Adding to my April 11 post on Business Growth in Automation, more news from automation companies is coming in to Automation Central here in Sidney, Ohio.
Beckhoff Automation just announced revenues for 2010–and they had jumped 46% year over year. Surprisingly, that puts it only slightly behind B&R Automation. Each is around $500 million. Pretty substantial for automation companies. Both are showing strong growth in Asia as well as in North America.
Many of the larger automation companies have long had electrical power business units. Most of the recent acquisitions of ABB and GE, for example, have been mainly power and energy oriented. Likewise, parts of Schneider Electric’s portfolio of companies have long traditions in power and energy. News of the last week has surfaced that Schneider is pursuing Tyco for acquisition. That acquisition, if it comes to pass, would help it keep up with its European rivals ABB and Siemens.
The last ABB “Power and Automation World” user conference had little attention focused on automation. When I stopped at the Schneider Electric booth in Hannover, I asked about automation. “It’s over there in the corner,” I was told, “people are most interested in energy these days.”
So, I ask this open question soliciting ideas. Are the larger companies moving from automation to energy and leaving the automation segment open for smaller upstart companies? What do you see?
(Note: next week I’ll be in Orlando for the 2011 edition of Power and Automation World. Maybe part of an answer will be revealed there. Stay tuned.)
Hi Gary,
This is a very good discussion topic. The official name of our event is ABB Automation & Power World (I'm not trying to be nit picky 🙂
Automation is still a primary focus for ABB — Our Process Automation Division is our second largest division by revenue ($7.4 billion) ; all three automation divisions continue to develop new technologies and products. You'll see some of them next week.
Energy efficiency continues to be a major focus for us … but energy really applies to both power and automation — as efficient use of energy is important to everyone–heavy industries, other manufacturing , as well as utilities (and for all homeowners too) All of our divisions offer solutions to help our customers save energy.
Thank you for the chance to add my two cents to this discussion!
Thanks, Laura. I didn't mean to imply that ABB is going out of the automation business. But the question is whether it is seen as a growth segment anymore and whether it will see its share of investment diverted to energy. I'm most interested in automation, so that's my bias.
We don't write about our contacts at various companies, but Laura has been my "go-to" person at ABB for longer than either of us care to admit for news and interviews.
Which Tyco? It looks like Tyco has split — Tyco Electronics (TE) now says "it's an independly listed company", I don't where the Toy division went, and Tyco.com lists groups for security solutions, fire protection, flow control — and only flow control seems remotely related to automation.
Maybe ABB's recent acquisition of Baldor shows continued commitment to automation.
Hey Tony, I'm thinking building and energy divisions. Probably no "Hot Wheels" for Schneider.