Digi-Key Electronics, the US-based distributor which claims to offer the world’s largest selection of automation products and electronic components in stock for immediate shipment, has opened an 2.2 million square feet (204,000m2) expansion to its Product Distribution Centre, taking its total area to more than 3 million square feet (278,000m2). The $400m facility – one of the 10 largest warehouses in North America – will allow the company to pick, pack and ship nearly three times its previous daily average of 27,000 packages to customers in more than 180 countries around the world.
ABB has agreed to buy Siemens’ low-voltage Nema motors operation for an undisclosed sum. The business, which has manufacturing operations in Guadalajara, Mexico, produces motors mainly for the North America market. It employs about 600 people and last year generated revenues of around $63m.
The global market for motion controls – including servomotors, drives and controls – expanded by 21.6% during 2021 and will grow by a further 9.1% in 2022, according new research by Interact Analysis. This growth will continue until 2026, but at a slower pace, with a CAGR of 5.5%, according to Interact.
The Brazilian motion engineering and automation company WEG is buying the Motion Control business of the Italian automation and sensors manufacturer Gefran for around €23m.
The German sensor-maker Sick has entered a multi-year collaboration with the US-based sensing technology specialist Aeva to bring its 4D Lidar technology to industrial sensing applications including long-range position and velocity sensing. The Aeries II technology is predicted to boost the reliability and efficiency of 3D measurements in demanding applications.
Mushrooming demand for electrical steels for use in EV (electric vehicle) motors is pushing up prices and lengthening lead times for industrial and commercial motors, a market analyst is warning. The price of cold-rolled electrical steels – which represent about 20% of the material costs of a motor – has soared by more by 400% since January 2016, according to Interact Analysis. This has contributed to a 35-40% increase in the average selling price of motors since January 2020 and further rises could be on the way.
The Brazilian motor manufacturer, WEG, has revealed more details of the new factory that it is building in Portugal at a cost of €23.5m, which will double the size of its manufacturing operation in the town of Santo Tirso. The factory, due to be fully operational by 2024, will boost WEG’s workforce by 100 people, as well as creating what WEG is calling “Europe’s most complete testing laboratory” for MV (medium voltage) and HV (high voltage) motors and drives.
Schaeffler is buying the Ewellix Group – formerly SKF’s linear technology arm – for around €582m. This amount does not include transaction costs, nor Ewellix’s net debt of around €120m which Schaeffler will take on.
ABB has opened a €100m global innovation and training campus at the headquarters of its Austrian machine and factory automation subsidiary, B&R. The campus, located in Eggelsberg, will create up to 1,000 high-tech jobs. It includes r&d labs, as well as facilities for training up to 4,000 people from around the world every year in collaboration with universities.
SKF and ABB have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore possibilities for collaborating on the automation of manufacturing processes. They plan to identify and evaluate ideas for improving manufacturing capabilities and improving production efficiencies, potentially leading to future strategic collaborations.
Siemens has launched an open industrial platform that, it says, will make digital transformation easier, faster and scalable. The Xcelerator platform includes IoT (Internet of Things) enabled hardware, software and digital services from Siemens, and from more than 50 certified third parties. Siemens plans to transform its entire portfolio of hardware and software to become modular, cloud-connected and built on standard application programming interfaces (APIs).
Allied Motion Technologies has acquired the US linear and rotary motor manufacturer Airex for an undisclosed sum. Airex, based in New Hampshire, has more than 70 years of history supplying precision wound components and systems for industrial, semiconductor, life science and aerospace/defence applications.
Global sales of industrial robots bounced back during 2021 to hit an all-time high of 486,800 shipped machines – a 27% increase on the figure for 2020 – according to preliminary data released by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).
Siemens has bought the UK-based predictive maintenance and industrial analytics specialist Senseye for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition will expand Siemens’ predictive maintenance and asset intelligence portfolio.
Schneider Electric is selling its UK-headquartered Eurotherm business to Watlow, the US designer and manufacturer of industrial thermal systems, for an undisclosed sum.
