CEO Keith Nosbusch

The compensation package for Rockwell Automation Inc.'s top executive fell more than 28 percent during the 2009 fiscal year after the industrial automation equipment company was battered by the deep recession, according to a company regulatory filing Friday. President and CEO Keith Nosbusch received compensation valued at $4,338,096 for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, according to an analysis of Rockwell's proxy filing by The Associated Press. Nosbusch was paid a $941,977 salary and received no bonus or any pay under the company's non-equity incentive plan. Rockwell granted him stock options that had an estimated value of $3,332,949 on the days they were awarded. ... Read Full Story

Industrial automation company Rockwell Automation Inc. said Monday fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell 77 percent, as revenue dropped and the company recorded restructuring charges. Profit for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totaled $28.9 million, or 20 cents per share, from $125.6 million, or 87 cents per share, last year. Excluding restructuring charges, income totaled 37 cents per share. Revenue fell 28 percent to $1.07 billion from $1.48 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, predicted a profit of 27 cents per share on revenue of $1.05 billion. The economy has pressured its clients but the company said demand for its products ... Read Full Story

Open-source EtherNet/IP communication stack cost effectively connects devices MILWAUKEE, Rockwell Automation announced that it is supporting the release of a free, open-source EtherNet/IP software stack for I/O adapter devices developed by the Vienna University of Technology. Designed to connect a wide range of products using open communication standards, developers can download the new license and royalty-free adapter stack through SourceForge.net ( http://opener.sourceforge.net/ ). The open-source communications stack was created and released to the global engineering community by the Odo Struger Laboratory team of researchers from the Vienna University of Technology's Automation and Control Institute. The stack is an open-source implementation of EtherNet/IP, an open ... Read Full Story

Signaling the continued importance of process control to Rockwell Automation, the company outlines its strategy for delivering new performance optimization capabilities ANAHEIM, Calif., Building on investments to extend and enhance its process technologies, solutions and services, Rockwell Automation outlined six key areas of focus for its PlantPAx Process Automation System at the Rockwell Automation Process Solutions User Group (PSUG) conference, Nov. 9 and 10, in Anaheim, Calif., in conjunction with its annual Automation Fair event. These advancements help manufacturers better optimize and integrate process applications into their global enterprise to drive greater productivity. 'The Rockwell Automation PlantPAx system allows end users to adopt a ... Read Full Story

Support and certification will help companies take advantage of virtualization in the manufacturing environment ANAHEIM, Calif., To bring virtualization capabilities to the manufacturing environment, Rockwell Automation is supporting the use of its automation software on virtualization solutions from Silicon Valley-based VMware. Virtualization helps manufacturers build an infrastructure that better leverages resources and delivers high availability. Rockwell Automation will also participate in the VMware Ready program, with plans to validate its Rockwell Software configuration, human interface and information products. 'Today's x86 computer hardware is designed to run a single operating system environment – this 1‑1 ratio results in most workstations being vastly underutilized,' said Ken ... Read Full Story