A history of innovation and excellence

Robert J. Tomasetta founded Automated Control Concepts Inc. (ACC) in January 1983. To start ACC, Bob left the confines of the General Electric Programmable Logic Controller business to open ACC’s first office in Union, New Jersey, focused on programming those then very “mysterious” programmable controller devices. Today, ACC has grown to become a much-admired company having successfully executed projects in many industries and applications on five continents.

A storied timeline

1980s
By 1985, ACC as a business was clearly successful and viable, so Bob decided to move ACC to Neptune at the beautiful New Jersey shore. While ACC has expanded its footprint over the years, it has remained at the same address and has the same phone number it did at the start. We at ACC see that as a symbolic link to the values and work ethic on which Bob founded the business.

Following ACC’s beginnings as a PLC programming business, the ACC team began to journey into the diversification of technologies, manufacturers, and applications. We were early adopters of utilizing the Personal Computer on the plant floor and heavy users of some of the original HMI/SCADA software products, specifically Intellution’s FIX (running on MS-DOS no less!). In 1987 we developed the OP/Station® product line – designed to protect computers in harsh environments – a business that still thrives today.

In the late 1980s, ACC became active participants and evangelists for the ISA-S88 standard on batch automation. Batch continues to be a significant portion of ACC’s business.

1990s
Throughout the early 1990s, ACC experienced significant growth, most of it coming from our team’s expertise in the process industries – particularly pharmaceutical manufacturing. In 1996 we began our foray into the utility market developing our substation automation practice. We expanded our activities in the area of Manufacturing Information Technology and became a founding member of the ISA95 committee on Enterprise-to-Control System integration. In 2002 we expanded into our current 15,000 sq ft headquarters facility.

2000s
Throughout the decade of the 2000s we expanded our reach into a wide array of infrastructure (water, transportation, utility) and process industries. We also introduced two targeted products, processRecords® for workflow management and data collection and bioStation, a flexible bioreactor control solution.

2010s
Recently ACC has developed a significant practice in energy monitoring and facility automation – serving college campuses, hospitals, and industrial manufacturers. In 2011, we officially opened our Rockville, Maryland, office.

2013
30th anniversary

2017
As the manufacturing landscape continues to evolve with innovations in technology, we look forward to continuing to expand our services and reach, while staying true to our founding customer-focused principles of stability and long-term relationships, and continuing to maintain a high level of ethics, integrity, and excellence.

2021
Sverica Capital Management LP (“Sverica”), a private equity investment firm, today announced that on October 22 it acquired a majority position in ACC. The transaction marks a milestone for ACC, facilitating a hand-off from Robert Tomasetta, who founded the Company in 1983. Michael Blechman, shareholder and CEO, stated, “We are proud to have grown ACC to a point where it attracted the interest of a firm like Sverica. The management team looks forward to working with our new capital partner to take ACC to new heights, building upon the foundation of excellence we developed as a provider of technology solutions and products for manufacturing and infrastructure clients.” Kevin Hannigan, President of ACC added, “Having a growth-oriented firm like Sverica as an investor creates a tremendous ability for us to pursue new strategic business areas and provides additional opportunities for our dedicated ACC team members.”