News From the Auto Industry

For the 16th year, Control has released its list of the 50 leading automation companies in North America. This year, Editor in Chief Walt Boyes is joined by ARC Advisory Group's Larry O'Brien to discuss the new, and different, Control Top Fifty for 2006. The companies are emerson process management, rockwell automation, abb, siemens energy and automation, invensys process systems, honeywell process systems, schneider electric, ge, ametek eig, thermo fisher scientific, flowserve, roper industries, spectris, mks instruments, danaher industrial, national instruments, phoenix contact, omron, metso, yokogawa, endress+hauser, turck, aspen technologies, yamatake, teledyne instruments, weidmuller, osisoft, pepperl+fuchs, mtl instrument group, dresser industrial, badger meter, bristol babcock, msa, microwave data ssytems, mts, cci, ifm efector, parker industrial, mettler toledo, magnetrol, ohmart-vega, tyco flow control, matrikon, spx valves and controls, iconics, horiba, prime measurement, burkert, cashco, fmc, krohne, pyromation, ics-triplex, pavilion technologies, racine federated, opto22, controlotron.

Itasca, IL (PRWEB) December 30, 2006 — Control magazine reveals the Top Fifty Automation Companies in North America for the 16th time. But this year's list is different. This year, Editor in Chief Walt Boyes is joined by ARC Advisory Group Research Director for Process Automation Larry O'Brien, and the resources of both Control magazine and ARC Advisory Group were used to produce the list.

It has been getting harder and harder to produce a Process Automation Top Fifty for North America. In the first place, the lines are blurring between process, batch and discrete automation, and in the second place, the automation business, along with all manufacturing, has become increasingly global in scope. For this edition of the Top Fifty, the editors of Control and the analysts of ARC Advisory Group have rewritten the rules. Here's what they are including in the definition of the 50 largest companies:

• North American revenues, broken out from global revenues
• Process automation systems and related hardware software and services
• PLC business, as well as related hardware, software, services, I/O and bundled HMI
• Other control hardware components, such as third party I/O, signal conditioners, intrinsic safety barriers, networking hardware, unit controllers and single and multiloop controllers
• Process safety systems
• SCADA systems for oil and gas, water and wastewater, and power distribution
• AC drives
• General motion control systems (GMC)
• Computer numerical control (CNC) systems
• Process field instrumentation, such as temperature and pressure transmitters, flowmeters, level transmitters and associated switches
• Analytical equipment, including process electrochem, all types of IR technology, gas chromatographs for industrial manufacturing and related products
• Control valves, actuators and positioners
• Discrete sensors and actuators
• All kinds of automation-related software, from advanced process control, simulation and optimization to third-party HMI, plant asset management, production management (MES), ERP integration packages from the major automation suppliers and similar software
• All other automation-related services provided by the automation suppliers
• Condition-monitoring equipment and systems
• Ancillary systems, such as burner management systems, QCSs for pulp and paper, etc.

What the article is not including are: