1. These are primarily anonymous weblogs. Blogger names will be included only if specifically requested.
2. Both positive as well as critical comments are welcomed and encouraged.
3. Except for key top-executives, names of people will not be included.
4. Personal attacks and needless "rants" will be edited or discarded.

If you feel that your weblogs are being unfairly eliminated, or have some special news or advice, please feel free to email Jim Pinto directly: jim@jimpinto.com

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are not Jim Pinto's personal opinions.

Schneider weblogs discontinued, effective immediately

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Seems ironic that the NA Executive Leadership came from the Industrial sales side of the business. It looks like SE has done away with the "Industrial" sales force and all the directs are on the "Construction" side, no?

Monday, March 12, 2012

Hiring 10 outside firms to sell strategic control products doesn't say much for the company's confidence in our sales force.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

I believe the new rep's you may be asking about are the recently terminated ABB rep's. Rumor has it that ABB displaced these independents in favor of Baldor factory-employed rep's. I guess this is traditional "economies of scale" type re-distribution of resources.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Who are the 10 new sales rep organizations that SE hired? Why all the secrecy?

Friday, February 24, 2012

The 10 new sales rep organizations that SE hired - how are they doing?

Friday, February 17, 2012 - About the "SE hiring 10 Manufacturers Reps" question:

These companies are specialized, small, skilled / established companies that were discarded from the competition and came to Schneider proposing partnership.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Does anyone have the details on SE hiring 10 Manufacturers Reps to sell Industrial Control in the USA? I couldn't find any info beyond the press release. Why wouldn't they name the new sales agencies in the presser? What will/have they done with their direct industrial (non construction) sales force? How long would you give this initiative?

Friday, November 11, 2011

It looks also that corporate don't want to market or expose Square D products to customers. Has anyone noticed that?

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Schneider Saudi Arabia is NOW out of Water, Industrial, Oil, Gas and Petrochemical markets. The company shifted its focus to only infrastructure projects.

For Oil, Gas & Petrochemical, it happened when Schneider decided not have Joint Venture with Square D local panel-builder. So, based on this decision, the company don't turned their back to Oil and you know Saudi Arabia have plenty of oil. In fact the country has the highest petrochemical & oil production in the world so can you imagine this? They want to leave this market for ABB & Siemens.

And even the government has started to invest in Mining (> $100B), the company is still sleeping & not following. God bless Schneider management !

Thursday, October 27, 2011

In reply to the comment about is the BMS unit of Schneider launching a BMS product line: The answer is yes: they launched StruxureWare last year.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Well, the French do so love the French, don't they?

Monday, July 25, 2011

Schneider brought in an SAP know-it-all to "innovate". Spare me. The chance of success approaches zero with that pompous fool at the technical helm.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

No comments here since February. Why do you continue to be so limited? It seems like all we have here is a bunch of complainers about Rockwell, ABB and Siemens. Why don't you open up more businesses from around the world, I see you have just Yokogawa from Japan - there are so many more, and many more from Europe.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

How HR works at Schneider Electric

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Read Jim Pinto's latest column in Automation World, February 2011. This specifically discusses reasons why anonymous weblogs are so popular.

Keep Motivation Up in a Down Economy.

During a period of recession, leadership skills are truly challenged. The solutions derive from strong management, which motivates good people to do what it takes to win during tough times. Mechanisms must be created for the workforce to share their feelings. It's the bad times that make good companies so much better during the good times.

Monday, January 17, 2011

French Schneider closed-mind is also existing in Saudi Arabia. You can see how Schneider will bias customer to Merlin Gerin products even when the project is following ANSI standards.

I was working in Oil & Gas Division in Schneider (but I quit). Most of Oil & Gas bids here are requiring ANSI equipments. Also, infrastructure segment (outside my responsibilities), there are very old ANSI equipment made by Square D or GE. I heard that Square D was having local factory before merging under Schneider. Schneider have not promoted Square D here even the brand is known and favorable. Local consultants or contractors are only familiar with Square D load centers and safety switches where Schneider do not have equivalent Merlin Gerin products.

