Pepperl+Fuchs acquires the business of Comtrol Corporation

New Interfaces for Quicker Access to IoT and the Cloud

The automation specialist Pepperl+Fuchs has acquired the business of Comtrol Corporation. Comtrol is a pioneer in the field of Ethernet-based industrial communication and a leading provider of gateway components with IO-Link connections. Comtrol was also the first company to offer an OPC UA interface that conforms to the IO-Link specification. Comtrol has made a name for itself in the market with its RocketLinx® series of switches, among other products.

"An enhanced Pepperl+Fuchs IO-Link product range will help our customers improve the data flow from field devices to the control level and the cloud. Customers will be able to turn to a single, trusted partner to help develop their newest digital business processes," says Reiner Müller, President of the Factory Automation Division at Pepperl+Fuchs.

The acquisition helps Pepperl+Fuchs reinforce its "Sensorik4.0®" offerings, in particular for managed/unmanaged switches and interface converters for connecting existing installations to the IoT world, such as with IO-Link masters, and especially for the world of PC-based controllers. This will make it even easier for customers to implement parallel network connections in their plants. Acquiring Comtrol will allow Pepperl+Fuchs to provide innovative sensor solutions with various interfaces, such as Ethernet, IO-Link, OPC UA, MQTT, and AS-Interface. This will make the Mannheim based company a full-service provider, from the sensor level right through to the cloud.