Talk about bad timing. Just as Rockwell Automation began to rev up its process solutions business, the economy tanked. Now, there’s renewed pressure on Ralph Carter, the newly appointed president of Rockwell Software, who has been handed his marching orders.
“The goal is to grow the information solutions portfolio,” said Rockwell Automation Chairman and CEO Keith Nosbusch. “It’s no different than the challenge we had before.”
Oh, but it is.
Before, when Kevin Roach led the group prior to resigning in September 2008 to join Activant Solutions Inc., Rockwell, like most of its competitors, was standing on solid financial ground. Now, the economic earthquake that is shaking up the industry has forced Rockwell to restructure in order to reduce costs. And while Rockwell’s software group appears to be safe from any downsizing — having just completed a handful of acquisitions that add manufacturing intelligence, advanced process control, safety, and engineering expertise under the FactoryTalk production management framework — the company’s ability to penetrate the process market could be on shaky ground.