ROK vs FERG Comparison

With roots tracing back to the early 1900s, Rockwell Automation is the successor to Rockwell International, which spun off its avionics segment in 2001. It is a pure-play industrial automation company that operates through three segments. Its largest segment by revenue, intelligent devices, sells factory floor-level devices such as motors, drives, sensors, relays, and actuators. Its software and control segment sells visualization, simulation, and human-machine interface software and control products such as programmable controllers, computers, and operator terminals. Its smallest segment, lifecycle services, offers digital consulting, engineered-to-order services, and other outsourced services such as remote monitoring, cybersecurity, and asset and plant maintenance and optimization.

Ferguson distributes plumbing and HVAC products to North American repair, maintenance, and improvement, new construction, and civil infrastructure markets. It serves over 1 million customers and sources products from 37,000 suppliers. Ferguson engages customers through approximately 1,700 North American branches, over the phone, online, and in residential showrooms. The firm sold its UK business in 2021 and is now solely focused on the North American market.