We have been exhausted by the French mentality. They are pushing us always to sell Merlin Gerin on every opportunity. Schneider have local factory for only Merlin Gerin. They think Oil & Gas local companies like Aramco or Sabic will accept Merlin Gerin products through making nice exhibition or seminars! Every time, we ask French support to localize Square D products, they turn every thing up side-down.

Until last five years, we & local partner succeed to build local factory for assembling Square D equipment. Of course Schneider gave us permission. Last year, JV shall take place but French refused. Anyway, the factory still going on and local partner got license extention.

Out of this, I want to say French or Schneider was not supporting Square D? I don't know why they acquired Square D. GE or Eaton (competitors) won jobs as a result of our internal fight. GE is now pushing busduct and Schneider prefer Square D to loose business rather than competing against GE.

So, if somebody want to see French or Schneider closed mind, then come to Saudi Arabia.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

There were rumors that Schneider Electric Buildings (former TAC) is soon launching a new BMS. Are there any hard facts about that around?

Thursday, September 16, 2010 - from a Canadian:

Looks like Schneider Canada is doing pretty good. Positive growth this year, positive orders and positive sales. So far so good. I enjoy working for Schneider, it is a good place to be. My manager is excellent, doesn't micromanage me and gives me the freedom to make my own choice (and picks me up when I fall). It is a good place to learn and develop real skill.

Too bad about the pension disappearing, but the investment option and stock options are still pretty attractive. A lot better than I have seen at other companies. All around, I give Schneider the grade: A-

We need more orders to keep the backlog going, focus on developing Solutions in renewable and energy efficiency. Train their staff to become knowledgeable experts and lose them in the market place.

Monday, August 16, 2010

This company is poised to lose a lot of talent in the US. While management continues to pare down the workforce, they will be the only ones left to service the customer. This will eventually lead to mass exodus as satisfaction with the products will wane. They are slow to react, except in court (See Scott Electric - Pittsburgh). I have experienced it first hand in the largest market in the world, as I watched the competition listen and learn from the customer. Schneider continues to ram its products down customers throat, whether they want them or not. Vertical integration works only when you can service the markets. It's easy to fill up plants with low margin product orders, but if you can't manage the projects the pair with failure will result.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

I worked at Schneider for 6+ years in Services. Went through a tremendous amount of growth, through aquisition. True with growth comes change; constant in fact. So much so that it is beginning to confuse the customer. With so many aquisitions a problem arises: how do you integrate the services teams of all these companies? This is an area where they are falling short. Agressive growth will be met with an inability to service the customer properly, which in the end will ultimately determine it's success.

Another huge problem with this company in my opinion is its reliance on distribution for sales. While it is a successful strategy to date, it is another level of confusion for the customer, due to the fact that some aquisitions do not use distribution channels. Ultimately they wil be forced to migrate away from this philosophy of sales due to the customer need for direct technical solutions abilities.

While thier product is strong, thier internal sales force is weak on technical knowledge which forces the operations teams to work that much harder. Problem is they have cut to the bone and can't support their growth platforms for long. A few major orders could hit the books and it would be a disaster, as they will be forced to deal with the support factor that is expected in the emerging market of data centers and major financial customers.

Still Schneider is a formidable company with a great brand recognition - until the French finally kill it off with thier One Schneider initiative.

Monday, July 12, 2010

The May 13 Weblogger may want to check the facts. ELAU - Schneider Packaging Solutions has become the Schneider Global Solutions Center in Germany. Their sales have grown by over 40% in 2010, after only a 7% decline in 2009, while the competition was down well over 20%. ELAU is alive and kicking. The next generation of Pac Drive is being launched with SERCOS III. They are leading the industry in innovation, robotics and Packaging Solutions for their customers.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Schneider has aquired some parts of AllStream. I hope this turns out well, sounds like an interesting opportunity!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

What will Schneider do with this aquisition? Remember Berger Lahr, Elau - good companies, now nothing. Welcome to reality!

