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Healthy economic growth, a resurgent oil & gas sector, and the drive for ever more efficient manufacturing made 2006 a stellar year for automation technology providers. What about 2007? Regional CEOs along with industry consultants and commentators give CE Asia their take on how they see the year ahead.
Most industry markets were strong for ABB in 2006, with double-digit increases inorders as we supported customer demand for increased manufacturing capacity andenergy efficiency. We expect the pace of automation-related industrial investments tocontinue into early 2007 in most sectors, notably metals and minerals, marine, and oiland gas. Key trends include the continued integration of disparate systems for processcontrol, production management, asset optimization and device management. Weexpect strong demand for the Industrial IT System 800xA which supports integrationof these functions within a uniform operations and engineering environment. Thereis also an increased focus on performance services through long-term agreements,which entrust plant maintenance functions to third parties while customers focus oncore competencies. ABB in Singapore continues to play an important hub role for ourProcess Automation portfolio within the South Asia Region, including global centersof excellence for the Pulp & Paper and Marine industries.
JAMES FOO
ABB
PRESIDENT & COUNTRY MANAGER, SINGAPORE
In 2007, ARC believes itwill become increasinglypossible to performmeasurement andautomation tasks usingwireless networks. Wesee a number of differentnetworking technologiesbeing used, and we alsofind that manufacturers arewilling to invest in this areabecause the economicsavings from using wirelessautomation are oftenimmediate and quitemeasurable. Where wired networks are used, more of these will be Ethernet,which may lose some of its glamour, but will becomepretty much an expected utility service even for quitesmall devices.
HARRY FORBES
ARC ADVISORY GROUP
SENIOR ANALYST
2006 was a hectic year for Citect,with establishment of the SouthEast Asia office in Singapore,and the acquisition of theCitect group of companies bySchneider Electric. The businessstrategy is for Citect to remainoperating as a fully independentcompany, maintaining andexpanding its distribution andsales network throughout Asia.Hence, in 2007, Citect willexpand in Japan, solidifying ourbase across North Asia, and in the first quarter, we will open Citect in India, a market inwhich we have seen dramatic change, growth and majorinfrastructure project activity. Our CitectSCADA partnerin India was 200 percent of budget in 2006, and we willcapitalize by assisting with a local office and staff to meetthe demands of this vital market.
SCOTT DRUERY
CITECT
MANAGING DIRECTOR SOUTH EAST ASIA
2006 represented a big step forward forCognex in the Asia market: we doubled ourbusiness volume and we expect another 50percent growth in 2007. All related countriesof the region had similar growth and oneimportant factor was the strategic roleplayed by our partners in specific marketslike LCD/ Flat Panel manufacturing, wherewe can say we have now a clear leadershipof supplying turnkey solutions for a varietyof applications required in that specificmanufacturing process. We can really see that the center of mass of the global worldwide manufacturing ismoving quickly to Asia, and we and will make Asia the focus of morestrategic investments
ETTORE CUCCHETTI
COGNE
VICE PRESIDENT SALES & SUPPORT
MVSD ASIA OPERATIONS
Emerson Process Managementcontinues to develop forwardthinkingtechnologies and will belaunching exciting innovations andsolutions in 2007. There is sustainedgrowth potential in key industrieslike Oil & Gas, Petrochemicals,and Power, while investments inindustries like Life Sciences aregaining momentum in Asia Pacific.Overall, healthy growth in the regioncan be expected, with China andIndia continuing to offer significantopportunities. Emerson is wellpositioned to help customers stayahead of the technology curve.Solutions like PlantWeb architectureare at the core of an innovativedigital communications approachthat uses “smart” instruments tooptimize performance in the processindustry.
MIKE TRAIN
EMERSON PROCESS MANAGEMENT
PRESIDENT ASIA-PACIFIC
It was a great year for Autodesk in 2006: record revenues in the lastquarter, and Asia Pacific the fastest growing region at 36 percent.Part of this outstanding performance can be attributed to the successof our model-based design products, which help our customers tooptimize and improve designs before production, helping save timeand money, improve quality and foster innovation. This proliferationof 3D modeling design software reflects a growing trend for manyindustries, and we see this continuing through 2007 and beyond.
