News » World News Rexnord acquires Precision Gear Holdings
The American mechanical power transmission components manufacturer Rexnord has bought Precision Gear Holdings and its two operating subsidiaries, Merit Gear and Precision Gear, for an undisclosed sum. PGH employs around 190 people and has annual sales of worth about $45m.
Fracking energises MV drives sales in the Americas
The unconventional energy revolution for shale gas and oil in North America has led to strong sales of medium-voltage (MV) drives in the Americas, with the market expected to expand by more than 14.5% during 2013 and a further 9.5% in 2014. According to the market analyst IHS, these strong sales offset weaker sales in China during 2012, resulting in the global market for MV drives expanding by 6% to reach $2.6bn. It expects the 2013 global growth rate to average around 8%, with big regional differences.
Vacon expands into medium-voltage drives market
The Finnish drives-maker Vacon is entering the medium-voltage and systems drives markets for the first time, as part of a plan to achieve an average growth rate of at least 10% over the period 2014–2020. Until now, the company, which was formed in 1993, has focused on LV drives as well as converters for renewable energy applications.
New US motor efficiency standards could save $23.1bn
The US government has announced plans to introduce new efficiency standards for electric motors that it estimates could save roughly 1 trillion kWh of electricity over 30 years – enough to power almost every US home for a year. Over a 30-year period, the savings for US electricity users would amount to around $23.1bn.
Social media grow in importance for B2B purchasers
Business-to-business (B2B) decision-makers are increasingly using social media – in particular, LinkedIn – when making purchases, according a new US study. The survey of 443 people working in American industry reveals that 25% of them use LinkedIn to gather information when making purchasing decisions, compared to 12% in a similar survey in 2011.
Buy a compressor and plant a forest
The Swedish compressor manufacturer Atlas Copco has launched a campaign under which it will donate trees to the landlocked African nation of Burkina Faso for every VSD (variable speed drive) controlled compressor that it sells. It hopes to donate 225,000 trees by the end of the campaign in March 2014, to create 550 acres of forest – an area similar to New York’s Central Park.
12 billion non-industrial motors set to ship by 2018
Global sales of electric motors for non-industrial applications – from domestic appliances to cars – will grow from 9.8 billion in 2012 to 12 billion by 2018, according to a new study by IHS. It attributes the predicted 23% growth partly to consumers demanding higher efficiencies and more automated features in their products.
Rockwell buys ‘disruptive’ machine motion technology
Rockwell Automation is buying Jacobs Automation, a US high-tech manufacturer that has developed an “intelligent” track-based motion control technology for use in machines. Details of the deal have not been released.
GE consolidates its control platforms on open technologies
GE Intelligent Platforms has announced plans to consolidate its control platforms, standardising them on open systems such as OPC-UA, to support the Industrial Internet. It says that using open systems across its platforms will provide customers with interoperability, secure communications and an optimal user experience (UX).
Managed switches ‘will take market share from routers’
The share of the industrial communications market held by traditional standalone industrial routers is set to decline over the coming five years as sales of managed Ethernet switches rise, according to a new report by the analyst IHS.
WEG plans to invest $345m in Mexico and China
The Brazilian motor-maker WEG has announced plans to invest $345m over the coming five years to expand its facilities and boost production in Mexico and China.
Regal Beloit adds Italy’s Cemp to its portfolio
US-based Regal Beloit Corporation is buying the Italian motor manufacturer, Cemp, which produces flameproof motors, mainly for oil, gas and marine applications.
Rockwell buys wireless wellhead monitoring specialist
Rockwell Automation is buying vMonitor, which specialises in wireless systems for the oil and gas industry and is claimed to have the world’s largest installed base of wireless wellhead monitoring systems, with more than 6,000 oil and gas well sites around the world. The details of the transaction have not been released.
China heads for 40% of global demand for electric motors
China will account for almost 40% of the global market for electric motors by 2017, with motor sales in China outstripping those of Western Europe, North America and Japan combined. This prediction is made in a new report from the Freedonia Group which forecasts that global demand for electric motors will grow by 6.5% per year in the period to 2017, when the global market will be worth $122.5bn.
Vulnerability is found in wireless automation software
The US information security specialist IOActive says it has discovered a vulnerability in ProSoft Technology’s RadioLinx ControlScape application. The software is used to configure and install radios in frequency-hopping networks and to monitor the performance of the devices, mainly in Rockwell Automation and Schneider Electric systems used in industries such as water and wastewater, oil and gas, and electric utilities.
