The latest availability target is 2010, but manufacturers will have to wait even longer for a key manufacturing module.

New Omron president and COO Gregg Holst will focus on expanding the company's product portfolio, becoming more customer-centric, increasing reliance on distributors, and emphasizing service.

The Modicon M340 programmable automation controller adds communication, motion, database, and manipulation capabilities to real-time logic solving for multiple programming environments.

Looking to sow the seeds of connectivity between factory floor devices and enterprise systems, the partners publish reference materials on establishing Ethernet-based networks.

Purchase of Scientific Technologies Inc.'s safety products unit will catapult Omron into a leadership position in the North American market with a 20% share.

We are entering the era of digital manufacturing -- otherwise known as the digital factory -- which promises to reduce the time it takes to get product to market and, of course, save money.

Maturing market looks beyond compliance to integration for return on investment, if the recent RFID World conference is any indication.

With operational efficiency reportedly attained, the automation giant now looks to expand direct sales to generate additional customer business opportunities, as it adds new products and strategic partners to fill out its portfolio.