ABB now describes B&R as the largest independent supplier of open architecture solutions for factory automation machinery based on products and software. B&R has become part of ABB's industrial automation department and has formed a new business called "Machinery and Factory Automation".
The new business brings together all the activities of ABB PLC and is led by Hans Wimmer, the former general manager of B&R. B&R founders Erwin Bernecker and Josef Rainer will serve as consultants to coordinate the integration process.
ABB plans to increase investment in R&D, including the establishment of a new R&D center, and has set a mid-term sales target of more than $1 billion. ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer said that this acquisition ended ABB's historical gap in machinery and factory automation and expanded ABB's leadership in industrial automation. With the addition of B&R, ABB becomes the only industrial automation supplier that can provide customers with process control and discrete industry measurement technology and software solutions, such as measurement, control, drive, robotics, digitalization and electrification, etc.
Spiesshofer also said that this combination will provide ABB with new global growth opportunities to expand its existing products, while also bringing ABB industries and customer areas that have never been served before, knowledge and deep technical expertise.
The acquisition marks a milestone in ABB's next strategic step to become the world's second largest industrial automation supplier after Siemens. ABB said that B&R's PLCs products, software and services, industrial PCs and servo-based machine and factory automation will complement ABB's industrial automation portfolio in the fields of industry, transportation and infrastructure.
Peter Terwiesch, president of ABB's Industrial Automation Division, said that there is a strong cultural fit between B&R and ABB, including customer-centric common commitment, open architecture software and solutions, etc. This will ensure that ABB and B&R maximize their unique and comprehensive products in the integration. The integration of ABB and B&R is being led by a dedicated team based in Austria, including members from both parties.
B&R Profile
Founded in 1979, B&R is an innovative automation company. B&R is an innovative leader in programmable logic controllers (PLC), industrial computers (IPC) and motion servo-based machine and factory automation. Headquartered in Austria, with offices around the world. As a global leader in industrial automation, B&R combines state-of-the-art technology and advanced engineering to provide customers in almost every industry with complete solutions for machine and factory automation, motion control, HMI and integrated safety technology. With industrial fieldbus communication standards POWERLINK and openSAFETY and a powerful automation software development environment, B&R continues to redefine the future of automation engineering. . With operations in 70 countries and sales of more than $600 million in the $20 billion machine and factory automation market in 2015/16.
So what are the highlights of the acquisitions announced by the two companies?
The acquisition of B&R will fill ABB's historical gap in machine and factory automation and will create a unique global integrated automation solutions provider. ABB has made a clear commitment to continue the B&R growth story, with a medium-term sales target of more than $1 billion (now $600 million). To ensure management continuity, B&R founders Josef Rainer and Erwin Bernecker will serve as consultants in the early stages of the merger. B&R's headquarters in Eggelsberg, Austria, will become ABB's global center for machine and factory automation. B&R will become part of ABB's industrial automation division as a new global business unit - the machine and factory automation unit, led by Hans Wimmer, current managing director of B&R. The integration of the two companies will adhere to the principle of "the best of both worlds" of growth and life. ABB will add its original PLC and servo drive products to the new business unit in stages. ABB is committed to further investing in B&R's business expansion and establishing the company's successful business model and brand (the author expects the B&R brand to be retained). B&R's software and IoT solutions will further strengthen ABB's ability to provide digital technology and products.
When the craze for Industry 4.0, Industrial Internet, and smart manufacturing comes one after another, the king of electrical, automation, and robotics seems a little embarrassed. There is no atmospheric concept to lead, and there is a bit of slowness in digital manufacturing and cloud platform strategies.
As far as the two business units "Robotics and Motion Control RM" and "Industrial Automation IA" serving the manufacturing industry are concerned, the former is strong and needs no further explanation. Although the latter is named as industrial automation, it is still mainly based on process automation business represented by DCS and instruments and industry solution business. In the case that PLC is almost negligible, ABB's factory automation business is obviously much weaker and cannot form synergy with the strong advantages of the robot business. The lack of controller products represented by PLC is an obvious gap in ABB's business map. On the surface, this acquisition of B&R is also to fill this gap.
B&R also has high-performance servo systems, which can just fill the gap in the field of motion control. If we follow the same logic, we can boldly predict that B&R's servo business will be split and incorporated into the "Robotics and Motion Control RM" business unit in the future. It should be a high-probability event. As we all know, servo systems are the core components of industrial robots, and the integration of high-end motion control and robots.
In addition to PLC, HMI, IPC, and servo systems, B&R also has a more powerful set of internal skills - software, industry deep cultivation and application integration capabilities, and the ability to extend to IT.
B&R's AutomationStudio is one of the few industrial automation software platforms on the market that can compete with Siemens' TIAPortal. Whether it is smart manufacturing or Industry 4.0, its core appeal is "integration and interconnection". The joining of this platform can greatly improve ABB's integration capabilities and efficiency. Since then, ABB has an extra card to compete with Siemens.
With this, ABB can master a large amount of industry application knowledge and downstream industry engineering experience, and use mapp technology to serve customers more effectively and compete in the smart manufacturing market. APROL, which includes functional units such as EnMon energy management, ConMon status monitoring, PDA process data acquisition, asset management, and smart buildings, can help ABB provide a series of smart services for industries such as pharmaceuticals, packaging, plastics, and energy with its interconnection and communication capabilities and industry capabilities for different systems.
The joining of B&R has given ABB the ability to join the integration of IT and OT. At this moment, ABB's ability to advance into digitalization through automation has begun to truly land.