Frost & Sullivan Recognizes Control Techniques' Excellence in Product Line Strategy in the European Electric Drives Market for Manufacturing

- Unidrive M range of electric drives positions Control Techniques for deeper market penetration

LONDON, July 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent research on the electric drives market for manufacturing automation, Frost & Sullivan presents Control Techniques with the 2013 European Product Line Strategy Award. The company has exhibited a superior ability to meet and exceed customer needs in the global manufacturing automation market. This has resulted in the market success of its latest Unidrive M series drives, designed specifically for the manufacturing sector.

"Our research shows that the European market for electric drives was valued at $3.00 billion in 2012, and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.7 per cent until 2017," said Frost & Sullivan Research Manager Sivakumar Narayanaswamy. "Manufacturing automation holds a significant proportion of this market and Control Techniques' Unidrive M range is one of the world's most comprehensive classes of drives for manufacturing automation applications."

Control Techniques makes extensive efforts to understand the specific needs of its customers and designs its products to precisely match these needs. The Unidrive M range offers incremental levels of functionality designed to precisely meet the full range of application requirements including the most complex needs in the manufacturing automation sector.

The Unidrive M family is designed to give exceptional control of virtually all types of industrial electric motors in manufacturing automation applications ranging from standard induction, permanent magnet motors to high performance servo motors, and can operate in open or closed loop modes.

Every drive in the Unidrive M family features a totally open creation environment.  This means that machine designers using the drives have an extremely wide choice of machine components and are not restricted by closed systems.  Unidrive M uses the CODESYS programming platform with industry standard IEC 61131-3 programming languages and standard Ethernet for communication across drives and other industrial devices such as PLCs.  Unidrive M also supports connectivity with PROFINET RT, EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP/IP and EtherCAT devices.

Additionally, Unidrive M's high performance allows manufacturers to improve their machine throughput via advanced motor control.  Control Techniques has developed a high bandwidth motor control algorithm for Unidrive M and, combined with the latest microprocessor technology, the result is extreme stability and high performance in all applications.

"The large installed base of its drives demonstrates Control Techniques' technical capability and rich expertise in the segment," added Narayanaswamy. "In addition to a customer-focused approach, key strategies, such as an elaborate service portfolio providing general maintenance, repairs and replacements, and round-the-clock customer support have been the other success factors for the company."

With technology development and investments in the manufacturing automation sector expected to increase in Europe as the economy improves, Control Techniques' strategy of creating a family of drives each tailored to meet specific needs in the manufacturing sector is likely to provide the company with immense potential to expand its customer base. End-users and machine builders will choose the best available solution for the desired applications, without paying premiums on unnecessary features which do not suit their requirements.

Based on the aforementioned criteria, Frost & Sullivan selects Control Techniques as the recipient of the 2013 Product Line Strategy Award in the electric drives market for manufacturing automation. Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has developed a comprehensive product line that caters to the breadth of the market it serves. The award recognizes the extent to which the product line meets customer base demands, the overall impact it has in terms of customer value as well as increased market share.

Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About Control Techniques

Control Techniques, an Emerson Industrial Automation company, is a world leader in the design and production of electronic variable speed drives for the control of electric motors.  The company's strategy is to concentrate on delivering drives and servo products that enhance the productivity of its customers' machines and processes.  For more information, visit www.ControlTechniques.com

About Emerson Industrial Automation

Emerson Industrial Automation, a business of Emerson, is a global technology provider that enables productivity, efficiency and quality gains for customers across a spectrum of industries. Its products include alternators, electric motors and drives, electrical distribution devices and mechanical power transmission, fluid automation and ultrasonic joining solutions.  Emerson brands include Appleton, ASCO, Branson Ultrasonics, Browning, Control Techniques, Kop-Flex, Leroy-Somer, McGill, Morse, Numatics, O-Z/Gedney, Rollway, SealMaster, and System Plast. For more information, visit www.EmersonIndustrial.com

About Emerson

Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and consumer markets around the world.  The company is comprised of five business segments: Process Management, Industrial Automation, Network Power, Climate Technologies, and Commercial & Residential Solutions.  Sales in fiscal 2012 were $24.4 billion.  For more information, visit www.Emerson.com

About Frost & Sullivan

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Contact:

Joseph Walker
Press Officer, Marketing Communications
Control Techniques
Emerson Industrial Automation
T: +44 (0) 1686 612996
E: Joseph.Walker@Emerson.com

Kristina Menzefricke
Best Practices Group
Frost & Sullivan
T: +44 (0) 207 9157862
E: Kristina.Menzefricke@Frost.com

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan