Industry signals and indicators - September 2017

Sept. 13, 2017
ABB Ability to launch deep dives into oil, gas and chemical facilities' data; Petasense partners with OSIsoft to drive IIoT adoption; Littlefuse acquires IXYS

ABB reported Sept. 5 that it's using its digital backbone, ABB Ability, to launch enterprise-wide deep dives into oil, gas and chemical facilities' data, and presenting common, configurable views of analytics available to CEO-level executives through to maintenance teams on production sites—regardless of which vendor’s control system is used.

Petasense announced Sept. 6 that it's partnering with OSIsoft to drive adoption of IIoT technology in process and manufacturing plants, enable users to retrofit their machinery with wireless sensors, and perform predictive maintenance.

Siemens and the International Society of Automation partnered Aug. 30 to foster awareness of industrial security needs and global standards. They'll share expertise in protecting automation environments based on the IEC 62443 standard and appropriate security measures in the form of events, webinars and othe educational material.

Related: more industry expansions and contractions: 

 • Littelfuse Inc. and IXYS Corp. agreed Sept. 7 to have Littelfuse acquire all outstanding shares of IXYS for an equity value of approximately $750 million and enterprise value of $655 million. IXYS manufactures power semiconductors and integrated circuits with a focus on medium- to high-voltage.

Bedrock Automation reported Sept. 6 that Pinnacle Midstream, a Houston-based supplier of storage and processing services for the oil and gas industry, has selected Bedrock's control system as the automation platform for its crude oil receipt and delivery points.

Emerson Automation Solutions reported Sept. 5 that it's picked Enterprise System Partners (ESP) to help life sciences manufacturers implement Emerson's Syncade manufacturing execution systems (MES) to improve operations management, and accelerate product manufacturing pipelines for new biotech and pharmaceutical therapies.

• Rockwell Automation announced Sept. 7 that its board of directors has elected President and CEO Blake Moret as board chairman effective on Jan. 1, 2018. Moret succeeds Keith Nosbusch, who has served as chairman since 2005, and remains as a director.