Ann Arbor, MI—Nematron Corp. reports that it has completed its return to private ownership, and has initiated several plans to better serve customers and improve financial performance.
Ann Arbor, MI— Nematron Corp. reports that it has completed its return to private ownership, and has initiated several plans to better serve customers and improve financial performance. Also, the managing director of the firm’s international business group for the past seven years, David Hicks, has been appointed CEO and will review and improve Nematron’s operations worldwide.
Nematron reports that progress made in international automation markets in recent years, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, emphasized to the 21-year-old industrial automation supplier that it needs a more globally oriented operational structure.
is restructuring will include expanding Nematron’s international headquarters in Europe. Nematron will also continue to build on its U.S. operations to service and develop its home market.’
Nematron adds it’s also reviewing its product strategy, following its recent, encouraging entry into the programmable automation controller (PAC) market. With markets showing renewed interest in PC-based control solutions, Nematron has introduced its Pointe Controller products. This line includes PTC-5800, which is a communications- and control-intensive PAC system, employing industrial Ethernet I/O. It is the first in a line of products to be co-developed in Ann Arbor and at Optimation Inc., Nematron’s subsidiary in Huntsville, AL.
New software developments supporting PTC-5800 are reportedly well advanced, including a completely new integrated development framework (IDF). This IDF is part of activities adding depth to the Nematron Open Automation Suite. The new IDF features an application-centric resource view, setting the stage for multi-node applications. This further develops some of the concepts first advanced with the Pointe Controller Framework, and represents a distinct departure from the single-node focus of OpenControl. Enhanced features include a consistent look-and-feel across all tag database editors and enhanced validity checking and error reporting. Other new features, such as Deployable System Architecture and Online functions for network configuration, offer customers tangible benefits during application development and maintenance.
Besides reaffirming its commitment to leverage its core competencies, Nematron’s other strategic initiatives include relocating its Ann Arbor operations and staff to a more suitable facility in the Ann Arbor area, and implementing plans to increase operating efficiencies throughout the organization to improve the company’s financial performance.
Nematron adds that it introduced the industry’s first operator panels, industrial PCs, and PC-based control software with flow-chart programming. Today, the firm delivers hardware and software solutions to the industrial automation market. Current products include industrial PCs, HMIs, operator panels, Ethernet I/O, embedded controllers, HMI/SCADA and PC-based control software.
Control Engineering Daily News Desk
Jim Montague, news editor
[email protected]
