At its annual sales conference, automation solutions pioneer Omron honored four of its top channel partners with an award that recognizes their excellence in revenue growth, local engagement, expertise and solution selling.

Hoffman Estates, IL., June 12, 2018 – Industrial automation solutions provider Omron Automation Americas recently announced the 2017 fiscal year’s winners of the prestigious Distributor of the Year award at its FY18 Sales Conference during the week of May 21st. Over 650 persons representing Omron and its channel partners participated in the event, which included new technology presentations, product training, business planning and team building activities.

The Sales Conference was truly an Americas event, with attendees hailing from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and other Latin American countries. The four top-performing channel partners honored at the event represented three different countries and were chosen based on criteria including revenue growth, local engagement, expertise and solution selling.

Mark Sadie, Omron’s vice president of US and Strategic Sales, presented the U.S. awards. “It was great to see two of our larger channel partners embrace the new technologies and channel programs introduced during the past two years and achieve great success in our FY17,” says Sadie. This is why we had co-winners for the US. “It is a standard we believe they will continue to follow and sets a solid example for our other channel partners to follow”.

Winning Distributor: Axis New England (United States)

As a leading automation technology center dating back to 1994, Axis New England provides innovative solutions to manufacturing challenges with a focus on motion control, robotics, and industrial automation. Its staff of over 50 employees are headquartered outside of Boston with an engineering group based in Rochester, New York, and branch locations in both Connecticut and New Hampshire. Axis has been an Omron distributor since 2006.

“Axis is very excited about the success we have experienced with Omron over the past few years,” says Axis New England President Todd Clark. “The partnership is strong, with our teams working well together delivering exceptional value to our automation clients. Omron’s product offering continues to expand and gain further acceptance in the marketplace. Possibly most exciting are the prospects for future growth and success.”

Winning Distributor: Southern Controls (United States)

Southern Controls is a company specializing in automation and control technology that was founded in 1974 in Montgomery, Alabama. “Our partnership with Omron began in 1978, selling basic switches,” says Mark Grooms, the company’s president. “While Omron’s core products are still a big part of our sales success, we have evolved into a total automation solution provider. We have twelve application engineers who support our highly trained outside and inside sales teams, and our success stems from our unique ability to create market share. Omron’s vast product offering, continuous introduction of new innovative products, superior factory support and commitment to the highest quality makes them a perfect partner. We are excited about our future with Omron as we continue to bring the latest in technology and service to our customers, and we are proud and humbled to be named Omron’s U.S. Distributor of the Year for 2017.”

Winning Distributor: Barmex (Mexico)

Barmex provides solutions for power transmission and motion control that allow industrial facilities to function with greater speed and efficiency. It was founded in 1969 as a wholesale company dedicated to importing the best brands and products available on the global market.

In Mexico, Omron has embarked upon an evolution of its sales organization that features its sales partners as a critical and fundamental part of its strategy. According to Mauricio Blanc, Omron’s general manager of Latin America, “partners like Barmex have embraced this evolution by investing in key strategic areas aligned with Omron sales teams while focusing on providing the best automation products and solutions though a value-added service. These partners have seen their efforts pay off immensely, and now Barmex has become the largest distributor in Mexico in 2017. We look forward to continuing this evolution and working with our partners in the coming FY18.”

Winning Distributor: Proax Technologies (Canada)

Proax Technologies is a leading distributor of technical automation products with a focus on providing innovative solutions in the areas of machine automation, motion control and machine safety. It currently has over 100 employees with 11 branch locations across Canada.

“We value our partnership with Omron highly and have invested heavily in supporting their highly advanced technical automation line,” says Stephen Daub, president of Proax Technologies. “We now have proof-of-concept and demo labs in a number of our facilities across Canada along with the technical resources to support them. As Canadian manufacturers continue to evolve to meet global competition, their need to automate is a must. Winning this award substantiates the joint partnership we have with Omron to provide these solutions to our customers. We are excited about the future as Omron continues to bring new and innovative products to the marketplace.”

In Canada, Omron continues to invest significantly in the local market. According to Peter Brouwer, vice president of Omron Canada, “it is because of true business partnerships with distribution partners like Proax Technologies that we are able to provide best-in-class automation products and solutions to our customers. The Omron and Proax teams work closely with each other across the country to make our customers more productive and globally competitive, and to ensure the safety of their employees. The local Omron and Proax teams are closely aligned to provide local technical support to our customers from coast to coast.”

About Omron Automation

Omron Automation is an industrial automation partner that creates, sells and services fully integrated automation solutions that include robotics, sensing, motion, logic, safety, and more. Established in 1933 and currently headed by President Yoshihito Yamada, Omron’s 36,000 employees help businesses solve problems with creativity in more than 110 countries. Learn more at omron247.com.

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