n NEWS March 2025 www.drivesncontrols.com 6 HONEYWELL HAS announced plans to spin o its automation and aerospace businesses, following an evaluation of its portfolio. The announcement follows pressure from a major US shareholder, Elliott Management, which has been calling for Honeywell to be broken up. Honeywell’s announcement will result in three publicly listed businesses with distinct strategies and growth drivers. (Honeywell earlier announced that its Advanced Materials division is also being spun o .) The aim is to complete the separations by the second half of 2026. The automation division is the biggest of the three spin-o s, generating revenues worth $18bn in 2024. (Aerospace generated $15bn, and Advanced Materials produced almost $4bn.) The automation portfolio includes drives, sensors, controls, remote I/O, HMIs, industrial software, warehouse automation systems, and cybersecurity technologies. Honeywell says that following the separation, the automation business will be a “pure play” supplier with global scale and a vast installed base. It will be “the global leader of the industrial world’s transition from automation to autonomy, with a comprehensive portfolio of technologies, solutions, and software to drive customers' productivity”. The business will maintain its global scale, connecting connect assets, people and processes to power digital transformation with “a vast installed base to serve a variety of high-growth verticals”. Honeywell’s chairman and CEO, Vimal Kapur, says that it became clear that the strategies for Honeywell’s businesses were diverging. While the automation business needed to focus on AI, digital transformation and energy security, the aerospace operation had to concentrate on capacity expansion and supply chains. “Building on decades of innovation as its heritage, Honeywell Automation will create the buildings and industrial infrastructure of the future, leveraging process technology, software, and AI-enabled, autonomous solutions to drive the next generation of productivity, sustainability and safety for our customers,” Kapur predicts. “As a standalone company with a simplied operating structure and enhanced focus, Honeywell Automation will be better able to capitalise on the global megatrends underpinning its business – from energy security and sustainability, to digitalisation and AI. “The formation of three independent, industry-leading companies builds on the powerful foundation we have created, positioning each to pursue tailored growth strategies, and unlock signicant value,” says Kapur. “We have a rich pipeline of strategic bolt-on acquisition targets, and we plan to continue deploying capital to further enhance each business as we prepare them to become leading, independent public companies.” Honeywell to spin off $18bn automation biz p An alliance of engineering and manufacturing rms has been launched in Scotland to avert a “looming economic disaster” for the sector and to grasp an “Industrial Revolution sized opportunity” worth hundreds of billions of pounds to the Scottish economy. The Enginuity Alliance has told business leaders, educators and government representatives that more than £230bn is at stake over the coming decade. The Alliance will share best practice, generate discussion, and lobby policy-makers on both sides of the border. It is estimated that the sector will need more than 1.1 million workers over the next decade https://enginuity.org/the-alliance pABB is buying a Dutch energy management specialist, Sensorfact, to expand its digital energy management portfolio for industrial customers. It is also investing in a Canadian energy management start-up, Edgecom Energy, which uses AI to help industrial and commercial users to manage peaks in their power demand. pBeckhoff UK has opened an oce at the Alderley Park innovation campus in Cheshire. It will serve as the company’s software centre, and allow it reach customers in the North of England and Scotland more easily. A training centre will run sessions on Beckho’s TwinCat products. The oce will also have demonstration facilities for Beckho technologies such as XPlanar and XTS. pSmart Manufacturing Week has formed a strategic partnership with Wise (Women in Science and Engineering) as part of its goal of ensuring that its 2025 event in June addresses the technical innovations and pain points that the sector is experiencing. SMW says it is committed to supporting Wise in its mission to break down barriers and create more opportunities for women to thrive in Stem (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) careers. pSix companies – PP Control & Automation, Danfoss, Emerson, Glacier Energy, Phoenix Contact and Voltserv – have formed an alliance to boost the onshoring of manufacturing for the renewable energy sector. The Clean Energy Systems Partner Alliance (Cespa) will act as a single source for developers of clean technologies. A series of joint events and appearances is planned, followed by presentations and factory tours. www.cespa.org.uk p Global revenues from collaborative robots (cobots) will rise from $970m in 2023 to $7.2bn by 2030 – a CAGR of 28% – according to a new report from ABI Research. It adds that safety, falling prices, and improved accessibility will accelerate these sales. The automotive segment will drive cobot uptake, with shipments rising from 13,000 in 2023 to 115,000 by 2030. The growth of applications such as palletising and inspection could boost sales of cameras which, ABI predicts, will be attached to 59% of cobots by 2030. www.abiresearch.com NEWS BRIEFS SAMOTICS, THE DUTCH ELECTRICAL data analytics company, has signed a €20m nancing agreement with the European Investment Bank to boost its R&D activities and enhance its technologies which use AI to boost the reliability and e£ciency of motors. The money will also accelerate work on its next-gen system, due for launch later this year. Samotics’ electrical signature analysis (ESA) technology relies on the principle that subtle changes in the operating characteristics of a motor that often occur before a failure, a ect the machine’s magnetic eld. This, in turn, a ects the motor’s supply voltage and operating current. Using various analytical techniques, ESA provides an overview of the entire powertrain, from the motor to the load, to predict impending faults. Identifying and correcting energy ine£ciencies can reduce operating costs signicantly. The system uses AI-driven monitoring and analysis to predict malfunctions, detect ine£ciencies and provide actionable recommendations. It can be installed in an electric cabinet, avoiding the need to reach often-inaccessible motors. Dutch firm secures €20m for motor reliability and efficiency technology Honeywell CEO Vimal Kapur: as a separate business, Honeywell Automation will be better able to capitalise on the global megatrends
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