Monday, May 3, 2010

SCADAgroup is not only ClearSCADA, it is also:

• SCX6 Add-ons to ClearSCADA
• Trio Radios
• Accutech Wireless Instruments
• Serck Controls (Systems Integrator UK and Australia)

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Schneider Electric has bought Scadagroup in Australia. Scadagroup is supplier of the scada system ClearScada.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Interesting news from JimPinto's eNews No. 273 - 12 October 2009

For sale:

• Rockwell - whether they like it or not.
• Invensys - whether they like it or not. Their pension planwas under funded, and was a poison-pill for potential buyers.
• Honeywell - the Process Systems Division is likely to be divested by a hungry-for-growth-and-glory CEO Dave Cote.

• ABB - Joe Hogan (ex-GE) would find GE's Automation businesstoo small. He is more likely to be focused on Rockwell. ABB has the cash, and Joe Hogan needs to make a move. A bigger ABB would create a global alternative to Siemens.
• Siemens, the largest industrial company, has never been ableto make a successful acquisition. They'll be in the bidding.
• Schneider - one of the winners during this decade. They couldwant GE's software business to add to Citect. They may also bein the market for DCS player. Invensys would be a good fit and make Schneider a world player in software and Process Control.

(Click)- GE will emerge as next big automation player

Sunday, March 8, 2009

I have noticed an increasing tendency at various Schneider product departments to pare back product offering in the name of simplification. Is it me, or is the company beginning to reduce itself to a seller of things favorable only to Scheider efficiencies, and to hell with the customer?

Saturday, January 24, 2009 - from 'Camp Follower':

It looks like a new regime has been put into place at Schneider. What I find interesting is that past executive leadership positions have been staffed by personnel with operational background. The new lineup looks to have come up from the sales and marketing ranks. This represents a significant shift in corporate philosophy or am I reading too much into it?

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Arne Frank no longer heading TAC? Have I missed something? According to a German news article Arnee Frank is no longer CEO of Schneider's Building Automation Business / TAC. Who is his sucessor?

Monday, January 12, 2009

I was with Schneider Electric and involved in pursuit of an automotive plant project (circa 2000). During internal discussions the team responsible for automotive projects admitted that SE needs integrated motion solutions to woo machine makers. There was blank expressions as even by then, it was told that many in the team had brought this to the attention of executive management. In fact (typical in SE fashion, executive management disbelieves middle management), executive management had also commissioned a study to be told the same... The group discussed that if SE was not going to decide otherwise, SE might as well give-up it's intentions for automotive plant projects...

Fast forward 2000-2008, these years it seems that SE albeit at a glacial pace is putting this into place. So the pieces are falling in but it's my opinion that the window of opportunity has slipped by for the automotive plant projects (this is where the big PLC projects (500 - 1000 PLC CPUs) are sold bringing in the bragging rights...)

However, I believe that SE can profit from packaging, food & beverage and consumer product plants that will be the focus of current economic activity. So I believe that SE is offering a solution (integrated products) but NOT the integrator (System Integrator) per se. Therein the difference.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

I am attending Schneider's Global OEM Initiative event in Monaco. It certainly appears they are trying very hard to become a solution seller in the machine builder space. Many new products being shown that will be released in 2009. Integrated architectures and application knowledge in certain machine segements. Interesting, but we'll see if they deliver like they say.

My apologies. Due to spam filters and other reasons, the weblogs have been blocked. The problem has now been corrected, and your comments are now coming through. Please continue your weblogs.

Jim Pinto

Friday, February 15, 2008

Schneider is a solution seller. They have bought Berger Lahr, a motion expert in Europe, and push now the motion solution in the market. Also the new M340 PLC is a solution PLC, integrated CAN Open port to combine it with a Lexium 05 and server motors from Berger Lahr.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Is Schneider now a product or solution company? Can anyone give some update? When I was there from 1996 to 2000, Schneider closed down SAS, the solution arm. Made it clear to the market that they will sell PRODUCTS thru distributors, key accounts, OEM and SI (in that order of importance). I heard they have changed their approach 4-5 year back....Automation, Solutions etc etc are back in favour. True?