SIVADAS RAMADAS
AUTODESK ASEAN
The strong GDPgrowth in Singaporehas continued tofuel the economy.Inward investmentparticularly in thechemical industry hasbeen significant andthe oil & gas relatedbusinesses arebenefiting from thepositive oil prices. Wehave also been able to further build on our strong presence in thewater industry. All this has added impetus toour business performance, doubling our salesin the last two years, adding new positions inthe organization and expanding our capabilities.As for products, we see ongoing possibilities togrow Memosens, as it provides unique customerbenefits in the analytical measuring chain. Andthe Endress+Hauser W@M (Web enabledasset management) is attracting much interest.Its integrated tool set from the instrumentselection and sizing through commissioning,asset management diagnostics and conditionmonitoring to product phase out provides a uniquelife cycle management approach to instrumentassets.
NEAL WATMOUGH
ENDRESS+HAUSER
MANAGING DIRECTOR SINGAPORE
During 2006, theFieldbus Foundation’stechnology experiencedits third consecutiveyear of record adoptionrates. We respondedto this market growthby releasing enhancedDevice Description (DD)specifications, and byintroducing powerfulnew tools such as ourIntegrated Development Environment (IDE) andDD Services 5.0 that decrease time-to-market fornew fieldbus products. Looking ahead, our SafetyInstrumented Systems (SIS) program is on trackto deliver commercial, standards-based safetysolutions incorporating FOUNDATION technology.We’ve launched an initiative standardizing theinterface of remote I/O into the FOUNDATIONarchitecture. Plans also call for the establishmentof a Middle East training center during 2007.
RICHARD TIMONEY
FIELDBUS FOUNDATION
PRESIDENT
2006 was a good year for all industrial automation companies. Positive growth trends in the global GDP and increasedinvestments were favorable for these businesses. The increase in capital spending was driven by a combination of newcapacity enhancement and pressures on productivity for more efficient plants. And the outlook for 2007 remains positive,although there are indicators that the growth will be more moderate compared to 2006. The next few years will seeincreasing focus on connectivity of devices and adoption of wireless technologies. We will see higher implementationof Asset Performance Measurement Systems, which in turn will integrate with Enterprise Information Systems so thatcompanies move towards a collaborative business view. Frost & Sullivan has expanded its breadth and reach in Asia Pacificto cover the new and emerging growth sectors. And we have introduced the Asia Pacific Industrial Excellence Awards torecognize Best Practices across the major automation companies.
SATISH LELE
FROST & SULLIVAN
DIRECTOR – INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES
In 2006, Honeywell delivereda stellar performance of over 20percent growth with a recordturnover in excess of US$500M.To continue this momentum in2007, Honeywell plans to introducenew products localized for specificTarget Markets; expandgeographically with SpecialGrowth Initiatives in establishedmarkets such as Japan, Indiaand China, and expansionstrategies in emerging marketslike Vietnam and Indonesia; andbuild a second Global Engineering Centre in China (first one is in India). Oil & Gas will continueto be our biggest growth vertical, followed by Chemicalsand fast emerging Pharmaceuticals. Niches wherewe are making our market entry felt are the WastewaterTreatment and Coal Mining segments. New technologiesHoneywell foresees on the horizon include gas analyzers forcoal mining, differentiated sensors for corrosion, and wirelesssolutions for field data collection that integrate seamlesslywith intelligent asset management.
DESMOND TEO
HONEYWELL PROCESS SOLUTIONS
VP AND GM ASIA PACIFIC
Globally, as the price of energy resources appreciates,government initiatives on energy conservation are on the riseand new demands are placed on industries to play an active role.Enhanced efficiency in management of electrical power providesa huge potential for energy saving in electrical motor drives,power supplies, computing equipment, consumer products,lighting equipment as well as in cars where power electronicsare a key component to improve fuel efficiency and safety.Semiconductors for power electronics are key enablers forefficient energy management. Infineon as the number one inpower semiconductors, is enabling efficient use of the electricalenergy available, with excellent price-performance ratios
POW TIEN TEE
INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES ASIA PACIFIC
REGIONAL PRESIDENT & MANAGING DIRECTOR
From 16 to 20 April2007 the HANNOVERMESSE will be hosting13 leading internationaltrade shows featuring thebest in modern industrialtechnology from a totalof 6,150 exhibitors from68 countries. Companiesfrom all over the world willbe presenting technicalinnovations, current trendsand the latest know-howfor all the key sectorsof industry. Topping the agenda at HANNOVER MESSE 2007 are industrialautomation, power transmission and control, energytechnologies, industrial subcontracting and services,plus the emerging technologies of tomorrow as wellas R&D. The featured Partner Country at this year’sshow is Turkey.
