Careers at Rockwell Automation
Mission
Rockwell provides a range of industrial automation solutions that are designed to make the processes of its customers, across multiple sectors, more efficient and reliable.
Business segments
Rockwell organises its operations into two reportable business segments:
- Architecture and Software, which comprises the development of the hardware, software and communication components of the Company’s integrated control and information architecture, including the provision of multi-function control platforms and software products; and
- Control Products and Solutions, which combines the Company’s portfolio of intelligent motor control and industrial control products, application expertise and project management capabilities, including the provision of various value-added solutions and services.
History
Rockwell traces its history back to 1903 and the foundation of the Compression Rheostat Company by Lynde Bradley and Stanton Allen. The Company was launched with a reported $1,000 in seed capital, first launching its first patented product, a carbon disc compression-type motor controller, in 1904.
Rockwell expanded quickly during the years of the First World War in response to a rise in government-contracted work, in the process diversifying its product portfolio to include automatic starters and switches, circuit breakers, relays and other electric equipment. A similar expansion occurred during the Second World War, with around 80% of the Company’s orders being war-related, focused in particular on industrial controls and electrical components used in production of military equipment.
In the latter half of the 20th Century the Company continued to expand, continually developing new technologies and establishing an international presence. In 2002, the Company split into two separate entities, with its industrial automation division organised under what is now Rockwell Automation, and its avionics division becoming Rockwell Collins.
Rockwell is today among the largest industrial automation companies in the world, serving a global customer base a broad portfolio of products and services. The Company is placed 412th on the Fortune 500 list, and trades a portion of it shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Rockwell has a current market capitalisation of $15.37 billion.
Benefits at Rockwell Automation
Business model of Rockwell Automation
Customer Segments
Rockwell provides a broad range of products, services, and solutions that are utilised by commercial and industrial customers across multiples business sectors. The Company’s organises its customers across three principal markets:
- Consumer Industries, including customers within the food and beverage industry, the home and personal car industry, and the life sciences industry;
- Transportation, including customers within the automotive manufacturing industry, the aftermarket care industry, and the tyre manufacturing industry; and
- Heavy Industries, including customers across the oil and gas industry, and the mining and metals industry.
Rockwell names a number of its customers on its website, including high-profile names such as Toyota, SOCAR, and Bradman Lake.
Both of Rockwell’s operating segments serve a global customer base. In 2015, sales to customers in the US accounted for around 55% of the Company’s total sales. Outside the US, the Company sells products across Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, with its largest international sales recorded in Canada, China, the UK, Mexico, Italy, Germany, and Brazil.
Value Propositions
Rockwell provides value to its customers in the following ways:
- Its industry standing and track record, with the Company established as a reliable and effective provider of industrial automation products and solutions, having secured business from a number of high-profile clients across multiple industries, including Toyota and SOCAR;
- Its international sales reach, with the Company’s two operating segments selling and distributing products across all regions, with the US, Canada, China, the UK, Mexico, Italy, Germany, and Brazil being its largest markets;
- Its innovative and unique products, with the Company providing a broad portfolio of products that utilise proprietary technologies and designs and cannot be purchased from competing companies; and
- Its commitment to research and development, with the Company dedicating a significant portion of its resources each year to the design and development of new products and processes, in order to ensure that its customers receive state-of-the-art products.
Channels
Rockwell operates a website at www.rockwellautomation.com, through which it provides information on its various products and solutions, locations, and activities. The Company also operates an online customer portal, which enables customers to manage their customer account details and access certain tools and resources. While the Company does not operate an online sales channel, customers are able to request quotes and pricing information through the Company’s website.
Approximately 70% of Rockwell’s sales are made through independent distributors, particularly in the US and Canada. These distributors do not typically carry products that compete with Rockwell’s own portfolio of products. Sales to the Company’s largest distributor in 2015, 2014 and 2013 were approximately 10% of total sales for the year. Rockwell also operates its own direct sales force, which is organized by segment and by geographic regions and works in conjunction with the Company’s network of distributors.
Customer Relationships
Rockwell does not make its products available for sale on a self-service basis. Customers, however, can make pricing and quote request independently through the Company’s website, and have access to the Company’s self-service online customer portal, which allows them to manage their accounts without interacting with sales or support personnel.
Rockwell’s direct sales force consults directly with customers to ensure that their individual needs are met, seeking to provide personalised assistance where possible. The Company aims to establish long-term relationships with its customers, with a view to securing recurring business.
Rockwell provides a broad range of support services to its customers. This includes technical support through a dedicated team of technical personnel, who provide personalised assistance on a case-by-case basis, maintenance and repair services, and on-site services. Customers are able to contact support staff over the phone or online. Rockwell additionally provides a range of resources to customers through its website, including user guides, product information, and technical and commercial publications.
Customers can stay up to date with Rockwell development and interact with the Company through its blog and its social media accounts, including with Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, SlideShare, and YouTube.
Key Activities
Rockwell Automation is a provider of industrial automation power, control and information solutions, primarily for manufacturing customers across multiple industries.
