News COMMENT
Welcome to the October issue of Instrumentation Monthly.
The 2025
Instrumentation & Electronics Awards took place earlier this month. The event was a huge
success. You can find a full list of the winners and highly commended participants on page 6 of this issue. Next month we’ll feature a ‘Meet the Winners’ supplement that will explore the winners in greater detail.
Victoria White, Editor M A
new global report from ABB, devel- oped in partnership with Sapio Research and based on a survey of 3,600 senior decision-makers across multiple sectors, finds that just over half of respondents (55
per cent) have a strategic and proactive plan to modernise facilities and manage out obsolete components like old motors and drives. Despite growing awareness, the data highlights that 44 per cent of leaders experience equipment-re- lated interruptions at least monthly, with 14 per cent reporting stoppages every single week – implying major financial and operational risks. The majority estimate these sudden disruptions cost anywhere from $10,000 up to $500,000 per hour. For 7 per cent, the figure climbs even higher.
The report reveals key gaps between planning and execution. While 55 per cent of industry players claim to have a proactive modernisation strategy, only one in five of those grappling with weekly inter- ruptions actually implement such a plan. Likewise, among the 30 per cent who are dealing with monthly issues, just one third (34 per cent) actively manage life-cycle processes for their facilities and assets. “Unplanned downtime is costing industry up to half a million dollars per hour – yet one in three businesses hasn’t modernised their motor-driven systems in the last two years. That’s more than a missed opportu- nity, it’s a silent crisis,” commented Oswald Deuchar, global head of Modernization Program, ABB Motion Services. “Our research shows that those who shift from reactive firefighting to forward-looking life-cycle strate- gies experience fewer failures and greater resilience.
Instrumentation Monthly October 2025 MOLEX TO ACQUIRE SMITHS INTERCONNECT
olex, a leading global electronics connectivity innovator, has announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Smiths Interconnect.
Smiths Interconnect, a subsidiary of United King- dom-based Smiths Group, is a leading provider of high-reliability connectivity products and solutions serving the aerospace and defense, medical, semiconductor test and industrial markets. Smiths will receive cash consideration for the transaction, subject to customary adjustments for working capital, cash and debt.
“Molex is excited to reinforce our commitment to the aerospace and defense market with the acquisition of Smiths Interconnect,” said Joe Nelligan, CEO, Molex. “Smiths Interconnect has a highly complementary portfolio of advantaged solutions that strongly enhances the platform
established by our acquisition of AirBorn last November. The combination of Molex’s global scale, capabilities and financial stability with Smiths Interconnect’s complementary tech- nologies, products, customers and footprint will enable us to expand our aerospace and defense business and support customers in new and innovative ways.”
Smiths Interconnect designs and manufactures technically differentiated electronic compo- nents, along with microwave, optical and radio frequency products and subsystems that connect, protect and control critical applications. Smiths Interconnect has 21 sales, R&D and manufac- turing locations across 12 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Tunisia, India, China and Singapore.
Molex
www.molex.com
INDUSTRIAL DOWNTIME COSTS UP TO $500,000 PER HOUR AND CAN HAPPEN EVERY WEEK
A key challenge, though, remains in justifying the up-front investment. With some applications, upgrading obsolete, inefficient equipment can generate return on investment in less than two years, but leadership buy-in is often hard-won.”
Communication gaps remain. Despite the strik- ingly high hourly cost of unplanned downtime, over a third of respondents find it somewhat difficult or very difficult to articulate the return on investment (ROI) of modernisation projects to senior leaders. Meanwhile, 17 per cent of businesses “rarely or never” include the impact of lost productivity in their capital investment decisions. Cost remains the top barrier to modernisation for 28 per cent of industrial players. Among the 66 per cent who have undertaken an upgrading and retrofitting project in the last two years, just over one quarter explicitly did so to reduce stoppage risks
– highlighting that the link between continuous life- cycle management and operational reliability is still not fully understood or acted upon, even by many modernisation proponents.
“We’re hoping this report opens some eyes. Modernisation isn’t just about replacing old parts, it’s about rethinking performance. With 44 per cent of industrial players facing monthly setbacks, the case for smarter asset management has never been more urgent,” continued Deuchar. “ABB’s approach combines digital intelligence, modular retrofits, and circularity principles to turn yesterday’s equipment into tomorrow’s high performers. This is how we enable clients to trade last-minute fixes for long-term foresight. Because today uptime is a mandate for a more competitive future.”
ABB
www.abb.com 5
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