WOLFANG PECH
DEUTSCHE MESSE AG
REGIONAL DIRECTOR
Last year, we were honoredto have won the 2006 Frost& Sullivan Industrial Awardfor RFID Market StrategyLeadership in Asia Pacific. Thismotivates our team at Intermecto continue to make AsiaPacific a key growth area for thecompany, as well as reachout to more customers andpartners,. With technologiessuch as RFID and mesh networks emerging as clear trends for the region,during 2007, we will be continuing to help ourcustomers simplify their businesses and keep theiroperating costs down.
HENRI JUVANON
INTERMEC
MANAGING DIRECTOR ASIA PACIFIC
2006 was a great year forInvensys as we continued togrow in the key regions andtargeted market segments.Moving into 2007, Invensyswill continue to broadenour total solution offeringswith value-add services likeAlarm Management andCyber Security Services leading some of these new initiatives. We areconfident that our holistic and unified approach toWireless Technology will enable our customers tobenefit without compromising security. Customersare telling us that they want to make informedbusiness decisions and real-time business visibility.InFusion is a response to that need. As an upperlayer software infrastructure InFusion will bringtogether all our offerings (I/A Series, Triconex SIS,SimSci Advanced Applications) under one unifiedengineering environment with one single plantwide historian providing unprecedented integrationcapabilities.
JESWANT GILL
INVENSYS PROCESS SYSTEMS
PRESIDENT ASIA PACIFIC
2006 was a remarkableyear for NationalInstruments (NI) in thisregion, as we grewtremendously in Control,Test, and Automationapplications. Apartfrom the areas of dataacquisition, instrumentcontrol, and functionaltest, where NI has beentraditionally strong, NIhas made significantgains in RF test, machinecontrol, and automation.The 20th edition ofLabVIEW, which wasreleased last year, has released last year, hasaccelerated the adoption of our line of ProgrammableAutomation Controllers (PACs) with enhanced FPGA andreal-time features in control and automation applications.Looking forward, the release of more PXI Expressproducts in 2007 will further enable the implementationof advanced measurement and control applications.
CHANDRAN NAIR
NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS
MANAGING DIRECTOR SOUTHEAST ASIA
Matrikon’s integrated industrial intelligence platform, a keydevelopment focus in 2006, has been met with significantenthusiasm by our customers, who see its potential torevolutionize the way operating companies integrate, analyzeand use data. Industrial companies face extreme pressure toperform: market deregulation, globalization and increasingregulatory compliance requirements result in increasedmarket volatility, tighter margins and pressure to do morewith less. With industrial enterprises largely automated, thenext push will be taking advantage of the rich knowledgethat exists in various data silos throughout the operationsby unifying, organizing and consolidating this informationin an industrial intelligence platform. In addition to technicalinnovation, Matrikon is committed to global expansion tobetter serve our customers. To this end, we recently expandedour Australian operations to focus on the broader Asia Pacificregion.
AMIN RAWJI
MATRIKON
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
In 2007, ODVA anticipates thattechnology convergence will continueto drive the evolution of automationtechnology – most especially,communication network technologiessuch as EtherNet/IP. Industrialnetworks using standard Ethernettechnologies will continue to gainstrength in manufacturing applications,building on their strong installed base.In this environment, users will be pushingvendors to improve network security and expand the range of application coverage for standardEthernet into every aspect of plant automation. Leadingmanufacturers will work more aggressively to convergetheir factory and its networks, driving toward ever increasingintegration of the plant floor with their overall businessmodel. We also look forward to shipment of the first devicesfor CompoNet, ODVA’s newest network for simple sensorsand actuators.
