Spectris PLC recently acquired N-TRON Corporation, a top 10 supplier of industrial switches worldwide according to VDC data, to further solidify its ability to respond to growing demand for connectivity among the customers of the instrumentation and control products and solutions that its various operating companies produce. According to John O’Higgins, Chief Executive of Spectris, “the acceptance of Ethernet in the industrial market for integrating shop-floor information within the business IT infrastructure is rapidly increasing. N-TRON’s hardware capabilities will enable us to leverage our current communications technologies to meet this demand and to build our position in the industrial controls market around the world”.
N-TRON will operate within Spectris’ Industrial Controls business segment, while maintaining its own brand and sales distribution network. N-TRON offers managed and unmanaged switches; media converters; gateways; POE enabled switches, splitters and injectors; and wireless radios.
According to extensive research VDC has conducted over the last several years touching on topics such as The Connected Factory, Industrial Networking Infrastructure Products, and much more, the need among OEMs and end user to automate their operations and improve their competitive position has never been greater. The timing of this acquisition was consistent with the growing body of evidence being developed by VDC and growing themes being echoed by both suppliers and users alike – that the ability to connect devices, instruments and controllers into the enterprise is becoming a de facto requirement for companies hoping to survive in the coming decade.
Discussions with industrial networking suppliers, end users and relevant stakeholders over the last few months is revealing a clearer picture that the market for industrial networking products is in transition, and that the “tipping point” driving omnipresent connectivity of instruments, devices, and even control applications, including via wireless connectivity, is close at hand. Even more interesting is discussions centering on the trend towards convergence of networking products themselves. Ruggedcom has developed “multi-service platforms which integrate switching and routing functionality and there is indications that switch suppliers will be embedding radios into their switches and radios suppliers will be looking to develop switch products around their radios. Cost, space, and wiring interface reductions are major drivers of customer demand for such convergence as well as the increasing acceptance of wireless in a growing number of applications, even outside of data acquisition and monitoring.
As an Analyst it is very exciting to be covering markets that are “in transition” and the topic of convergence begins to enter into the discussion and, even more excitedly, into new product development and education of the marketplace. It affords an Analyst the opportunity to “tell a story that provides people a vision and a framework with which to deal with the uncertainty of the future that said convergence poses”. Let’s just say that we would not be surprised if we saw increased M&A activity in the coming months and, certainly, years.
I am interested in learning about your thoughts, opinions and even questions on the state of the industrial networking market and where you think the future is going and what it may hold in store for us all.
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