Wednesday, October 17, 2007 - Life in Rockford after Schneider acquisition.

It's been a "good new/bad news" story. The good news is that the former IBS operation is no longer in an environment where we're living to refinance the debt. There's also a noticeable absence of the almost-daily e-mails about executive comings and goings. Also, the recent decision by TAC (the unit under which IBS was put) to move its systems products production from N. Andover to Rockford has meant additional manufacturing jobs in Rockford, at least temporarily.

The bad news is that after all the Schneider rhetoric about buying IBS for its extensive peripheral product offering, it turns out that TAC doesn't really want these products and is happy with a limited offering of purchased products. Current plans are to outsource the piece parts production from the Rockford plant to the cheapest vendor. Long range plans are to discontinue thousands of part numbers, import actuators and valves designed and manufactured in Italy, and eventually move zone valve production to China. The Rockford plant will become an electronics manufacturing facility.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Schneider Electric SA won compensation from the EU on Wednesday for its refusal to let the company buy Legrand SA in 2001, the first time a court has ordered regulators to reimburse a business for losses due to a takeover ban that was later overturned.

The EU's Court of First Instance ruled that Schneider should be paid back for two-thirds of its losses caused by a delay in its EU-ordered divestiture of French electrical equipment group Legrand as regulators examined the deal for a second time.

It did not give a total for this figure, which a court-appointed expert will calculate in the coming months. Schneider finally sold its majority stake in Legrand to Wendel Investissement and private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. for euro3.63 billion (US$4.96 billion) in 2002.

The European Commission said, however, that the court had rejected the major part of Schneider's claim for euro1.66 billion (US$2.27 billion) in compensation, which includes the difference between the original purchase and resale price. It said it would decide whether to challenge the ruling before an autumn deadline.

Schneider said it was "pleased" that the ruling recognized its right to compensation from the EU's illegal ban on its Legrand bid.

A similar compensation case is pending before the court as AirTours - now known as MyTravel - is seeking EU compensation for money it lost when regulators forbade its 1999 bid for First Choice Holidays, another decision overturned on appeal.

Wednesday's ruling sets a legal standard for EU regulators to be liable in such cases, saying there had to be "grave and manifest disregard of the limits of their powers of assessment" - meaning their refusal to allow the company a hearing to argue its case against new theories before the European Commission makes a decision to ban the deal.

The court said Schneider should have been allowed to argue against the Commission's theory - first mentioned in the merger ban - that the takeover would buttress Schneider's dominant position as a supplier of electrical panel-board components and Legrand's leading position in the electrical equipment market segments.

The refusal to hold a hearing deprived Schneider of any way of knowing that the Commission was likely to block the deal unless it made the changes the EU was looking for, the court said.

The court's support for a company's right to defense against antitrust charges also figured in another judgment Wednesday that overturned a Commission decision preventing South African diamond giant De Beers from buying rough gems from Russian rival Alrosa.

The Luxembourg-based tribunal granted Schneider the right to claim compensation for two-thirds of the loss it had when it had to postpone the sale of its 98 percent holding in Legrand to Wendel and KKR beyond an agreed-on date.

Schneider sold Legrand well below the euro7.9 billion (US$7.2 billion) it paid in 2001 to create a world leader in low-voltage electrical equipment such as fuse boxes, plugs, switches and other electrical equipment around the house.

The court did not give Schneider the right to its full losses, saying the company had contributed to its own woes by assuming the real risk that the takeover would fail to win EU approval and it would have to resell its Legrand holdings.

Schneider also won expenses it incurred during regulators' second examination of the case in 2002 after the court overturned the EU's refusal.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Steve [steve_mcquinn@yahoo.com] writes:

Schneider is introducing new PLC Modicon M340. It looks quite intresting. 8MB of RAM included in CPU on SD cards, no battery, USB programming. I think it will be a successful PLC.

