In Business

Staff -- Control Engineering, 5/1/2000

• UDATA Corp. (Richardson, Tex.) and Alstom (Paris, France) announced April 3 that they've formed a partnership to develop USDATA's next-generation automation software product for Microsoft Windows 2000. The product will be based on Microsoft's Windows DNA platform.
• Think & Do Software (Ann Arbor, Mich.) announced April 3 that it has established a joint venture with Notia, a major automation supplier in China. The joint venture, Think&Do Tianjin (Tianjin, China) will distribute Think&Do Software with Chinese documentation and support materials to distributors on China and other parts of Asia. Shipments from Think&Do Tianjin were scheduled to begin in April 2000.
• Nematron Corp. (Ann Arbor, Mich.) announced April 13 that it will buy A-OK Controls Engineering Inc. (Auburn Hills, Mich.). Nematron designs and manufactures PC-based control solutions, while A-OK Controls provides control system integration services, especially in the automotive industry.
• Shuzo Kaihori replaced Kazu Yamada as president and coo of Yokogawa Corp. of America (Newnan, Ga.) on April 1. Mr. Kaihori served four years with Johnson Yokogawa Corp.'s systems business, managed Yokogawa Electric Corp.'s systems, transmitters, and international market development businesses, and most recently worked as general manager of the company's Industrial Automation Service Division.