March 2021

NEWS n p The German injection-mouldingmachinemanufacturer Arburg has bought the drives andmotors developer AMK Arnold Müller from its Chinese owner, Zhongding Holding Europe .The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Arburg says that the deal will give it access to AMK’s drives expertise and influence its future development work. It will allow the drive systems that Arburg uses in its electric injection-mouldingmachines to be developed and refined faster. p The analyst Technavio estimates that the global market for industrial automation and control products grewby 2.23% last year, despite the pandemic. It predicts that themarket will expand bymore than $25bn between 2020 and 2024 – a CAGR of almost 5%. www.technavio.com p Kollmorgen , themotors, drives, actuators and automation supplier, is devolving sales and support froma centralised operation in Germany to being handled by country subsidiaries, including the UK. It is making “significant”investments in themove that, it says, will offer customers more personalised and agile support.This follows its change in 2019 frombeing a supplier of components, to providing complete systems including motors, drives, cables and controls. p The US engine-maker Fairbanks Morse has acquired themotor- maker Ward Leonard , for an undisclosed sum.The acquisition will expand the equipment and services that Fairbanks Morse offers customers including the US Navy. In 1891 an American electrical engineer, HarryWard Leonard, invented and patented amotor speed control technology that still bears his name. In recent years,Ward Leonard, which employs around 150 people, has focused onmotors, generators and controls for naval, commercial marine, energy and industrial applications. p The engineering service company Belgrave & Powell , which is based inTamworth and Preston, has acquired Plymouth-based Autotech Robotics for an undisclosed sum. Autotech, a robotic systems integrator founded in 1989, will join Belgrave & Powell’s MachineTechnology Group. p Teledyne Technologies is buying the digital imaging giant Flir Systems in a cash-and-stock deal worth around $8bn. Although both companies are active in the sensingmarket, they say that their technologies andmarkets are“perfectly complementary…withminimal overlap”.While Flir is strong in areas such as thermography, airborne imaging and the automotive, consumer and securitymarkets,Teledyne has an expertise in aerospace and subsea sensing technologies. p ABB has appointed Staffordshire-based system integrator Radway Control Systems as its latest ABBValue Provider system integrator for variable-speed drives, cementing a partnership that goes back nearly 20 years. Established in 1994, Radway, located in Stoke-on-Trent, serves customers in NorthWest England andWales. It has an expertise in crane applications. p Symbio Robotics a Californian robotics start-upwhich has operated in“stealth”mode since it was founded in 2014, has gone public with $30m of funding and a goal of using AI to breathe new life into industrial robots – making them faster, more capable andmore flexible. Its SymbioDCS middleware and Python programming framework is claimed to simplify the programming of industrial robots and tomake themmore intelligent. Programmers can combine real-time feedback from sensors with advanced control software to create robots that learn and execute tasks rapidly. Symbio’s customers include Nissan and Toyota . www.symb.io p Danfoss has appointed the systems integrator iconsys as a Drives Authorised Service Partner, expanding the support services it offers to existing and new customers. iconsys was already an approved Danfoss System Integrator. Its enhanced status will allow it to penetrate new markets in which Danfoss Drives has an established presence, such as food and beveragemanufacturing, andmarine and offshore projects. p Fanuc America and Rockwell Automation have formed a coalition to accelerate work-and-learn apprenticeship programmes designed to upskill current and future workers for jobs in advancedmanufacturing, robotics and automation.The coalition, which includes the systems integrator APT and Nocti Business Solutions , has developed new apprenticeship programs offering credentials in areas including robot and PLC operation. NEWS BRIEFS THE US-BASED mechanical power transmission supplier Rexnord is merging its process and motion control (PMC) business with its larger rival Regal Beloit to create a new business that will adopt the Rexnord name and is expected to generate sales worth $4.5bn in 2022. The deal will take the form of a tax-free transaction known as a Reverse Morris Trust, in which Rexnord will spin off the PMC business and merge it simultaneously with Regal Beloit. It will make the PMC business worth around $3.69bn. Regal shareholders will own 61.4% and Rexnord shareholders 38.6% of the combined entity, known as New Regal. Some $70m of cost synergies are expected in the first year, rising to $120m by the third. The two companies say that the deal will combine their complementary portfolios to create a leading player in the industrial power transmission market with a portfolio covering the entire drivetrain. It will fill gaps in Regal’s portfolio, expand its customer reach and product diversity, and rebalance its portfolio between power transmission (increasing from 24% to 47% of sales), motors (falling from 55% to 38%), and niche and specialty products (dropping from 21% to 15%). The transaction is also expected to accelerate r&d and to create new avenues for growth, with an expanded focus outside of North America and an increased exposure to high-growth markets such as food and beverage, automation and aerospace. While Rexnord’s power transmission portfolio focuses on heavier-duty applications, Regal’s strengths are in lighter-duty uses. “This transformative combination brings together two highly complementary businesses, creating a premier provider of power transmission products, poised to deliver enhanced value for our customers, associates, and shareholders,” says Regal’s CEO, Louis Pinkham, who will lead the merged business. “Combining with PMC accelerates our transformation momentum and is an important step towards our vision to accelerate profitable growth. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, and the combined business will be headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Regal Beloit manufactures electric motors and controls, power generation, and power transmission products. Its brands include SealMaster, Modsoft, Morse, Kop-Flex, Grove Gear, Hub City, Jaure, Browning, System Plast and McGill. Rexnord has two strategic platforms – process and motion control, and water management – and employs about 6,400 people worldwide. Its brands include Centa, Falk, Tollok, Link-Belt, Berg, Stearns, and Highfield. www.rexnordcorporation.com Regal and Rexnord create power transmission giant Rexnord and Regal Beloit say that combining their power transmission portfolios will allow them to offer complete drivetrains