Monday, May 7, 2007 - Patent lawsuits:

That's a joke. Ask the good folks at Opto if the pain of those lawsuits is gone yet. I put Schneider on the "do not buy" list during that fiasco and no reason to change my view now.

Friday, April 27, 2007

Just a thought, could the recent announcement of Schneider becoming a high level member of ODVA be some sort of payback from the whole Solaia / 318 patent issue? I know Rockwell had filed an antitrust lawsuit.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Kavlico is not an automation play per se. Its part of the "custom sensing" group that primarily sells into the automotive and aerospace market. The core R&D and technology could migrate over into industrial sensors though.

Sounds like the APC merger ( to pair with MGE ) is going forward.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

I read comments on Groupe Schneider and have seen no mention of its acquisition of Kavlico, Inc. in the USA. I wonder how a sensor company primarily serving the aerospace and automotive industries and HVAC fits into their "automation" scenario? Do you have any views on this acquisition?

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

So, is Schneider buying Dedicated Microcomputers or not? How would that work with the Integral product line acquired with TAC?

Sunday, October 23, 2005

If you look at the detail of the Schnedier aquistion of Citect you will note purchase is made via Schneider Holdings Australia. Citect has about 80% of SCADA market in Australia. Hard to imagine I know, but there are other places in the world besides the US.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Why would Schneider by Citect after passing on opportunities to buy Intellution and Wonderware? Citect is a nice package, but virtually zero market share.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Schneider's version of the Proface product DOES have drivers for Rockwell, Siemens, Mitsu and Omron by the way. Timely discussion on Schneider HMI (or lack of it)! Schneider is buying CiTect.

News Extract - Sydney, Australia.
Schneider Electric offer for Citect (Australia).

Citect today announced it had entered into a Merger Implementation Agreement for the proposed acquisition by Schneider Electric Australia of all the shares in Citect.

Under the proposed transaction all Citect shareholders will receive a cash payment of $1.50 per share plus a fully franked special dividend of $0.05 per share. This equates to approximately $80 million for all the issued ordinary shares in Citect. This represents a 42.2% premium to the price of Citect shares based on the closing market price on 18 October 2005, and a 59.9% premium to the volume weighted average price of Citect shares for the 30 day period up to and including 18 October 2005.

The meeting at which shareholders may vote on the scheme of arrangement is expected to be held in late December. The Directors of Citect have unanimously resolved to recommend to shareholders and optionholders that they vote in favour, in the absence of a superior offer. Citect’s ability to serve its customers thoroughly and globally will be considerably enhanced with this new development. The Citect Board believes that the strategic fit with Schneider Electric will enable Citect’s customers, employees and partners to participate in a promising future.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Actually Total Control Products was bought by GE Fanuc around 1999. Proface is more well known as Xycom in the US. As far as their offerings, Schneider markets their line of HMI's as the Magellis line and Xycom/Proface are run as a totally seperate company-sometimes they even compete against themselves.

Friday, October 14, 2005 - Schneider HMI offering:

Schneider did make a significant HMI acquisition in '02 when they purchased Digital Electronics (maker of Pro-face product - also known in North America as Total Control Products). Since then they've rolled out an offering from Digital branded as Tele however only for connection to Tele (Modicon included) PLC's. Unlike A-B's latest HMI offering which does permit connection to non-A-B products, Schneider seems to have chosen this path perhaps in the hope that Pro-face will target the non-Schneider customers. Whether that works is still to be decided. On the SCADA front Schneider may have thought they were getting some of that technology with the Digital purchase however they must realize by now that's not exactly the case.

Wednesday, October 5, 2005

The reason Schneider has not improved its HMI / SCADA offerings is because there's nobody at the company who:

• Understands these technologies
• Recognizes the need to have a stronger offering
• Wants to do any work

Sunday, October 2, 2005

Schneider has been known for its aggresive acquistion policy. Why have they still not acquired anyone to strengthen their weak HMI / SCADA offerings?

