PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) is known as “the main force of industrial automation”. It is a digital computing operation electronic system with a high utilization rate in modern industry.
It uses a type of programmable memory to store programs, execute user-oriented instructions such as logic operations, sequence control, timing, counting and arithmetic operations, and control various types of machinery or production processes through digital or analog input/output.
According to research by Mordor Intelligence, the PLC market was worth nearly US$4 billion in 2019, and is expected to reach US$4.3 billion by 2025, with an average annual growth rate of 3.7%. The largest increase comes from the automobile manufacturing industry. Below are the top 20 global PLC manufacturers as selected by Robotics & Automation. Keep reading!
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Siemens
Established time | 1847 |
Headquarters | Munich and Berlin, Germany |
Company website | www.siemens.com |
Siemens AG is a German multinational technology conglomerate. Its operations encompass automation and digitalization in the process and manufacturing industries, intelligent infrastructure for buildings and distributed energy systems, rail transport solutions, and health technology and digital healthcare services. Siemens is the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe and is the global market leader in industrial automation and industrial software.
According to data estimates, Siemens is the clear leader in the PLC field, with a market share of about 30% to 40%. Siemens provides the IoT operating system MindSphere, automation and industrial software for the discrete manufacturing, industrial communication and industrial security industries.
Rockwell Automation
Established time | 1903 |
Headquarters | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
Company website | rockwellautomation.com |
Rockwell Automation, Inc. is an American provider of industrial automation and digital transformation technologies. Brands include Allen-Bradley, FactoryTalk software and LifecycleIQ Services.
Now Rockwell Automation has become one of the largest industrial automation companies in the world. It has a market cap of $25 billion and annual revenue of about $7 billion.
Mitsubishi Electric
Established time | 1921 |
Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
Company website | www.mitsubishielectric.com/en/index.htm |
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, established on 15 January 1921, is a Japanese multinational electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi. The products from MELCO include elevators and escalators, high-end home appliances, air conditioning, factory automation systems, train systems, electric motors, pumps, semiconductors, digital signage, and satellites.
Schneider electric
Established time | 1836 |
Headquarters | Rueil-Malmaison, France |
Company website | www.se.com |
Schneider Electric SE is a French multinational company that specializes in digital automation and energy management. It addresses homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries by combining energy technologies, real-time automation, software, and services.
ABB
Established time | 1988 |
Headquarters | Zürich, Switzerland |
Company website | global.abb |
ABB Ltd. is a Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden’s Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland’s Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to create ASEA Brown Boveri, later simplified to the initials ABB. Both companies were established in the late 1800s and were major electrical equipment manufacturers, a business that ABB remains active in today. The company has also since expanded to robotics and automation technology.
Honeywell Process
Established time | 1906 |
Headquarters | Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. |
Company website | https://process.honeywell.com/us/en/home |
Honeywell Process is a business unit of Honeywell International Corporation. Honeywell’s parent company is headquartered in the United States, has 114,000 employees, annual revenue of nearly 42 billion U.S. dollars, and a market value of more than 103 billion U.S. dollars. Honeywell considers itself a cutting-edge computing company, currently competing with Google and IBM in quantum computing.
The PLC currently offered by Honeywell Process is part of its Control Edge series. The previously announced Control Edge PLC is one of the first controllers to support Honeywell’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
Omron
Established time | 1933 |
Headquarters | Kyoto, Japan |
Company website | www.omron.com |
Omron Corporation is a Japanese electronics company based in Kyoto, Japan.
Omron’s primary business is the manufacture and sale of automation components, equipment and systems. In the consumer and medical markets, it is known for medical equipment such as digital thermometers, blood pressure monitors and nebulizers.
As a global leader in the field of automation, OMRON’s business fields cover a broad spectrum, ranging from industrial automation and social systems to healthcare. At present, OMRON provides products and services in around 120 countries and regions.
Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems
Established time | 2002 |
Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
Company website | https://www.hitachi-ies.co.jp/english/ |
Hitachi used to be a well-known company all over the world. Today, it has developed a lot of advanced computing technology in the industrial field, especially has a good product line in the smart TV.
Hitachi is a giant with a market value of 36 billion US dollars, over 300,000 employees and nearly $90 billion in annual revenue. Its PLCs range from general-purpose to proprietary plant-engineered versions.
IDEC
Established time | 1945 |
Headquarters | Osaka, Japan |
Company website | www.idec.com |
IDEC Corporation is a manufacturer of Automation and Control products. The company was founded in Osaka, Japan in 1945. IDEC is known for its various electromechanical control products such as relays, timers, and switches. The company also manufactures automation products, such as Micro Programmable logic controllers, power supplies, and touch-screen displays. In addition to supplying automation and control products, other divisions of the company supply sensors, bar code readers, and advanced LED optoelectronic components.
B&R Industrial Automation
Established time | 1979 |
Headquarters | Eggelsberg, Upper Austria, Austria |
Company website | https://www.br-automation.com/en/ |
B&R Industrial Automation GmbH is an Austrian automation and process control technology company. It was founded in 1979 by Erwin Bernecker and Josef Rainer and is headquartered in Eggelsberg, near Braunau in the state of Upper Austria.
