Rockwell Automation Expanding Scope Beyond Controls & Automation: Automation Fair 2023

Summary

Rockwell Automation (ROK) continues to evolve beyond the company's traditional industrial controls and automation business through acquisitions and growing service business. The growth of Rockwell Automation expanded products and services including system integration, robotics and material handling was highlighted at the annual Rockwell Automation Fair, in Boston Nov. 6-9, 2023.

Rockwell Automation’s positioning statement, "As the world’s largest pure-play industrial automation and digital transformation company, we are creating the future of industrial operations," now has broader definition that is reflected in presentations describing the financial profile of the company.

Total Rockwell Automation 2023 sales $9.1 billion USD

• Lifecycle Services $2.1 billion USD - 24% of Sales
• Intelligent Devices (Includes Material Handling & Robotics) $4.1 Billion - 45% of Sales
• Software & Control $2.9 billion USD - 32% of Sales

Intellient devices scope expanded: Robotic and material handling

Rockwell Automation has dramatically broadened the company's definition of Intelligent Devices beyond traditional industrial controls. Intelligent Devices now includes new Rockwell Automation ventures into material handling including robotics. The acquisition of OTTO Motors and Clear Path Robotics are notable expanding offerings beyond material handling acquisitions already made including iTrak and Magnemotion.

Manufacturing Business Software ERP/MES/OT

The most significant Rockwell Automation business expansion has been into ERP, MES, and OT software with the $2.22 billion USD acquisition of PLEX cloud-based offerings expanding beyond traditional Rockwell Automation software offerings. 

Brian Shepherd, senior vice president, Software & Control noted in a discussion with me: “PLEX fits like a puzzle piece perfectly into the FactoryTalk Operations Hub software."  When I asked about customers who already had ERP and other elements offered by Plex, he commented, “Plex gives us two options. Companies that have larger and more mature IT infrastructure and capabilities that already have an ERP and supply chain system Plex provides integration for other manufacturing capabilities including manufacturing execution and quality.” 

This is consistent with comments from Rockwell Automation Chairman and CEO Blake Moret: “Combining Plex’s cutting-edge cloud technology with Rockwell’s existing software portfolio and domain expertise will add customer value and create more ways to win."

PLEX provides manufacturing companies another solution to satisfy user needs in several areas including:

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
• Manufacturing Execution System (MES)
• Quality Management System (QMS)
• Supply Chain Planning (SCP)
• Production Monitoring
• MES Automation & Orchestration
• Asset Performance Monitoring (APM)

Shepherd described how consulting services under the Rockwell Automation Lifecycle Services group will provide  customers services for Plex implementation since many functions require expert consultants to implement. This is particularly important for small and medium manufacturers that do not have business and OT system experts on staff.

PLEX is particularly interesting because it scales from very small to large manufacturers which is a good fit for the range of Rockwell Automation customers. Shepherd described how the offerings will be sold and delivered to users: “In addition to Plex the offerings will be sold by Rockwell Automation and its distributors.” In North America, Rockwell Automation Distributors have relationships selling traditional electrical and control products to the majority of all size manufacturing organizations for years.

PartnerNetwork

During Automation Fair 2023 more than 120 PartnerNetwork companies exhibited products and services that Rockwell Automation has designated as complementary. Products from companies are admitted to the program that enhances the performance of Rockwell Automation Solutions. Products in the program provide functionality and solutions not already delivered by Rockwell Automation and enhance and extend the capability of the Rockwell Automation platform.

Thoughts and observations

Rockwell Automation’s wider focus reflects serving the broadening requirements of industrial digitalization.   While a potential growth business the competitive dynamics are quite different from Rockwell Automation traditional business.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft AZURE are both focusing significant resources pursuing manufacturing and process to become the industrial digitalization platforms with open architecture holistic architectures from sensor to business systems. Using open interoperable standards including OPC UA and MQTT. This is an example: Moderna Builds Native Digital Process Automation on Amazon Web Services.

In contrast, Rockwell Automation remains committed to closed proprietary architecture of FactoryTalk & Logix Controllers relying on gateways and plant servers to make data available to open industrial digitalization/operations software, ERP and Manufacturing business systems. This approach connecting everything including other vendor systems in a manufacturing or process plant into the Rockwell architecture and normalizing to their data models is a core philosophy.

Tessa Myers, senior vice president, Intelligent Devices, stated, “Our data model is not based on a standard like OPC UA, but we’ve done this purposely. Our model is more generic.”  This contrasts with the digitalization of industrial & process automation systems that embrace open architecture.  This normalization to Rockwell Automation internal architecture includes connecting HART and IO-Link field devices to Logix controllers.