With all the mergers, acquisitions, consolidations and affiliations that occurred in the past decade, it's hard to determine the leaders in any particular industrial segment. Almost all of the largest industrial controls manufacturers have been gobbled up by companies with larger interests. The best that can be done is to identify companies with either a significant part of their volume in industrial controls or divisions that are leaders in the industry.

Business Week magazine's Global 1000 listing identifies the largest companies in the world and rates them numerically by market value. The portion of the Global 1000 listed here includes firms with high controls volumes or leading controls divisions.

The biggest changes in the 2000 list compared to last year can be chalked up to mergers and acquisitions (M&As) during that time. The largest jump in the global ratings was made by Viacom, which changed its complexion after acquiring CBS—itself formerly Westinghouse, one of the traditional leaders in industrial controls.

One of the biggest ratings jumps was made by Siemens, which also continued an aggressive acquisitions program. The next largest leapfrogging in ratings was made by the new Honeywell, a combination of purchaser Allied Signal and the old Honeywell. Other shifts in the global rankings were caused by similar consolidations in other industries, such as utilities, chemicals and food. The fast pace of these M&As is sure to continue, and are likely to make it even more difficult to determine who is the leader in each industry.