The company specializes in machine and factory control systems, HMI and motion control. In addition to scalable complete solutions, B&R also offers individual components. The product range is oriented toward machinery and equipment manufacturing, and the company is also active in the field of factory and process automation.
Bosch Rexroth
Established time | 2001 |
Headquarters | Lohr am Main, Germany |
Company website | boschrexroth.com |
Bosch Rexroth AG is an engineering firm based in Lohr am Main in Germany. It is the result of a merger on 1 May 2001, between Mannesmann Rexroth AG and the Automation Technology Business Unit of Robert Bosch GmbH, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH. Bosch Rexroth employs over 31,000 people worldwide and achieved total revenue of 6.2 billion euro in 2021.
Koyo Electronics Industries
Established time | 1955 |
Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
Company website | https://www.electronics.jtekt.co.jp/english/ |
Founded in 1955, Koyo Electronics Industries started out as radios and now specializes in industrial automation technologies such as PLCs and other electronic control equipment, as well as imaging and automotive systems. Its Direct Logic brand of PLCs sits alongside other brands such as Kostac PLC, offering a wider range of products to the market.
Delta Electronics
Established time | 1971 |
Headquarters | Taiwan, China |
Company website | www.deltaww.com |
Delta, founded in 1971, is a global provider of power and thermal management solutions. As an energy-saving solutions provider with core competencies in power electronics and automation, Delta’s business categories include Power Electronics, Automation, and Infrastructure.
Delta offers some of the most energy-efficient power products in the industry, including switching power supplies with an efficiency of over 90%, telecom power with up to 98%, and PV inverters with up to 99.2% efficiency. It has also developed the world‘s first server power supply certified as 80 Plus Titanium.
Eaton
Established time | 1911 |
Headquarters | Dublin, Ireland |
Company website | eaton.com |
Eaton Corporation plc is an American-Irish multinational power management company.
Eaton’s business units cover aerospace, automotive, and industrial fields. In industry, it is best known for hydraulics, clutches and transmission systems. Eaton emphasizes the user-friendliness of its PLCs, its Easy PLC range, and the modular capabilities of its XC and XN devices.
Keyence
Established time | 1974 |
Headquarters | Osaka, Japan |
Company website | https://www.keyence.com/ |
Keyence Corporation is a direct sales organization that develops and manufactures automation sensors, vision systems, barcode readers, laser markers, measuring instruments, and digital microscopes.
Keyence is fabless — although it is a manufacturer; it specializes solely in product planning and development and does not manufacture the final products. Keyence products are manufactured at qualified contract manufacturing companies.
LS Electric
Established time | 1974 |
Headquarters | Gyeonggi-do, Korea |
Company website | https://www.ls-electric.com/ |
LS Electric has about 3,500 employees and an annual sales revenue of about US$2 billion. It employs about 3,500 people and generates about $2 billion in annual sales. Its market cap is about $1.4 billion.
LS ELECTRIC offers various automation solutions from unit devices to process control in order to effectively operate in industrial environments. including:
PLC
Servo/Motion
HMI
Gearbox
Inverter (VFD)
Panasonic
Established time | 1918 |
Headquarters | Osaka, Japan |
Company website | https://www.na.panasonic.com/ |
Panasonic is the largest motor manufacturer in Japan and one of the top eight motor companies in Japan. In the PLC field, Panasonic provides a full range of products from entry-level equipment to high-performance modular scalable versions.
Phoenix Contact
Established time | 1923 |
Headquarters | Blomberg, Germany |
Company website | www.phoenixcontact.com |
Phoenix Contact, headquartered in Blomberg, Ostwestfalen-Lippe, Germany, is a manufacturer of industrial automation, interconnection, and interface solutions. The company develops terminal blocks, relays, connectors, signal conditioners, power supplies, controllers & PLCs, I/O systems, Industrial Ethernet, controller system cabling, PCB terminal blocks & connectors, and surge suppression. In addition, Phoenix Contact manufactures products for use with Modbus, DeviceNet, EtherNet/IP, CANopen, PROFIBUS and PROFINET networks.
Pilz
Established time | 1948 |
Headquarters | Ostfildern, Germany |
Company website | www.pilz.com |
Pilz GmbH & Co. KG is a German automation technology company in Ostfildern, Germany. In addition to the head office in Germany, Pilz is represented in 42 subsidiaries and branches on all continents.
Pilz GmbH & Co. KG specializes in industrial control systems including PLCs. There are only 2,300 employees, but it has 40 subsidiaries and an annual revenue of more than 340 million euros.
WAGO Kontakttechnik
Established time | 1951 |
Headquarters | Minden, Germany |
Company website | www.wago.com/de |
WAGO GmbH & Co. KG is a German company based in Minden, Germany that manufactures components for electrical connection technology and electronic components for automation technology.
A programmable logic controller (PLC) or programmable controller is an industrial computer that has been ruggedized and adapted for the control of manufacturing processes, such as assembly lines, machines, robotic devices, or any activity that requires high reliability, ease of programming, and process fault diagnosis.
Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) are industrial computers, with various inputs and outputs, used to control and monitor industrial equipment based on custom programming.
Probably the biggest name out there in the automation and PLC world is Siemens. Siemens offers their SIMATIC line of controllers, giving users of all performance needs an option. SIMATIC stands for Siemens Automatic. The name itself should be an indicator of it's role in automation and manufacturing.
