Motion Control Market in Midst of Record Year

December 16, 2014 – Global shipments for motion control products grew by nine percent to $2.3 billion in the first nine months of 2014, according to new statistics released by the Motion Control Association (MCA), the industry’s trade group.

“The strong growth in the market is impacting the entire automation industry. We’re seeing this reflected in the large increase of exhibitors and floor space at our upcoming Automate trade show (March 23-26, 2015 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois)”, said Dana Whalls, Vice President of MCA. “Overall, the show is already 56% larger and motion control specific exhibitors are currently up 209% over the last show as motion control suppliers look to help more companies reap the benefits of adding automation technologies.”

“We’ve seen growth in each statistical category year to date,” said Alex Shikany, MCA Director of Market Analysis. “Through September, the strongest growth has been in the AC Motors category, at 59%. Sales of motion controllers have continued to rise and are up 36% over the same period last year. Motors, the largest statistical category, has grown seven percent, while actuators and mechanical systems are up 12%.”

Individually, the third quarter of 2014 followed a good first half with 14% growth to $794 million. The main growth categories for the third quarter were AC motors (101%), motion controllers (35%), and actuators/mechanical systems (20%).

MCA’s most recent survey of motion control manufacturers revealed that 59% of respondents believe that total shipments of motion control products will remain flat in the next six months, 38% believe the market will increase, and three percent expect it to decline.

MCA summarizes market results from suppliers and distributors in quarterly tracking reports and trend analysis reports. These reports examine orders and shipments by major product category quarterly and annually with helpful tables and graphics. Growth rates and book to bill ratios are provided for each product category. MCA also provides an economic indicator report, which enables report users to interpret quarterly statistics from the standpoint of macro-economic indicators by individual manufacturing industry, as identified by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

All reports are available free of charge to all MCA members. Members providing data for the reports receive “full” versions of the reports, which are highly detailed examinations of order and shipment results. Non-participating members receive “abridged” reports, which contain shipment results. Members find the reports valuable as gauges of overall market performance and as benchmarks for assessing relative company performance.

About MCA
The Motion Control Association (MCA) is a global not-for-profit trade group dedicated to promoting the understanding and use of motion control technologies and developing business opportunities for mechanical and electronic (mechatronics) motion control companies.  Its members include manufacturers of complete motion control systems, component manufacturers, system integrators, distributors, end users, consulting firms, academic institutions and research groups directly involved with mechanical and electronic (mechatronics) motion control around the world.  MCA is part of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3).

About Association for Advancing Automation (A3)
The Association for Advancing Automation is the global advocate for the benefits of automating. A3 is the umbrella group for the Motion Control Association (MCA), Robotic Industries Association (RIA), and AIA – the vision and imaging association. MCA, RIA, and AIA combined represent 750 automation stakeholders from throughout the world.

Automation Industrial News Mitsubishi Electric Opens Training Center in Massachusetts

April 10, 2014 - Mitsubishi Electric Automation opened a Certified Training Center at Gibson Engineering in Norwood, Mass. The training center gives customers in the Northeastern U.S. more convenient access to the same quality training, hardware and material that was previously available to them only at Mitsubishi Electric Automation headquarters near Chicago, Ill.

“The opening of this new training center will make it much more efficient for our customers in the Northeast to get the training they need,” said Mark Werthman, director, technical support group, Mitsubishi Electric Automation. “We have a high concentration of customers in that area of the U.S., so we’re pleased to be able to offer them a more localized training facility.”

Werthman explained that the new training facility is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to provide superior automation technology and support to its customers. “We not only want to provide the most technologically advanced automation products and solutions. It’s also important that plant managers, engineering managers and others who operate our equipment be able to effectively implement and maintain it in order to help their organizations maximize productivity and stay competitive,” he added.

Mitsubishi Electric Automation, Inc.
Headquartered in Vernon Hills, Ill., Mitsubishi Electric Automation, Inc., offers a wide range of factory automation products, solutions, training and support services for the industrial and commercial sectors.  A U.S. affiliate company of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Automation represents more than 75 years’ experience in the automation industry. A broad product portfolio includes programmable automation controllers (PAC), programmable logic controllers (PLC), human machine interfaces (HMI), variable frequency drives (VFD), servo amplifiers and motors, control software, computerized numerical control (CNC), circuit breakers, robots and motion controllers. The company takes its motion control solutions on the road with the 53-foot long Solutions in Motion mobile showroom that appears at tradeshows, training seminars and other events across North America.

In addition to factory automation, Mitsubishi Electric US group companies’ principal businesses include semiconductor devices, automotive electrical components, elevators and escalators, heating and cooling products, solar modules, electric utility products, and large-scale video displays for stadiums and arenas. There are 50 locations throughout North America with approximately 3,600 employees.

Source:-http://www.automation.com/automation-news/training/mitsubishi-electric-opens-training-center-in-massachusetts

Enhanced motion control, safety and performance

Kollmorgen Automation Suite version 2.8 delivers new functions

With an embedded EtherCAT configuration tool, version 2.8 of the Kollmorgen Automation Suite (KAS) software accelerates the development of modular machine architectures.

The new release of the integrated development environment now enables users to build complete EtherCAT systems and configure all peripheral components, including HMI, I/O, controllers and motors, with a single tool. Along with ergonomic improvements, the resulting simplification makes life easier for system developers and boosts engineering efficiency.

One of the key innovations in Kollmorgen Automation Suite 2.8 is the embedded EtherCAT configuration tool, which makes it easy to integrate EtherCAT components (including those from other manufacturers) into the application. With this open architecture, Kollmorgen reduces development time for modular, multi-purpose machine architectures. Another clear advantage of this approach is that direct communication with Kollmorgen AKD PDMM servo controllers from PC-based applications is now possible using UDP and HTTP protocols.

EtherCAT, safety and visualisation: the new software release 2.8 of Kollmorgen Automation Suite (KAS) offers a variety of new functions for faster machine development.

Convenience is also enhanced by the incorporation of safety technology in the engineering process. For this purpose, the release integrates Kollmorgen's new KSM series of safety modules. These compact devices combine Safe PLC with Safe I/O in a single package and provide TÜV-certified functions up to performance level e of ISO 13849 or SIL 3 of IEC 61508.

Version 2.8 of the Kollmorgen Automation Suite also features performance enhancements for servo amplifiers. The user-programmable controllers in the AKD PDMM family form the core of KAS thanks to the "IPC inside" philosophy. Future devices feature twice as much capacity at rated currents up to 24 A and faster processors. Along with general performance enhancements, application options are expanded by the inclusion of new motion control functions.