At present, the trend of two-way integration of industry and the Internet is increasingly obvious, and many industrial enterprises are also actively embracing the Internet. In the field of industrial control, hardware and software have become a development trend.
For automation manufacturers, extending from workshop automation to workshop informatization through the acquisition of MES systems, ERP systems, etc. is undoubtedly a necessary path. Siemens GE, Automation giants such as Rockwell have been practicing for a long time and have made a good start.
Following Schneider Electric's acquisition of Australian MES manufacturer SEAT in 2009, in early 2014, Schneider successfully acquired Avis Group. Avis gained a certain position in the MES and energy control fields through the acquisition of Wonderware, SmartGlance (industrial mobile reporting business application), etc., which was quite attractive to Schneider; In June 2013, Siemens acquired British APS manufacturer Preactor. A little further back in time, Siemens also acquired quality management software manufacturer IBS in 2012; Samsung SDS acquired South Korean MES manufacturer Miracom in 2011; In December 2012, Honeywell acquired Intermec, a mainstream manufacturer in the field of automatic recognition, for $600 million
It can be seen that due to the mature technology and complete series of international automation manufacturers in hardware development, they have sought strong software vendors to form a strong alliance before the overwhelming call for Industry 4.0. At present, there are few independent CAM and MES manufacturers in the international market, and the trend in the future should continue to integrate. But in the Chinese market, under the wave of Industry 4.0, there are still many small-scale MES manufacturers. With the spread of the Industry 4.0 boom, some proactive domestic automation technology hardware manufacturers in the Chinese market have embarked on a new path of cross-border integration, either through independent development, strategic cooperation, or acquisition, choosing to cooperate with them to initiate software injection into hardware and create intelligent manufacturing solutions. They often have complete solution capabilities, which shows a qualitative leap in the development of domestic automation hardware manufacturers.