Innovation is nothing new in American manufacturing. After the unprecedented challenges of the past 18 months, however, it’s encouraging to see innovation alive and well and flourishing.

It is innovation that will help lead the economic recovery, and based on the entries for the 2009 Plant Engineering Product of the Year awards , that leadership is already well in place.

Now it’s up to Plant Engineering’s readers to choose the best of the best of innovation in manufacturing products for 2009. Qualified Plant Engineering readers will receive electronic ballots beginning the week of Nov. 23 to begin the process of voting for receive the coveted Product of the Year trophy. Only Plant Engineering readers eligible to vote for the Product of the Year will receive a link to their electronic ballot via email. Duplicate ballots or ballots from those not eligible to vote will not be accepted.

We hope everyone takes their ballot and votes. We also hope readers take the time to evaluate each of these new products to see how they can help drive greater efficiency, safety and productivity throughout their plants. The top three in each category will receive the Product of the Year trophy on Monday, March 28, 2010 at the 2010 Manufacturing/Automation Summit in Chicago. The product with the single highest vote total from all product finalists will receive the 2009 Grand Award, won last year by Orion Energy Systems.

Read about each of the 2009 finalists.