AUSTIN, TX--National Instruments and the Automation and Drives Group of Siemens AG are cooperating to develop solutions for automated manufacturing applications requiring precise measurement and control.

In the first step of the initiative, PC-based industrial measurement products from National Instruments will be integrated into Siemens' Simatic PC-based manufacturing automation systems. National Instruments' measurement and signal-conditioning hardware will enable manufacturers to monitor the performance of the Siemens equipment.

NI is also developing an application for its Labview graphical development environment to communicate with Siemens WinAC control software.