Rockwell to buy Datasweep; Sokymat acquires RFID inlay supplier

By Control Engineering Staff November 22, 2005

Milwaukee, WI; Granges, Switzerland —Two recent acquisitions are notable in the automation and controls industry. Rockwell Automation has agreed to buy Datasweep Inc ., a provider of manufacturing production management software solutions. Sokymat SA , a supplier of RFID transponders, has acquired IMASYS, a German supplier of RFID inlay manufacturing equipment.

“This acquisition is a key milestone in developing the FactoryTalk suite into a multi-industry, multiplant capable enterprise manufacturing software platform,” said Rockwell Software Vice President Kevin Roach of the company’s move to acquire Datasweep. The Datasweep management team and employees reportedly will join the Rockwell Software organization. Rockwell Automation will integrate and then re-brand Datasweep Advantage software-products into its FactoryTalk integrated production management and performance suite.

Datasweep functionality will be integrated with existing products through FactoryTalk’s service oriented architecture, said Matt Bauer, Rockwell Automation’s director of MES, speaking at the company’s Automation Fair in St. Louis last week. Functionality that incorporation of Datasweep technology will bring to FactoryTalk includes supplier management, repair and service tracking, engineering change order management, production scheduling and inventory, adverse event reporting, 21 CFR Part 11 compliance, analytical dashboards, and more.

Terms of the Rockwell/Datasweep transaction were not disclosed. Datasweep serves major customers in the pharmaceutical, high-tech electronics, automotive, and medical device industries.

Pfronten-based IMASYS joined the Sokymat Group as of Nov. 1. The company designs and manufactures high-frequency transponder inlay production machines based on the wire-embedding process. Its current goal is to boost production capacity of its 13.56 MHz RFID inlay-manufacturing machines.

“The scope of the acquisition is to extend the potential of our machine engineering center to further enhance service to our transponder facilities globally,” said Marc Bielmann, CTO of the Sokymat Group.

—Control Engineering Daily News DeskJeanine Katzel, senior editor, jkatzel@reedbusiness.com