KATHERINE VOSS
ODVA
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Pepperl+Fuchs continue to postsignificant growth, having had arecord year in 2006. Companywide annual turnover exceedsUS$400 million, with globaloperations employing over 3350personnel. In 2007, our ProcessAutomation Division will extendour market leadership in thefieldbus area by providing interface solutions into large projects with approvedfield mounting enclosure/junction boxes. We willlaunch significant new products from our vast R&Dinvestment, including True Advanced Diagnostics– to simplify fieldbus installations and ensureplant availability; Zone 1 and 2 mountable RemoteI/O products; Oil Separator alarm systems for thewastewater management, and Corrtran MV to monitorpipeline corrosion. Pepperl+Fuchs continues to seestrength in the Oil & Gas, Chemical and Pharmaceuticalindustries. Our new products will help customersexpand, maintain and gain more productivity from theirexisting and new facilities
SHANE PARR
PEPPERL+FUCHS
DIRECTOR ASIA PACIFIC
Long known as themanufacturing hub for theworld, Asian companieshave upscaled their skillsto innovative productdevelopment. The drivefor global leadership is adesire shared by industryand governments in thisrather large corner of theworld. Complementingthe government supportand sheer drive ofcompanies to succeedis a set of technologieswhich focus squarely on transforming the process of innovation – productlifecycle management (PLM). At the heart of PLM is adigital product platform which connects critical productand process data to all members of an organization.In other words, PLM from UGS allows innovativecompanies to have real-time instant access to productdata while ensuring that you are always viewing thecorrect version / revision of the information. We at UGSare proud to be a part of the transformation in Asia frommanufacturing to innovation hub and look forward toan exciting 2007.
RON CLOSE
UGS
VP BUSINESS STRATEGY & MARKETING
During 2006, automation companies showedreasonable growth and profitability, signalinga turnaround from leaner years. Now they areseeking growth opportunities, beyond justconsolidating mergers – some good sizeacquisitions will occur in 2007. Wireless adoptionin industry has been delayed because major suppliers are still debating standards. But industrial wireless is atthe tipping point and significant new products and applications willemerge this year, beyond just hard-wire replacement. This couldspark a new phase of growth. Intelligent equipment, predictivediagnostics and machine-to-machine communications (M2M) willstart to generate increasing efficiencies and productivity as endusersbegin to demand visibility for improved asset management.Production and business systems will increasingly be workingtogether, integrating plant-floor information, production, andbusiness applications across the enterprise. The best resultswill come from those who completely rethink their business andorganization in the light of global opportunities.
JIM PINTO
AUTOMATION ANALYST, AUTHOR & COMMENTATOR
ASIA PACIFIC
For PI (PROFIBUS & PROFINET International) 2006 was avery successful year. Major technical developments includedspecification work for PROFINET for Process Automation, TCI(Tool Calling Interface), and PROFINET & MES MaintenanceOperations. Another great success was in China where PROFIBUShas become the first fieldbus to achieve China’s highest nationalstandard level (GB/T). As the only all purpose fieldbus applicablefor all areas of production and process automation PROFIBUShas been the worldwide market leader in industrial automationfor many years. With our ongoing development for PROFINETwe will allow a seamless communication from the officemanagement down to the sensor/actuator level. We are and wewill remain drivers of technology and continue to expand ourworldwide market leadership in 2007.
EDGAR KÜSTER
PROFIBUS & PROFINET INTERNATIONAL
CHAIRMAN
We have a very aggressive growth plan. OurChairman and CEO, Keith Nosbusch, is looking todouble the size of our controls systems businessby 2010, which implies significant growth in theAsia Pacific region. I’d like to position us as akey player in the process automation marketand in the OEM space. We have establisheda process competency center in Singaporeand we expect to do quite well in the area ofenergy management and in the oil & gas sector. The growth initiative in the OEM space is based around ourCompactLogix product, which we are going to be aggressivelypromoting in Asia. I also see Asia as becoming more integrated,a trend has been happening in the last three to five years in abig way. Rockwell Automation needs to leverage this and provideseamless service to customers wherever they are.
SCOTT SUMMERVILLE
ROCKWELL AUTOMATION
PRESIDENT ASIA PACIFIC
PROCESS AUTOMATION DIVISION
