Ifm, a manufacturer of sensors and controls for industrial automation, has acquired CMS Automatisierungstechnik (CMS Automation Technology GmbH), a software developer based in Austria. The combined company will operate under the name ifm diagnostic services GmbH. The move strengthens ifm’s activities in the field of cloud-based machine diagnostics, and particularly the process division at ifm. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Lothar Zimmer, central managing director of ifm, and Christoph Müllner, CEO of CMS Automatisierungstechnik at the notarization of the purchase contract. The transaction closed Feb. 28. Courtesy of ifm. CMS, with nine employees, offers automated data analysis for early damage detection and predictive maintenance, including automated vibration analyses and diagnostics as well as complete process evaluations, for customers from a wide variety of industries. Andreas Hornstein and Michael Danitschek will be operationally responsible for the newly created division together with CMS CEO Christoph Müllner. In ifm’s process division, the central managing directors Lothar Zimmer and Hans Peter Müller are responsible for the new subsidiary.