The latest expansions and contractions - September 2016

Sept. 29, 2016
Rockwell Automation acquires Maverick Technologies, Automation Control Products; Schneider Electric, Honeywell unveil new product offerings.

Rockwell Automation Inc. reported on Oct. 3 that it has acquired Columbia, Ill.-based systems integrator Maverick Technologies, in an effort to expand domain knowledge and deliver control and information solutions to the chemical, food and beverage, and oil and gas industries.

On Sept. 13, the company reported that it had acquired Automation Control Products (ACP), which produces centralized, thin-client, remote desktop and server management software. ACP’s two core products, ThinManager and Relevance, give users visual display and software to manage information and streamline workflows.

Schneider Electric released Sept. 14 its Unit Performance Suite software for the oil and gas industry. Built on the firm's SimSci ROMeo platform, Unit Performance Suite combines closed-loop, real-time optimization with monitoring and workflows into one solution for refineries, and provides an easily configurable solution with intuitive dashboards. At the same time, Schneider Electric also unveiled SimSci Online, a new cloud software platform for its process design, simulation, training and optimization offerings, which will be delivered as a service.

Honeywell Process Solutions launched on Sept. 8 its Symphonite portfolio of supply chain and production management software services designed to boost supply chain reliability, responsiveness, agility and efficiency for manufacturing industries. Symphonite software and services offer an end-to-end solution for oil and gas, refining, and mining, metals and minerals industries. Solutions cover every link in the chain across production management, planning, shipping, production accounting and reconciliation, helping to drive better business decisions.

HIMA has relaunched its Chinese operation as a wholly foreign-owned enterprise named HIMA (Shanghai) Industrial Automation Co., Ltd. Previously, HIMA operated in China as part of a joint venture, but following a recent review of the business and its long-term objectives, the safety specialist decided to as a Chinese operation on July 1.

Related: Expansions and contractions - August 2016

Aspen Technology Inc. reported Sept. 12 that Linde Engineering North America Inc. (LENA) has standardized on its Aspen Capital Cost Estimator (ACCE) software, which lets users rapidly and confidently evaluate capital investment projects early in the design process, understand all the economic implications of engineering decisions and manage projects more profitably. In addition, LENA has expanded its use of AspenTech’s Process Safety software that helps users efficiently conduct safety studies.

Spartan Controls Ltd. announced Sept. 12 that it's partnering with Atrex Energy, a supplier of clean, reliable fuel cell generation solutions, which will add to Spartan’s field automation and environmental leadership technologies.