One of the landmark deals in the local software industry is the recent acquisition of a 14,9% stake in automation software development company, Adroit Technologies, by global automation and control giant, Mitsubishi Electric.
The new agreement follows the successful development and release of the Misubishi Adroit Process Suite (MAPS) that is central to the aggressive growth strategies both companies have set for the medium term. Hartmut Puetz, newly appointed president of factory automation at Mitsubishi Electric Europe, says the plan is to grow operations in EMEA 3½ fold over the next five years. Adroit Technologies MD, Dave Wibberley, has set a target of R100 million growth in sales over the same period.
![[L to R]: Steve Venter (CBI), Hartmut Puetz (Misubishi Electric), Dave Wibberley (Adroit Technologies)](articles/SA Instrumentation & Control - Published by Technews/C15409.jpg)
Wibberley says that the trend today is for customers to demand a single point of responsibility for an automation system and from an Adroit perspective they had started losing business because of not fitting this model. “We knew we had to change the game and this is the advantage that MAPS gives us through its total lifecycle view of an automation project. Now, not only do we have what it takes to get a Greenfield automation project up and running, but through the inclusion of DesSoft we have added what it takes to maintain the system efficiently – particularly with respect to managing documentation.”
Puetz says that Mitsubishi is also very much focused on a systems approach and that his expansion plans are not only based on new hardware development, but the supply of fully integrated solutions. “Our partnership with Adroit is key to achieving this as the scada element is what was missing from our portfolio.”
Puetz’s plan is based on targeting strategic vertical markets including food and beverage, FMCG, mining and water and wastewater. This plays to Adroit’s strengths, particularly in the mining and utilities sectors and the synergy should serve both organisations well going forward. There is also other common ground. Both companies advocate project implementation and management through the use of system integrators. Effectively this means Adroit now has access to the Mitsubishi SI and distribution networks in Europe; it is in fact currently busy with a train-the-trainer programme in the region. SA Instrumentation and Control expects this to generate significant new competitive advantages for both companies.
Steve Venter, executive manager industrial controls for CBI Electric, the sole distributors of Mitsubishi products in South Africa, believes that the partnership gives them an integrated offering that will open up distribution channels into Europe with exciting possibilities. “This deal is an indication of how serious Mitsubishi is about its involvement. The Adroit, DesSoft and CBI partnership can already offer a lot to the African market and we recently won our first project valued at over R3 million. Now, this agreement has opened up the whole of EMEA for us and the strengths of the partnership will drive the growth we need to achieve the targets we have set into the future.”
The finishing touch is the Mitsubishi Application Store that will provide industry with a global platform for the sharing of technology and information. Puetz states that this will be rolled out within the next three months. The store will contain all Mitsubishi developed applications and also be accessible to third parties looking to share or download information, much of which will be available free of charge. Applications will be sorted by industry and function specific indexes.
For more information contact Jan Hendrik Rust, Adroit Technologies, +27 (0)11 658 8100, [email protected], www.adroit.co.za
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