Merger: Industrial automation software, process control firms join forces

By Control Engineering Staff March 20, 2007

Charlotte, NC —In a move said to tap into the automation and control technology strengths of both sides, KSE Protech bv and ObjectAutomation Corp . (OA) have joined forces to create what Object International, as the merged firms are now called, terms a “global automation solutions provider capable of driving worldwide growth, technology innovation, and customer satisfaction.” The new company, which now employs more than 200, will focus its efforts into four major industry verticals: food and feed, energy and utilities, industrial manufacturing, and industrial services.

“We have already commenced the task of forming global distributorships and OEM partnerships,” said Martin F. Wieffering, former CEO of KSE Protech and now OA International’s chief executive officer and chairman. “We believe that having a geographic focus enables us to better serve the varying needs of our customers in all parts of the world. We are very excited by the opportunities this merger presents to both our customers and ourselves,” he added.

Said Jon Wimer, ObjectAutomation’s founder and now president of the new company, “Combining the strengths of both companies enables us to be one of the strongest global players in the automation market, particularly in embedded control, offering state-of-the-art object-based technology with world class, strategically located customer service.”

Founded in 1996, ObjectAutomation has been a pioneer in the development of object-based industrial automation products and systems. Its core product allows for graphical PC-based and embedded control, HMI and process visualization, alarms and event notification, data historian and trending, and Web-based visibility. Its component-based technical architecture is distributed, graphical, and scalable. KSE Protech, founded in 1975, has been an OA business partner for eight years. During that time, it developed and delivered OA software and hardware to industries across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

OA International’s efforts in food and feed will offer solutions for production control, batch processing, recipe management, tracking and tracing, and specific operational solutions for intake, dosing, weighing, mixing, pressing, and outbound loading. The energy and utilities focus will be on customers who control and monitor pipelines, wells, compressor stations, electric power grids, and water / wastewater treatment operations. In industrial manufacturing, the company will serve production automation, equipment control, track and trace, and quality / laboratory control, and in industrial services for airport management, material handling automation, and tank storage applications.

OA International is headquartered in the Netherlands with worldwide locations that include North Carolina, Texas, and California in the U.S.; Brazil; and Poland.

—Control Engineering Daily News Desk
Edited by Jeanine Katzel , senior editor