News » World News Atlas Copco offers €1.09bn for Isra to enter machine vision
The Swedish industrial group Atlas Copco has launched a €1.09bn ($1.19m) cash bid for the German machine vision manufacturer Isra Vision, with the approval of Isra’s founder and CEO, Enis Ersü. Isra will keep its brand name and its headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, and will become the nucleus for a new machine vision division within Atlas Copco’s Industrial Technique business, which focuses on industrial automation systems, quality assurance products and industrial software.
‘World’s first robot employment agency’ will cut capital costs
A “robot employment agency” which will rent industrial robots to companies by the hour, or charge a “salary” based on the completion of tasks, has been set up as a joint venture between an Israeli developer of autonomous robots, called SixAI, and a Japanese affiliate of Honda, called Musashi Seimitsu. They say that their “unique” business model will give industrial users the option to source robotic labour without the significant capital costs of having to buy new robots.
Knowledge base will help to prepare for ICS cyber-attacks
A US organisation has compiled a knowledge base of the techniques that cyber-criminals use when attacking industrial control systems (ICSs). The impacts from these attacks can range from disrupting operations to harming human life and the environment.
$36m Danish project will create ‘world’s biggest cobot hub’
Universal Robots (UR) and Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR) have acquired a 50,000m2 site in Odense, Denmark, where – with the financial backing of their joint US parent company, Teradyne – they are planning to invest $36m to build “the world’s largest hub for collaborative robots (cobots)”.
Real-time platform links buyers and sellers of used plant
A Californian start-up that matches buyers and sellers of used manufacturing equipment around the world, has attracted $2.4m of seed funding as part of an expansion drive, especially into Asia. San Francisco-headquartered Moov has developed a real-time technology that, it claims, reduces transaction times from weeks to days, and eliminates inaccurate and outdated listings that plague the sector.
Chinese SPS show is postponed following Coronavirus outbreak
The organisers of SPS – Industrial Automation Fair Guangzhou (SIAF), which was due to take place in Guangzhou, China, next month, have announced that the exhibition has been postponed following the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus epidemic. The Guangdong Province Department of Commerce has suspended all large-scale events in the region in response to the outbreak,.
Eaton sells its hydraulics business to Danfoss for $3.3bn
Eaton is selling its hydraulics business to Danfoss for $3.3bn in cash, boosting the size of to the Danish group by about one third. The business, which accounted for 86% of Eaton’s hydraulics revenues in 2019, is a global leader in hydraulics components, systems, and services for industrial and mobile equipment.
Rockwell buys Avnet to boost its cyber-security capabilities
Rockwell Automation is buying the Israeli cyber-security provider Avnet Data Security for an undisclosed sum. Avnet, founded in 1995, offers IT/OT (information technology/operational technology) cyber-services including assessments, penetration testing, network and security systems, training, and converged IT/OT managed services. Its Israeli-based team includes "dozens" of cyber experts, trainers, consultants, researchers and systems integration engineers.
Benshaw buys Aucom to create ‘world’s biggest soft-start firm’
The US motor control specialist Benshaw is buying the New Zealand based soft-start pioneer Aucom Electronics to create what it claims will be the world’s largest privately owned soft-starter manufacturer. The details of the transaction have not been released.
Digital factory revenues could exceed $1 trillion by 2030
Technology investments in the industrial and manufacturing sector are set to soar from $59bn in 2019 to $375bn by 2030. If hardware revenues are included, that figure could climb to more than $1 trillion, according a study by the analyst, ABI Research.
Global sales of industrial robots go into reverse
After several years of seemingly unstoppable growth, the global market for industrial robots went into decline during 2019, with revenues falling by an estimated 4.3%.
New Finnish facility will be able test drive systems up to 15MW
Yaskawa Electric is making a “significant” investment to build a centre for testing large drives at its Yaskawa Environmental Energy / The Switch business in Finland. The centre will be one of the largest of its kind and will be capable of testing entire drivetrains, including motors, generators, frequency converters, transformers and auxiliary equipment. Initially, it will be able to test systems rated up to 15MW, but there are plans for a second phase that will be able to handle even larger drives as well as medium-voltage systems.
Beckhoff signs global deal to supply BMW with IPCs
Beckhoff Automation has signed a deal with BMW to supply the car-maker with industrial PC (IPC) technology for use in its production facilities worldwide during the period to 2030. Beckhoff’s IPC technology, including control panels and PCs, will become a global standard for BMW, both in new manufacturing facilities and for retrofits, for applications such as machine connectivity, access control, data acquisition and visualisation.
Rexroth uses EtherCat for ‘the most open automation platform’
Bosch Rexroth used the recent SPS automation exhibition in Germany to unveil a major new automation platform which, it claims, will be “the most open on the market” and will cut engineering effort by 30–50%, reducing time-to-market “significantly” for new machines.
Pilz is recovering from a ‘major’ ransomware attack
The German machine safety and automation specialist Pilz is recovering from the effects of a “major” ransomware cyber-attack which affected much of its IT infrastructure around the world in the middle of October.
