Jim Pinto has said for several years that an independent control system integrator cannot grow beyond a certain point...his maximum is about $30 million in revenue a year.
Well, Jim is wrong.
There are at least three completely independent system integrators who have blasted his barrier open.
Maverick Technologies is shooting for $100 million in the next year or so, Advanced Automation and Optimation are breathing hard right behind Maverick, and all of them are beyond the $30 million per year barrier.
It is not an accident that all of them are very high level integration specialists, with all three companies doing MES and ERP integration as well as the traditional plant floor automation each company started out doing.
Why is this so?
Well, partly because, although SAP and co. have said they understand the plant floor, they really don't...and it is easier for a control system integrator to understand the enterprise than for an ERP vendor to get its hands dirty in the manufacturing environment.
It is really nice to see this level of expertise get its reward.
