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Global professional services company Accenture is acquiring Eclipse Automation, a provider of custom automation and robotics solutions for manufacturing applications. Accenture said the acquisition will enable it to offer automated production lines that leverage the cloud, data and artificial intelligence (AI). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Based in Ontario, Canada, Eclipse Automation creates automated manufacturing systems for life sciences, industrial equipment, automotive, energy and consumer goods companies. Its technologists and engineers design, build, integrate and service advanced automation solutions for producing components and devices such as electric vehicle batteries and wearable blood-glucose monitors. Founded in 2001, it has offices in Canada, the US, Hungary, Germany, Switzerland and Malaysia. Eclipse Automation’s approximately 800 employees will join Accenture’s digital engineering and manufacturing service, Industry X.  
 
“Many companies are bringing production back home to Canada and the US due to global supply chain disruptions,” said Jeffrey Russell, president of Accenture in Canada. “This gives them a unique opportunity to reinvent manufacturing with digital technologies and advanced automation. With Eclipse Automation, Accenture will provide technology and training capabilities that our clients need to develop a digital industrial workforce in markets where manufacturing skills are scarce.”  
 
“For two decades, we have been leaders in delivering advanced automation solutions and high-tech manufacturing know-how to clients across multiple industries,” added Steve Mai, CEO of Eclipse Automation. “By joining Accenture, we can also bring the advantages of data, AI and the cloud to our clients’ facilities at a scale that no other company can offer them.” 
 
The acquisition marks the next milestone in Accenture’s expansion of its digital engineering and manufacturing capabilities. In 2021, Accenture acquired Pollux (Brazil), which engineers and deploys materials handling and autonomous mobile robots, paving its way into autonomous robotics systems. In 2020, Accenture acquired Myrtle Consulting (US, Canada), a consultancy for strategic advisory on industrial operations, and Callisto Integration (Canada), a provider of manufacturing execution and shop-floor control systems. 

Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.