December News in Brief
º The Chinese market for PLCs (programmable logic controllers) will grow at a CAGR of 12.4% over the coming five years, according to a new study from the ARC Advisory Group. It predicts that sales will rise from $750m in 2006, to more than $1.3bn in 2011.
º GGB, formerly Glacier Garlock Bearings, is starting to manufacture its metal-polymer and filament-wound bearings in a new 4,000m2 plant in China. The site will initially employ 25 people.
º ABB is investing more than $100m in India over the coming three years to build new factories, broaden its product range, and expand its business, engineering and r&d capacities. It aims to create around 4,000 new jobs, taking its total Indian workforce to 10,000 by 2010. ABB expects its revenues in India to at least double to more than $2bn by 2010, making it one of the company’s top five markets.
º Brevini Power Transmission has invested more than €10m in a new production plant in China, its second outside Italy. The 8,000m2 site (with room to quadruple) will produce 40,000 planetary gears a year by 2010, with a target turnover of $40m from the Chinese and Asia Pacific markets.
º Balluff has bought the German capacitive sensing specialist Sensorik Industrie, based in Viernheim. SIE’s portfolio includes level sensors.
º The global market for process automation systems is forecast to expand at a CAGR of 9.6% over the coming five years. A new study from the ARC Advisory Group predicts that sales will grow from nearly $30bn in 2006 to more than $47bn by 2011.
º The Japanese chain-maker Tsubakimoto has opened a new European headquarters in Dordrecht, the Netherlands. As part of a long-term investment plan, Tsubaki has bought 12,000m2 of land, about 5,000m2 of which is being used for warehousing and logistics, with a further 2,200m2 being dedicated to sales, training and technical support.
º ABB has won a $35m order to supply gearless mill drives for a new copper, gold and silver mine, due to open in Chile in 2010. The order, placed by Antofagasta Minerals, includes one 22.4MW drive system and two 18.6MW systems.
º The Finnish drives-maker Vacon has won an order worth almost €2m to supply more than 300 AC drives with a combined power of around 37MW for a new nickel mine being built by Talvivaara Project in Eastern Finland.
º Ametek has bought the San Diego based specialist in programmable AC power sources, California Instruments, for an undisclosed sum. The company has annual sales worth around $22m.