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

What a poorly expressed reason for selling automation products through the entire Square D channel. You would think Schneider might have mentioned some value to a customer for this distribution channel change of direction. The specialized distributor will have its margins eaten away by the broad line distributors.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

How does the Schneider distribution change help Graybar? They already had access to the PLC products for 2+ years. This adds the "rest" of their distributors and provides more competition for Graybar on the low-hanging fruit.

Wednesday, August 3, 2005

Extract from news - (BUSINESS WIRE)--July 14, 2005

In response to growing customer demand for automation products outside traditional industrial applications, Schneider Electric will now supply Telemecanique(R) programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and other related products through its entire Square D(R) distribution channel, the electrical industry's largest. The move by one of the world's largest suppliers of electrical and automation products reflects the evolution of Telemecanique PLC hardware and software, which today makes it simple to apply the technology to a wide range of commercial and process applications.

Monday, April 18, 2005

I noticed that Schneider has not introduced a new platform in 10 years. They have however added new processors and modules to the Quantum and Premium line as well as the new Unity software. Is there a reason for this? It concerns me since I am looking for new PLC technology that will be around for the next twenty years.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

I'm a MODICON end user for 15 years and I'm afraid of the new software of Schneider UNITY.

1. All the Quantum CPU I bought between 1995 to 2003 are not able to run UNITY.
2. I have to buy new CPU (Thanks Schneider).
3. For the CPU which are usable with UNITY, the CPU usage decrease by 45% because when you migrate an application to UNITY the used memory increase by 80% (Thanks again)
4. I use Premium too, since 2002, normally I have to be happy to have the same tool for both PLC, but UNITY don't provide all the Concept function library we use since 1995 for the Premium. We have to work in a different way on this PLC, where is the benefit of UNITY?

Monday, February 21, 2005 - Rueil-Malmaison (France):

Schneider Electric has agreed to acquire Canadian-based Power Measurement, Inc. (PMI), owned by a consortium led by GFI Energy Ventures LLC. PMI is a leading designer, manufacturer and provider of enterprise energy intelligent systems for energy suppliers, service providers and large energy consumers. PMI had sales of $57 million in 2004.

PMI is a leader in offering energy suppliers and consumers complete enterprise energy management systems through the integration of hardware, software and professional services, enabling clients to optimize their energy needs. PMI has a large and diversified global customer base across multiple sectors.

Friday, January 7, 2005 - Schneider Electric Acquires Magnecraft Product Range:

Rueil-Malmaison (France), January 6, 2005
Schneider Electric announced today the acquisition of the Magnecraft product range from MSD, Inc., a leading U.S. supplier of industrial relays. These products represented $14 million in sales in 2004. This acquisition will significantly broaden Schneider Electric’s line-up and make the company one of the top three global suppliers of industrial relays.

Wednesday, October 13, 2004 - Brian Robinson wrote:

Schneider has acquired Andover Controls in addition to TAC. Why two companies in the same markets?

Wednesday, October 6, 2004 - Re: Graybar Automation:

One needs only to visit their website to realize the strides that this company is making. There is a wealth of knowledge there, although it is a bit tedious to get to.

What I discovered is from their main site (www.graybar.com) you need to cursor over "Suppliers/Markets" for a drop down menu to appear. Click on "Automation" and a splash page appears. Buried on the left side under Literature is "Technical Library". Clicking on that prompts you for an email address and a first time, short registration page. Once completed, you have access to over 2000 documents and links for the Schneider automation products.

Tuesday, August 03, 2004 - from a former marketing manager in Eastern Europe:

Just to give you some ideas about Schneider's evolution in Eastern Europe.

