales representatives are utilized to a lesser extent. Appliance solutions are sold through direct sales force networks and distributors. Approximately one-third of this segment's sales are made to a small number of big box outlets, as well as through online retailers.

Brands

Service/trademarks and trade names within the Tools & Home Products segment include Emerson, Grind2Energy, InSinkErator, Badger, ProTeam, RIDGID and WORKSHOP.

On October 2, 2017, the Company sold its residential storage solutions business. This business provides products for the home including shelving systems, cabinet and closet organizers, home office storage, and drawer systems and containers, available in wire, stainless steel and laminate. See Note 3.

DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS

The network power systems business and the power generation, motors and drives business were sold in 2017 and are reported as discontinued operations in the Consolidated Financial Statements for all years presented. See Note 4.

The network power systems business supplies electric power conditioning, power reliability and environmental control products for telecommunications networks, data centers and other critical applications, and also provides comprehensive data center infrastructure management solutions. The power generation, motors and drives business supplies alternators, AC motor/generator sets, traction generators, wind power generators, wind turbine pitch control systems and solar photovoltaic converters, as well as a broad line of drives and electric motors for use in a wide variety of manufacturing operations and products.

PRODUCTION

The Company utilizes various production operations and methods. The principal production operations are electronics assembly, metal stamping, forming, casting, machining, welding, plating, heat treating, painting and assembly. In addition, the Company uses specialized production operations, including automatic and semiautomatic testing, automated material handling and storage, ferrous and nonferrous machining, and special furnaces for heat treating and foundry applications. Management believes the equipment, machinery and tooling used in these processes are of modern design and well maintained.

RAW MATERIALS

The Company's major requirements for basic raw materials include steel, copper, cast iron, electronics, rare earth metals, aluminum and brass; and to a lesser extent, plastics and petroleum-based chemicals. The Company seeks to have many sources of supply for each of its major requirements in order to avoid significant dependence on any one or a few suppliers. However, the supply of materials or other items could be disrupted by natural disasters or other events. Despite market price volatility for certain requirements and materials pricing pressures at some of our businesses, the raw materials and various purchased components needed for the Company’s products have generally been available in sufficient quantities.

PATENTS, TRADEMARKS AND LICENSES

The Company maintains an intellectual property portfolio it has developed or acquired over a number of years, including patents, trademarks and licenses. The Company also continues to develop or acquire new intellectual property on an ongoing basis. New patent applications are continuously filed to protect the Company’s ongoing research and development activities. The Company’s trademark registrations may be renewed and their duration is dependent upon national laws and trademark use. While this proprietary intellectual property portfolio is important to the Company in the aggregate, management does not regard any of its segments as being dependent on any single patent, trademark registration or license.

BACKLOG

The Company’s estimated consolidated order backlog was $4,894 million and $3,925 million at September 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. A large majority of the consolidated backlog as of September 30, 2017 is expected to be shipped within one year. Backlog by business at September 30, 2017 and 2016 follows (dollars in millions).

	2016				2017
Automation Solutions	$	3,464			4,414
Commercial & Residential Solutions	461				480
Total Backlog	$	3,925			4,894

The increase in Automation Solutions primarily reflects the acquisition of the valves & controls business.

COMPETITION

The Company's businesses operate in end markets that are highly competitive. The Company competes based on product performance, quality, branding, service and/or price across the industries and markets served. A significant element of the Company's competitive strategy is to deliver solutions to our customers by manufacturing high-quality products at the best relevant global cost. Although no single company competes directly with Emerson in all of the Company's product lines, various companies compete in one or more product lines with the number of competitors varying by product line. Some competitors have substantially greater sales, assets and financial resources than Emerson and the Company also competes with many smaller companies. Management believes Emerson has a market leadership position in many of its product lines.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Costs associated with Company-sponsored research and development activities for continuing operations were $340 million, $320 million and $336 million in 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

ENVIRONMENT

The Company's manufacturing locations generate waste, of which treatment, storage, transportation and disposal are subject to federal, state, foreign and/or local laws and regulations relating to protection of the environment. Compliance with laws regulating the discharge of materials into the environment or otherwise relating to protection of the environment has not had a material effect on the Company's capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position. The Company does not anticipate having material capital expenditures for environmental control facilities during the next fiscal year.

EMPLOYEES

The Company and its subsidiaries had an average of approximately 76,500 employees during 2017. Management believes that the Company's employee relations are favorable. Some of the Company's employees are represented under collective bargaining agreements, but none of these agreements are considered significant.

DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN OPERATIONS

International sales from continuing operations were $7,991 million in 2017, $7,582 million in 2016 and $8,641 million in 2015, including U.S. exports of $927 million, $888 million and $1,187 million in 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. There are additional risks attendant to foreign operations, such as possible nationalization of facilities, currency fluctuations and potential restrictions on the movement of funds. See Note 18 for further information with respect to foreign operations.

INTERNET ACCESS

Emerson's reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K and all amendments to those reports are available without charge through the Company’s website on the internet as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). They may be accessed as follows: www.Emerson.com, Investors, SEC Filings. Information on the Company’s website does not constitute part of this Form 10-K.

The information set forth under Item 1A - "Risk Factors” is hereby incorporated by reference.