Education and Training Vendors Worldwide

ASTOR is a leading Polish industrial technology company founded in 1987 and headquartered in Kraków. With nearly 200 employees, the company serves as a Value-Added Exclusive Distributor of industrial automation, software, robotics, and intralogistics solutions across Poland, and operates as a competence hub for Central and Eastern Europe. ASTOR is the authorised distributor of AVEVA industrial software — including HMI/SCADA, MES, historian, and digital twin platforms — and has supported manufacturing digitalisation projects for over 28 years. The company is also the exclusive Kawasaki Robotics distributor for 12 countries in CEE and manufactures its own educational robot brand, Astorino, along with the Astraada automation hardware range. ASTOR serves OEM machine builders, system integrators, and production companies across industries including food and beverage, automotive, chemicals, and energy. Its three Kraków-based facilities include a Digital Factory of the Future showroom and an ASTOR Robotics Center. The company actively promotes Industry 4.0 adoption in Poland through training, publications, and its ASTOR Academy education programme.

Kongsberg Digital is a Norwegian industrial software company and subsidiary of the KONGSBERG Group, founded in 2016 to consolidate the group's digital expertise for heavy-asset industries. The company delivers AI-powered digital twin technology, process and flow simulation, and operational intelligence solutions through its Industrial Work Surface platform — a unified environment integrating enterprise data to support decision-making from design through operations and maintenance. Core products include Kognitwin (digital twin for asset performance management), K-Spice (dynamic process simulation), LedaFlow (multiphase flow simulation), and SiteCom (operations centre collaboration). Kongsberg Digital serves major energy operators including Equinor, Chevron, Shell, and Vår Energi, with growing presence in chemicals (Yara International) and carbon capture & storage. The company raised $90M in Series C funding from Shell Ventures and Idékapital in 2023 and partners with Google Cloud for AI-driven industrial intelligence.

exida.com GmbH is a functional safety specialist focused on the full safety lifecycle for industrial automation and process plants. They support clients from hazard and risk analysis through SIL determination, Safety Requirements Specification (SRS), safety architecture review, and independent verification and validation. exida is commonly engaged for IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 lifecycle work on Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS), as well as machinery safety projects aligned with ISO 13849 and IEC 62061, where defensible documentation and audit-ready evidence are required.

SGS provides functional safety inspection, verification, testing, and certification services for industrial automation and safety-related control systems. Their scope includes lifecycle compliance support for IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 in process industries, as well as machinery functional safety aligned with ISO 13849 and IEC 62061. SGS is typically engaged when formal third-party assurance and recognized certification documentation are required.

PLC Simulator develops browser-based PLC programming and industrial simulation software for learners, technical instructors and engineering teams. The platform combines ladder-logic practice with interactive machine scenarios, including packaging and material-handling exercises, and a 3D sandbox for composing simulated factory scenes. Team plans support managed training cohorts and progress reporting. This is educational simulation software, not a supplier of physical PLCs, a commissioning contractor, or a substitute for validating control programs on real equipment. Contact: Paul Daniels.