Always an important aspect of Automation World’s annual awards program is the fact that Leadership in Automation First Team Honorees receive their recognition from an open-ended survey. This means that, rather than being swayed by a set list on a voting form that stays largely unchanged year after year, respondents must pull from their ever-evolving knowledge bases to write in their preferences. Though major automation suppliers still play a dominant role in many of the categories (as you’ll see on the following pages), smaller and newer vendors have also gained enough trust among our readers to make the list in many places.
We’ve also made some tweaks this year to our list of automation categories, asking readers to chime in on some of the newer technologies that have gained traction in recent years—related primarily to the digitalization of industry.
This list of recommendations from your peers is designed to help you better assess suppliers as you make your product buying decisions in the coming year. Return the favor by letting us know who your preferred suppliers are as well. Stay tuned for voting to open soon for the 2018 online survey at www.automationworld.com/leadership. Your input is greatly appreciated.
Actuators & Valves
Emerson Automation Solutions
Festo
Parker Hannifin
SMC
Alarm Management
Emerson Automation Solutions
Honeywell Process Solutions
Inductive Automation
Rockwell Automation
Schneider Electric
Siemens Industry
Cables, Connectors & I/O modules
Belden
Phoenix Contact
Rockwell Automation
Siemens Industry
Southwire
Turck
Wago
Weidmüller
Cloud Computing
Data Acquisition Hardware
Hilscher North America
National Instruments
Opto 22
Red Lion Controls
Rockwell Automation
Siemens Industry
Drives
ABB
Delta Products
Lenze
Rockwell Automation
Schneider Electric
Siemens Industry
Yaskawa America
Edge Computing
Advantech Industrial Automation Group
Dell
GE Digital
Hilscher North America
Moxa
National Instruments
Opto 22
Stratus
Enclosures
Energy Management
Rockwell Automation
Schneider Electric
Siemens Industry
Historian/Data Acquisition Software
Honeywell Process Solutions
Inductive Automation
OSIsoft
Rockwell Automation
Schneider Electric
Siemens Industry
HMI Hardware
AutomationDirect
B&R Industrial Automation
Beckhoff Automation
IDEC
Pro-face America
Red Lion Controls
Rockwell Automation
Schneider Electric
Siemens Industry
HMI Software
ABB
IDEC
Inductive Automation
Red Lion Controls
Rockwell Automation
Schneider Electric
Siemens Industry
Hydraulic/Pneumatic
Aventics
Bimba Manufacturing
Bosch Rexroth
Emerson Automation Solutions
Festo
Parker Hannifin
SMC Corp. of America
Industrial PCs
Advantech Industrial Automation Group
B&R Industrial Automation
Beckhoff Automation
Dell
Moxa
Rockwell Automation
Schneider Electric
Siemens Industry
IoT Platforms
GE Digital
IBM
Inductive Automation
Opto 22
Kepware
Schneider Electric
Siemens Industry
Machine Safety
ABB Jokab Safety
Banner Engineering
IDEC
Omron Industrial Automation
Pilz Automation Safety
Rockwell Automation
Schmersal
Schneider Electric
Sick
Siemens Industry
Maintenance/Reliability
Emerson Automation Solutions
Fluke
Honeywell Process Solutions
Siemens Industry
MES/MOM Software
Emerson Automation Solutions
Epicor Software
Inductive Automation
Rockwell Automation
SAP
Schneider Electric
Siemens Industry
Mobility
Honeywell Process Solutions
Opto 22
Red Lion Controls
Rockwell Automation
Schneider Electric
Siemens Industry
Motors
ABB
Bosch Rexroth
Lenze
Marathon Electric
Mitsubishi Electric Automation
Oriental Motor
Rockwell Automation
SEW-Eurodrive
Siemens Industry
Yaskawa America
Networking—Wired
Antaira Technologies
Belden
Cisco Systems
Hilscher North America
Moxa
Omron Industrial Automation
Phoenix Contact
Red Lion Controls
Rockwell Automation
Siemens Industry
Panduit
Softing
Networking—Wireless
Banner Engineering
Belden
Cisco Systems
Emerson Automation Solutions
eWon
HMS Industrial Networks
Moxa
Phoenix Contact
ProSoft Technology
Red Lion Controls
Rockwell Automation
Siemens Industry
Telit
PLCs/PACs
ABB
AutomationDirect
Delta Products
IDEC
Mitsubishi Electric Automation
Omron Industrial Automation
Rockwell Automation
Schneider Electric
Siemens Industry
Power Supplies
Emerson/SolaHD
IDEC
Omron Industrial Automation
Phoenix Contact
Puls
Rockwell Automation
Siemens Industry
Process Control Software
ABB
Emerson Automation Solutions
Honeywell Process Solutions
Rockwell Automation
Schneider Electric
Siemens Industry
Yokogawa
Process Safety
Emerson Automation Solutions
Honeywell Process Solutions
Rockwell Automation
Siemens Industry
Robotics
ABB Robotics
Epson Robots
Fanuc Robotics
Kuka Robotics
Mitsubishi Electric Automation
Omron Industrial Automation
Rethink Robotics
Universal Robots
Yaskawa America
SCADA
ABB
Emerson Automation Solutions
GE Digital
Honeywell Process Solutions
Iconics
Inductive Automation
Rockwell Automation
Schneider Electric
Siemens Industry
Sensors—Discrete
Balluff
Banner Engineering
Carlo Gavazzi
IFM Efector
Keyence
Omron Industrial Automation
Pepperl+Fuchs
Rockwell Automation
Sick
Siemens Industry
Telemecanique
Turck
Sensors—Process
AutomationDirect
Emerson Automation Solutions
Endress+Hauser
Honeywell Process Solutions
IFM Efector
Keyence
Siemens Industry
Simulation & Modeling Software
Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks
Emerson Automation Solutions
Eplan
Schneider Electric
Siemens PLM
Vision Systems
Banner Engineering
Cognex
Keyence
Matrox Imaging
Omron Industrial Automation
SensoPart
Sick
Teledyne Dalsa