Top Factory Automation Companies in the USA and Internationally
Top Suppliers
Factories are automated for the express goals of improving cost efficiency, improving product quality, and reducing time to manufacture. Human laborers are expensive and have human needs and flaws – while machines can work endlessly with superhuman speeds and accuracy.
Factory automation can be very complex, where custom machines must be built, programmed, and fine-tuned by experts to mass-produce products. Preparing the factory floor with automated equipment is a time and labor-intensive process, and so entire businesses exist to provide factory automation equipment and services.
Types of Factory Automation Companies and Suppliers
Factory automation consists of a plethora of devices, machinery, and software. For short manufacturing runs, the more expensive slower robotic arms are the preferred choice. They can be quickly adapted to nearly any task, and then cheaply re-adapted later for future work. For long mass manufacturing runs, highly custom one-off machinery is preferred as they are designed and highly optimized to perform a specific task at the lowest per-unit cost.
Automated machinery is controlled by embedded PLCs (programmable logic controller), HMI (human machine interface) platforms, industrial I/O (analog and digital), distributed I/O modules, motion controllers, industrial communication devices, power supplies, surge protectors, industrial sensors, and more – all controlled by software designed for the task. These are some of the many products that factory automation suppliers offer.
Top 10 Factory Automation Companies and Suppliers in the U.S.
Our top 10 list was developed by looking at firms with significant business in factory automation and then by estimating ranking using market capitalization. The factory automation market within the US can be said to be dominated by the top four firms in our list, GE, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Danaher, and Emerson.
Table 1 – Key U.S. Factory Automation Suppliers
Notes:
*Market capitalization values are as of October 2, 2018.
rank
ticker
Company Name
Market Cap (Billions)*
1
GE
General Electric
$107.58
2
TMO
Thermo Fisher Scientific
$100.15
3
DHR
Danaher Corporation
$76.4
4
EMR
Emerson
$49.03
5
ROK
Rockwell Automation
$23.21
6
AME
Ametek
$18.45
7
MTD
Mettler-Toledo
$15.64
8
FLS
Flowserve
$7.17
9
NATI
National Instruments
$6.34
10
MKSI
MKS Instruments
$4.41
List of Automation Companies —
Summaries and Company Info
General Electric offers technologies, solutions, and services related to gas and steam turbines, engines, generators, high voltage equipment, power generation services, wind turbine platforms, services for the hydropower industry, oilfield services, oilfield equipment, turbomachinery, process solutions, digital solutions, and more. Founded in 1892.
Thermo Fisher Scientific offers instruments, consumables, software, and services for use in the laboratory, on the production line, and in the field for pharmaceutical, environmental, biotechnology, academic, government, and for research and industrial markets. Founded in 1956.
Danaher Corporation offers filtration, separation, and purification technologies to the biopharmaceutical, food and beverage, microelectronics, medical, aerospace, and general industrial sectors. Provides disinfection systems to analyze, treat, and manage water in residential, industrial, commercial, and natural resource applications; and equipment, services, software, and consumables for packaging, printing, coding, marking, and traceability applications for consumer, pharmaceutical, and industrial products. Founded in 1969.
Emerson offers software, measurement and analytical instrumentation, valves, actuators, regulators, industry services and solutions, process control systems and solutions, digital plant solutions, services for the climate control industry, commercial air conditioning, commercial and industrial refrigeration, compressors, thermostats, monitoring equipment and electronic controls for gas and electric heating systems, gas valves for furnaces and water heaters, ignition systems for furnaces, sensors and thermistors for home appliances, temperature sensors and controls, compressors, precision flow controls, system diagnostics and controls that provide precise temperature management, and environmental control systems. Founded in 1890.
Rockwell Automation provides control platforms, including controllers, electronic operator interface devices, electronic input/output devices, communication and networking products, industrial computers, industrial visualization and process control software, manufacturing execution systems, information solution software to enhance productivity and meet regulatory requirements, sensors, machine safety components, linear motion control products, motor starters, motor and circuit protection devices, AC/DC variable frequency drives, push buttons, signaling devices, termination and protection devices, relays, timers, and various packaged solutions, such as configured drives and motor control centers to automation and information solutions. Founded in 1903.
Ametek provides aircraft and engine sensors, power supplies, monitoring systems, data acquisition units, fuel and fluid measurement systems for the aerospace industry, power quality monitoring and metering, uninterruptible power systems, programmable power equipment, electromagnetic compatibility test equipment, sensors for gas turbines, dashboard instruments for heavy trucks and other vehicles, instrumentation and controls for the food and beverage industries, and precision motion control products for automation applications. Founded in 1930.
Mettler-Toledo offers end-of-line product inspection systems used in production and packaging for food processing and packaging, pharmaceutical, packaged consumer goods, and other industries. Industrial solutions comprise industrial weighing instruments and terminals, automatic dimensional measurement and data capture solutions, vehicle scale systems, industrial software, and product inspection systems. Founded in 1991.
