When Keith Nosbusch, Rockwell Automation's chairman and CEO, took the reins of the company in 2004, he set out on a corporate quest to change Rockwell from a U.S.-based PLC vendor to a diversified services organization with a global reach. As 2007 comes to a close, the company says it is nearing the completion of that transformation.
Speaking at the company's annual Automation Fair user conference last month, Nosbusch declared that Rockwell's transformation is nearly complete. Through technology evolution, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships, the company has established itself as a provider to the process industries; built out its software portfolio; added safety, instrumentation, and simulation solutions into the mix; and established a strong presence in all regions of the globe, he told attendees.
The goal, Nosbusch further explained to Managing Automation in an interview, is to lower cyclicality through industry and geographic diversification. For many years, Rockwell's financial well-being depended upon the U.S. automotive industry. Now, "no one industry going through a down time will hurt us," Nosbusch said.
Acquisitions have accelerated Rockwell's initiatives in the hybrid and process manufacturing markets. The most recent purchase: Pavilion Technologies Inc., an advanced process control vendor offering predictive and simulation products for the oil and gas, chemical, and consumer industries. Other acquisitions have included Proscon Holdings Ltd., a maker of automation systems for life sciences companies, and ICS Triplex plc, a process manufacturing safety software vendor.
In addition, Rockwell has remained committed to expanding its Logix programmable automation controllers and data management through its Integrated Architecture platform into a comprehensive control system.
"We've used technology to evolve our company and change who we are," Nosbusch said. And where Rockwell hasn't had the technology or the core competencies — for example, in instrumentation or networking — it has partnered with Endress+Hauser and Cisco, respectively, to fill in the white space. And last month, Rockwell and Dassault Systemes announced an alliance to tie together Logix with Delmia digital manufacturing software to allow manufacturers in any industry to build virtual designs in order to maximize production efficiencies and collapse time-to-market.
Collectively, these initiatives have contributed to Rockwell's evolution.
"We are not trying to move out of the automation space," Nosbusch said. "We want to do more for the customer, obtain more critical mass, and expand into new geographies."
The effort is paying off. The company is winning key deals in the biofuel industry, as greenfield plants are built to produce alternative energy solutions, Nosbusch said.
And Rockwell is now recognized as a legitimate player in the process space.
"Now their name can be said in the same breath as the traditional process players, like Invensys, ABB, and Honeywell," said Craig Resnick, an analyst at ARC Advisory Group. "They are in head-first."