Schneider Electric is merging the activities of its recent US acquisition Steeplechase Software with its Think & Do Software operation to form one of the world`s largest suppliers of PC-based automation and control software.

The two businesses are being combined into a new, independent company called Entivity which will have a global base of more than 11,000 applications and 4,200 customers. The company will extend its activities to include production management and collaborative automation development.

Entivity also plans to introduce a new generation of products combining Think & Do`s Visio-based platform and Steeplechase`s flowchart techniques. Sal Spada, a senior analyst with ARC, says that Entivity will plug a gap in the PC-based controls market for systems that can manage large installation projects.