2015 Readers’ Choice Awards: Top automation providers for control, hardware, motion, networking, safety, sensing and software

See the top five companies in these categories: Control, Hardware, Motion, Networking, Safety, Sensing and Software.

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Everyone has a favorite supplier for various components or systems. Those favorites can change over time, too — sometimes due to new features or better service offered by a different supplier. And sometimes the distribution channel itself can be a major factor in where and who to buy. The decision is tricky, but the choice is yours.

Each year, Control Design asks its readers which suppliers are their go-to sources for myriad product categories. The answers vary slightly from time to time, but change comes slowly. This marks the 15^th year of the Control Design Readers’ Choice Awards.

This year, we sent questionnaires to 17,974 subscribers who tell us they have buying authority or influence for industrial control and automation products. They were offered an unaided ballot that allowed them to rank their first, second and third choices for suppliers in each of 61 product categories. We do not provide any list of suppliers as guidance, and we do not knowingly count the votes of any suppliers. We also asked the voters to rank the service and support of those companies.

To make it easier to find product categories, this year we’ve grouped them into seven larger categories in one easy-to-navigate ebook — Control, Hardware, Motion, Networking, Safety, Sensing and Software.