The Company aligns its business activities into two reportable segments: Architecture and Software, which relates to its development and provision of various hardware, software and communication components; and Control Products and Solutions, which relates to the development and provision of related software and value-added solutions.
The Company’s portfolio of products includes control platforms, low and medium voltage electro-mechanical and electronic motor starters, signaling devices, termination and protection devices, relays and timers. Rockwell serves a global customer base through a hybrid distribution model, comprising a network of third party distributors and the Company’s own direct sales force.
Key Partners
Rockwell works in conjunction with a range of companies and organisations in the development, distribution, and implementation of its solutions. These partners include:
- Supplier and Vendor Partners, comprising suppliers of raw materials, tools and resources that are utilised in the manufacture of the Company’s products, as well as services and equipment that are utilised enterprise-wide;
- Distribution and Channel Partners, comprising various independent sales agents and authorised distributors that work with the Company in selling and delivering the Company’s products to customers around the world;
- Manufacturing Partners, comprising various original equipment manufacturers that provide products and solutions that use Rockwell’s technologies;
- Technology Partners, comprising software developers and systems integrators that assist in implementing and delivering the Company’s products and integrating Rockwell functionality into third party solutions; and
- Strategic and Alliance Partners, comprising a range of market-leading companies across various sectors that collaborate with the Company on joint solutions and projects.
Rockwell’s systems integrator partners include Accent Controls 2R Automation, and ABCON Electric; its original equipment manufacturer partners include Diamond Power International, NJM Packaging, and Qualtech; and its strategic partners include Cisco, Panduit, and Microsoft.
Key Resources
Rockwell’s key resources are its technologies and intellectual properties, its supply chain and materials, its manufacturing facilities, its sales and distribution infrastructure, its IT and communications infrastructure, its partnerships, and its personnel.
Rockwell owns and or leases a number of properties that are key to its ongoing activities. This notably includes its network of 12 manufacturing facilities across North America, Europe, and Asia, including in China, Switzerland, Mexico, and Poland.
Rockwell also own or licenses various patents and patent applications that are key to the development and provision of its proprietary products and solutions. Searches of records published by the US Patent and Trademark Office identified numerous patent applications filed in Rockwell’s name, including applications entitled ‘Motor control center unit withdraw with door closed’, ‘Remote industrial monitoring using a cloud infrastructure’ and ‘Remote object data property replication method and system’.
Cost Structure
Rockwell incurs costs in relation to the procurement of raw materials and equipment, the operation of its manufacturing and distribution infrastructure, the operation of its sales and marketing channels, the maintenance of its IT and communications infrastructure, the management of its partnerships, and the retention of its personnel.
In 2015 Rockwell recorded total cost of sales in the amount of $3.60 billion. The Company’s total selling, general and administrative expenses totaled $1.51 billion for the year, with the Company recording research and development costs in the amount of $307.30 million and rental expenses totalling $117.00 million.
Revenue Streams
Rockwell generates revenue through the development, manufacture, and sale of various industrial automation products and solutions across its two operating segments, including:
- Revenue derived from the sale of hardware, software and communication components; and
- Revenue derived from the sale of motor control and industrial control products and the provision of related value-added solutions and services.
In 2015 Rockwell recorded total sales of $6.31 billion, down on the $6.25 billion generated by the Company in 2014. The Company’s Architecture and Software segment recorded annual sales of $2.75 billion, while its Control Products and Solutions segment recorded sales of $3.56 billion.
Our team
info: Blake Moret (“Moret”) has served as President and Chief Executive Officer at Rockwell since 2016. He oversees the overall strategic direction of the Company. Moret has been with Rockwell for more than 31 years, during which time he has held numerous positions, including leadership roles in marketing, solutions, services, and product groups. He began his career in 1985 as a sales trainee, and subsequently served in senior positions across the organisation, including spells as Senior Vice President for Control Products and Solutions, Vice President and General Manager for Customer Support and Maintenance, and Business Lead for the Company’s operator interface business.
info: Theodore Crandall (“Crandall”) has served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Rockwell since 2007. His responsibilities include all aspects of financial management, information technology, corporate development, and contracts and pricing. Crandall has been with Rockwell for more than 30years, having joined the Company in the 1980s. He has held numerous finance, operations and general management roles at the Company in this time, including spells as Vice President and Controller of Electronics Corporation of America – which was acquired by Rockwell in 1986, Vice President of Finance and Business Planning for the predecessor of the Company’s Architecture and Software segment, and Senior Vice President of the Industrial Control Group. Prior to assuming his current position, he served as Interim Chief Financial Officer.
info: Sujeet Chand (“Chand”) serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Rockwell. He is responsible for leading the Company's global technology strategy and technical innovation. Chand first joined Rockwell as an engineer, and is a former recipient of the Rockwell Engineer of the Year award, the highest recognition for engineering accomplishment within the Company. He is an inventor, and currently holds 15 patents and has published more than 75 technical papers in research journals and conferences. Prior to joining Rockwell, Chand led research and development in control systems and information sciences for 12 years at Rockwell Scientific Company. Prior to this he served as Chief Operating Officer at a start-up company.