In the early 90's, Schneider market share was about 2-3%, Siemens and local suppliers dominated. In the last 10 years Schneider truly became one of market leaders. This is mainly due to their open partnership policy, very oriented towards the local SI channel. They are well established in Russia, Poland, Czech Rep., Ukraine and other countries. BTW on many automation markets they are known under Modicon name, and what's interesting is that in some countries Schneider still continues to promote the Modicon brand (f.e. www.modicon.ru, created in 2004!).

In Eastern Europe Schneider now has about 15% market share, and it is in 2nd position after Siemens. They continue fast growth, which is not the case of Rockwell which prefers to get business through few key partners and, in reality, can not exploit many market opportunities as Schneider or Siemens are doing.

I agree that the new brand policy is quite NOT relevant nor to the current Schneider (& Modicon PLC) position, neither to their growth ambitions. Nevertheless remind that they try to capitalize on the Modicon name by now naming ALL new PLCs "Modicon xxx".

What is working really well is their clear and consistent strategy on local partnerships with System Integrators. In this, Schneider is much stronger than their competitors. This is the key advantage of Schneider in automation and this explains the fast Schneider growth in emerging markets.

Thursday, July 22, 2004

Will Lenel (Security) be acquired next to complete Schneider's portfolio in Building Automation?

Sunday, July 18, 2004

Nic Gihl doesn't have anything more to sell, at least at this moment. Remember this is the guy who sold TCP to GEF in '98 and in '02 sold his portion of Digital Electronics (maker of TCP products) to Schneider. Some say he sold the same thing twice which can't sit well with corporate types like Schneider. He'll have to start delivering results instead of taking contract buyouts (like he did from GEF) and moving on to another company he's quietly acquired while working for someone else.

Friday, June 18, 2004

Nic Gihl and James Potach, both of TCP/GE/Proface/Xycom fame, have been brought over from Proface by Schneider to turn around the automation group in the US. No word on who will replace them at Schneider owned Proface-USA.

Tuesday, June 8, 2004

The 15 May 2004 weblog wondered why Square D is spinning off an Automation Division. This reminds me of when Square D spun off Automation in the early nineties and the Automation profit center was relocated in Milwaukee. All I can say is, hang in there.

Wednesday, June 2, 2004

Schneider has acquired Andover Controls in addition to TAC. Why two companies in the same markets??

Saturday, May 15, 2004

News is that Schneider will create a separate Automation Division, in an effort to disconnect high tech. products from the non-technical Square D family. Feedback and/or comments will be appreciated.

Monday, May 3, 2004 - from Ray Sansouci (RSANSOUCI@MICROESYS.COM):

A few months ago, someone asked what happened to Mark Fondl and Ray Sansouci. For the last almost 5 years now, I (Ray) have been President & CEO of MicroE Systems (www.microesys.com) We make high precision optical encoders and motion control systems. April 12, we announced the signing of a definitive agreement to be acquired by GSI Lumonics (GSLI) (www.gsilumonics.com) so I will be working for them when the dust settles.

It has been a great 5 years. You can contact me at RSansouci@microesys.com

Ray

Thursday, April 8, 2004 - Regarding the Schneider and Modicon buzz - from a satisfied user of both Premium and Quantum:

Schneider (with its Telemecanique brand) parnerd with and then bought AEG (with its Modicon brand). It was 10 years ago and the portfolio was quite complicated, if you add the Symax (Square-D) in US, a line in Germany and some other lines in France. But this is old history. The company has suffered to find the right path but I've heard their new offering is a merge of the up-to-date ranges.

Have you heard about Unity, a new common and advanced software for both Modicon Quantum, Telemecanique Premium and slot PLC Telemecanique Atrium"?

Oops - another word! Now all PLCs are under the same umbrella, easy to support worldwide because the software barrier has disappeared. Premium and Atrium has been hugely repowered as they clearly stated as strategic in the portfolio. One guy from Schneider explained to me that each line was optimized for a kind of process (mostly discrete for Premium and mostly continuous for Quantum). They are all Modicon PLC under the Telemecanique brand.

As far as I know, the developementd of these products was done in France, Germany and in Massachussets.