Factory Mutual renamed after restructuring

JOHNSTON, R.I.-Despite a corporate restructuring that realigned its research division, operations at Factory Mutual Research are continuing on as "business as usual," company officials said. The corporate restructuring at the company, brought on to provide more benefit for FM shareholders, said Steve Zenofsky, media liaison for FM Global, will bring operations at its research and risk management divisions more closely together. Both of these departments have been renamed FM Global Research and FM Approvals, respectively. "For customers of our approvals division, for example manufacturers and service providers seeking FM approval of their product or service, the only change they will see is in the organization's name," Zenofsky said. Known in the industry as "FM" with its approved products bearing the "FM" mark, the division was changed to FM Approvals, he said. A mutual insurance company with operations dating back to 1835, FM Global is the parent company of FM Approvals and FM Global Research, divisions that have been researching and giving their stamp of approval on fire prevention products, including sprinkler systems, fire alarm systems and other peripherals for many years, said Bob Elliot, technical team manager with the Systems Section, a division within FM Approvals. The realignment of the research and approvals division will "bring us closer together," Elliot said. "We'll act more like a team now, where people will be communicating what the field needs or desires now, information that's directly related to FM Approvals." Elliot said there are roughly about 300 central stations today bearing the FM mark, as well as an untold number of fire manufacturers that apply every year for product approval during a product development cycle.