Keith Nosbusch (below) has succeeded Don Davis as president and chief executive of Rockwell Automation. Davis will continue in his role as chairman of the board.

Nosbusch, 52, joined Allen-Bradley in 1974 as an applications engineer. In November 1998, he was appointed president of Rockwell Automation Control Systems.

"I am truly excited about the opportunity to lead this great company into what I am confident is a very bright future," says Nosbusch. "I look forward to working with Don and benefiting from his on-going counsel."

Nosbusch`s appointment was announced shortly after Rockwell`s annual Automation Fair drew around more than 14,000 people to Milwaukee. The event, which celebrated Allen-Bradley`s centenary, saw a slew of new product launches including:

• an AC drive (the PowerFlex 40D) aimed at the water and HVAC industries;

• a software tool that allows users to program drives and their peripherals on- or off-line;

• a series of servo motors intended for use in harsh food and beverage packaging applications;

• a safety PLC designed to monitor and regulate the safe operation of automation systems;

• a development tool said to cut the cost of bringing new packaging applications on line; and

• an overload relay that performs thermal modelling electronically and processes motor current data continuously to maintain the time-current status of the motor loading.