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by David R. Brousell, MA Editorial Staff
Posted on Sunday, August 26, 2007 5:00:00 PM Sign Up to receive Daily News Alerts in your E-mail Inbox    | Abstract: | Large industrial automation and control vendors Schneider Electric and Siemens A&D look ahead to becoming full solutions providers as both discrete and process automation markets grow worldwide. |
| Keywords: | Schneider Electric, collaborative manufacturing, Michel Crochon, Siemens Automation & Drives, Anton Huber, UGS, heterogeneous control environments, ODVA, Common Industrial Protocol |
Rueil-Malmaison is a quiet suburb of Paris with tree-lined streets and the feel of an upscale residential neighborhood. It is not the place where you would expect to find the corporate headquarters of one of the world's largest and most successful industrial automation and control companies. But on a street called Boulevard Franklin Roosevelt sits the unassuming but elegant offices of Schneider Electric SA, the parent of well-known brands Square D, Telemecanique, and, of course, the Modicon programmable logic controller line. Upon entering Schneider's corporate offices, one is immediately struck by a sense of calm that permeates a modern, sleek environment. One feels at ease and excited at the same time. This is, perhaps, also an apt description of the state of Schneider's business today. By all accounts, a business transformation the company undertook several years ago is proceeding with great success, as measured not only by all-important financial results -- the company had a record year in 2006, and in the first half of 2007 grew sales by 25% to £8.2 billion and net income by 21% -- but also by the calm and steady confidence of its key executives. That transformation, which has driven Schneider to become more global, efficient, and customer-centric, has resulted, in the case of its Automation & Control business unit, in embracing the concept of collaborative manufacturing, investing in what Schneider calls "Simply Smart" products for the industrial market, and providing "solutions" for specific vertical markets, such as mining, metals, and oil and gas. [Click to continue] |
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