The latest Control magazine list of top automation companies is out. Siemens, ABB and Emerson retain their positions in the top three by global ranking, while in North America; it is Emerson, Rockwell and ABB that fill the podium spots. Jim Pinto reviews the results in this issue and also gives us his prognostications for 2012.
The forecast is that this will not be another same-old, same-old year for industrial automation. When one gazes into the Pinto ‘crystal ball’ it looks like 2012 could be the year of the industrial network. industrial wireless and industrial Ethernet are both expected to gain further acceptance, while traditional centralised control could start to give way to more autonomous peer-to-peer style architectures. The popularity of mobile devices as the operator interface of choice is also likely to expand quickly.
On the corporate front, Pinto believes that a number of the automation majors are hoarding cash because they are worried about uncertainty in global economic conditions. This is preventing an acquisition binge that will happen sooner rather than later in the futurists’ view of things.
It has been a busy month
Closer to home, it was announced at a press conference on 15 February that Adroit Technologies has been appointed as an authorised distributor for sub-Saharan Africa of the Mitsubishi Electric range of automation products. This follows the announcement in March last year of the acquisition by Mitsubishi – ranked 6 globally in the Top 50 list – of a 14,9 % shareholding in Adroit. The SA Instrumentation and Control team had the opportunity to talk to Adroit MD Dave Wibberley and Misubishi’s Hartmut Puetz about the nature of the agreement, the plans for setting up the distribution infrastructure and what it will take to kick on and achieve the targets. Due to a clash of deadlines for this issue, we will be publishing the article on this in-depth discussion in next month’s magazine.
The SAIMC has also been busy recently in the run-up to the Society’s AGM later this month. The regional branches have held their local elections and we have all the details of the 2012 committees. President, Johan Maartens, writes of 2012 as a year of great new beginnings for the SAIMC. The organisation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the international Automation Federation, giving it access to the worldwide automation group’s insight, infrastructure and method. This can only have a positive influence on one of the major challenges to be addressed locally this year – the issue of training.
We look forward to keeping you updated on this vital element for economic growth in our region. In light of the infrastructure expansion plans being proposed by government and by the private sector, the importance of training of C&I professionals is about to become an item of national importance and the SAIMC will have a pivotal role to play. This has all the makings of not being another same-old, same-old year in the automation industry.
Steven Meyer
Editor: SA Instrumentation & Control
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