Flowserve produces industrial flow management equipment. Offers custom and engineered industrial pumps and pump systems, mechanical seals, controls, auxiliary systems, submersible motors, industrial isolation and control valves, automation solutions, actuation, and related equipment. Founded in 1912.
National Instruments offers the very popular LabVIEW software used for measurement, automation, and control. Also offers software for FGPAs, wireless prototyping, for creating test and control applications, to test and measure applications in a manufacturing environment, to configure real-time testing applications, for technical data management, analysis, and report generation tools, for monitoring critical and ancillary rotating equipment, circuit design software, and systems management software. Produces hardware products and related driver software such as data acquisition, PXI chassis and controllers, image acquisition, modular instruments, motion control, distributed I/O, industrial communications interfaces, general purpose interface bus interfaces, embedded control hardware/software, and VME extension for instrumentation controllers. Founded in 1976.
MKS Instruments provides instruments, subsystems, and process control solutions that measure, monitor, control, power, deliver, and analyze critical parameters of manufacturing processes. Produces analytical and control solutions products, including gas analyzers, automation control products, I/O modules, automation software, electromechanical assemblies, flow and valve technologies, and integrated pressure measurement and control subsystems. Founded in 1961.
Top Global Factory Automation Suppliers
The US factory automation market has stiff competition from equally large international players, with the top two international corporations being Honeywell and Siemens. The top 10 list was developed by looking at firms with significant business in factory automation and then by estimating ranking using market capitalization. Interestingly, four of the top 10 are located in Japan.
Table 2: Top Global Factory Automation Supplying Firms
Notes:
*Market capitalization values are as of October 2, 2018 and were converted to US dollars using foreign exchange rates
rank
ticker
Company Name
location
Market Cap (Billions)*
1
HON
Honeywell
UK
$124.08
2
SIE:GR
Siemens
Germany
$104.97
3
TTM
Tata Motors Limited
India
$52.87
4
ABB
ABB
Switzerland
$50.39
5
SU:FP
Schneider Electric
France
$45.32
6
6954:JP
FANUC
Japan
$39.96
7
ETN
Eaton Corporation
Ireland
$37.82
8
6503:JP
Mitsubishi electric
Japan
$29.88
9
6645:JP
Omron Corp
Japan
$9.47
10
6841:JP
Yokogawa electric
Japan
$5.82
Automation Companies — Summaries and Info
Honeywell is a worldwide diversified technology and manufacturing company. Provides aerospace products and services, sensing and security technologies, control, turbochargers, automotive products, electronic and advanced materials, specialty chemicals, process technology for refining and petrochemicals, and energy-efficient products and solutions.
Siemens is a global powerhouse for power generation, transmission, and distribution to smart grid solutions; the efficient application of electrical energy; and in the areas of medical imaging and laboratory diagnostics. Has around 377,000 employees in more than 200 countries/regions operating in production and manufacturing plants worldwide.
Tata Motors Limited produces a range of automotive vehicles. It also manufactures engines for industrial and marine applications and factory automation equipment. Provides IT services, machine tools, and factory automation services. Founded in 1945.
ABB produces electrification, robotics and motion, industrial automation, and power grid products. Provides modular substation packages, control products, distribution automation products, circuit breakers, measuring and sensing devices, intelligent home solutions, robotics, motors, generators, drives, wind converters, components and systems for railways and related services, advanced process control software and manufacturing execution systems, electric ship propulsion systems, sensing, machine and factory automation solutions, measurement and analytical instrumentation, turbochargers, and remote monitoring. Founded in 1883.
Schneider Electric manufactures electrical power products. Offers car chargers, home security goods, light switches, valves, access control, sensors, circuit breakers, cables, motor starters, accessories, signaling devices, fuses, and voltage transformers.
FANUC manufactures factory automation systems, equipment, and robots. Products include CNC equipment, servo motors, industrial robots, laser systems, wire-cut electric discharge machines, and CNC drills.
Eaton Corporation offers electrical and industrial components, fluid conveyance products, single-phase power quality products, emergency lighting and fire detection products, fluid conveyance products, wiring devices, structural support systems, circuit protection products, power distribution and assemblies, three-phase power products, hazardous duty electrical equipment, utility power distribution equipment, power reliability equipment, controls and sensing products, hydraulic power generation systems, explosion-proof instrumentation, controls and sensing products, and fuel systems for commercial and military use. Founded in 1916.
Mitsubishi Electric products include industrial machinery, heavy electric machinery, data communications systems, electronic devices, and household electronics.
Omron Corp manufactures electronic components, equipment, and systems used for factory automation. Provides products and services in a variety of fields including industrial automation, electronic components, automotive electronics, and social systems such as ticket gate machines and traffic control.
Yokogawa Electric products include IT controllers, flowmeters, switching power supplies, pressure transmitters, analyzers, data recorders, and AC adaptors.
What is Industrial Automation (Video)
Conclusion
Above we’ve listed the top domestic and global factory automation suppliers. For comprehensive information on U.S. based commercial and industrial factory automation companies, head over to Thomas Supplier Discovery, where we have a database of over 6,000 listed factory automation companies.