Shell's two Australian refineries, at Geelong in Victoria and Clyde in NSW, have each awarded Yokogawa Australia a contract to supply them with modern, state-of-the-art oil movements and tank information systems. The systems will replace proprietary in-house technology which has been in use for twenty years.

Rockwell Automation Australia recently celebrated the 25th birthday of local sales, service and support of Australian industrial automation market leader, Allen-Bradley. This anniversary marked 25 years since the acquisition of a switchboard-building company, an Allen-Bradley distributor, WH Lowe in 1979.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances has further expansion plans for its plant and engineering facilities near Dunedin, New Zealand, at a cost of between $3 and $4 million.

Schneider Electric has completed the acquisition of Andover Controls, a Balfour Beatty company. Andover Controls offers building automation and security. Schneider Electric views building automation as one of their growth platforms. The acquisition complements its position in this market with the previous acquisition of TAC in June 2003.

Kraft Foods has developed four strategies within its Sustainable Growth Plan - building brand value, transforming the portfolio, expanding global scale, and driving out costs and assets.

For the first time in recent economic history, there is a country where manufacturing industries are growing fast, and which has the capacity to invest from rising export revenues.

A technology partnership between Iconics and Endress+Hauser has been announced.

Profibus International (representing more than 1200 member companies worldwide, including 22 in Australia and New Zealand) recently made two major announcements that highlight the remarkable success and adaptability of Profibus fieldbus technology.

IPA Industrial Pyrometers (Aust) Pty Ltd has changed its name to OneTemp Pty Ltd from 1 July 2004.

For the second time, Eutech Instruments has been conferred the prestigious Market Engineering Award for Product Line Strategy 2003 by market research company, Frost and Sullivan. Eutech Instruments won the same award in 2001. This award is presented to the company that has demonstrated the most insight into customer needs and product demands.

Schneider Electric has completed the acquisition of Andover Controls, a Balfour Beatty company. Andover Controls offers building automation and security. Schneider Electric views building automation as one of their growth platforms. The acquisition complements its position in this market with the previous acquisition of TAC in June 2003.

A recently released report says double-digit growth for magnetic flowmeters in China will be driven by investments in infrastructure.

The inaugural Queensland Manufacturing Technology Exhibition (QMAN), to be held this month in Brisbane, will provide professionals working in the manufacturing industry with a unique opportunity to access the latest solutions and technologies across the manufacturing spectrum.

Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation announced it has signed an agreement with Invensys PLC to purchase its power systems business, Powerware Corporation, for US$560 million.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation has announced it has concluded an agreement with Degussa, a major chemical manufacturer in Germany, to be a global supplier of process control systems for plant automation. The Yokogawa products and services covered by this agreement include Centum CS 3000 integrated production control system hardware/software.