Rockwell Automation has emphasised its intention to move increasingly into enterprise-wide software systems by buying the Californian company, Datasweep, which specialises in manufacturing production management software. The terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.

Rockwell plans to rebrand Datasweep`s Advanatage products and integrate them into its recently announced FactoryTalk integrated production management and performance suite.

"This acquisition is a key milestone in developing the FactoryTalk suite into a multi-industry, multi-plant capable enterprise manufacturing software platform," says Kevin Roach, vice-president of Rockwell Software (above). "Datasweep has a demonstrated track record for helping manufacturers dramatically to improve production information tracking, visibility and control across an entire enterprise."