- New version of the EcoStruxure Automation Expert - because only universal automation makes industrial companies fit for the future
- Green and digital: SM AirSeT medium-voltage switchgear provides decisive improvements in terms of sustainability
- Schneider Electric continues to embrace open, sustainable technologies to transform industry
Schneider Electric, a leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, is showcasing scale-setting innovations for the industry of the future at the digital Hannover Messe 2021 and calling for greater cross-industry collaboration. The tech company believes that through universal automation, digital energy solutions and innovation, industrial companies can better drive global economic recovery, protect the environment more effectively and realise sustainability goals more thoroughly.
"Industry remains in the midst of a massive paradigm shift towards digitalisation," said Peter Herweck, Executive Vice President of Industrial Automation at Schneider Electric. "We are seeing advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, machine learning and many other areas. Unfortunately, however, the associated potential cannot be properly realised within closed industrial systems. To move forward in efficiency, resilience and sustainability, we need to move decisively in new directions. It is therefore time to harness the opportunities of interoperable technologies and partnerships. With universal automation and our ever-growing capabilities from the combination of operational data management and industrial software, we are a reliable, constructive and open partner for our customers to show them new possibilities. We help them gain as much agility and resilience to succeed in their respective industries, even after the pandemic."
The industry of the future
New offerings for the industry of the future will be the focus of Schneider Electric's trade fair activities at Hannover Messe. These include:
- EcoStruxure Automation Expert 21.1: A hardware-independent automation system that easily integrates with third-party solutions to enable continuous operational advances for manufacturers and process industries.
- SM AirSeT: The medium-voltage switchgear sets new standards in sustainability by using pure air and vacuum interruption instead of SF6 gas. Users can thus reap the benefits of digitalisation and take full advantage of the value of their data.
- EcoStruxure Service Plan: The service plans help large industrial companies ensure 24/7 service business continuity through remote consulting, on-site support and condition-based maintenance.
- Service and Modernisation Plan: The service solution with a term of between three and seven years, takes the CAPEX pressure off companies while helping to modernise the electrical installation.
- Galaxy VL: New 3-phase uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for mission-critical industrial environments. This supports the increase of energy and process efficiency as well as the improvement of fail-safety and reliability of ongoing operations. The total cost of ownership of a plant is minimised accordingly.
These innovations, as well as the recently announced combination of the leading OSIsoft PI solution for operational data management with AVEVA's industrial software, enable industry to use data in a value-added manner - and that in the interaction of artificial intelligence and human know-how. In this way, design processes can be simplified, production processes optimised, energy consumption reduced and performance maximised.
Plea for universal automation
Schneider Electric advocates greater industry collaboration and encourages companies to embrace universal automation, sustainability and digitalisation. This is a way to drive global economic recovery and equip manufacturing and process industries for the challenges of the future.
Schneider Electric therefore calls on the industry to evolve technology models to meet current demands for modern agility and resilience. Existing open automation is not open enough. It keeps companies locked into automation solutions that focus on vendor lock-in to the detriment of flexibility and innovation. This is in contrast to universal automation - the world of interoperable plug-and-produce software components based on the IEC 61499 standard. Portable application software is an essential prerequisite for the industry of the future. It enables the user to achieve step-by-step improvements in efficiency and sustainability that were impossible a decade ago. EcoStruxure Automation Expert is Schneider Electric's first offering based on this universal vision of automation.
The ARC Advisory Group (ARC), a leading market research firm in the industry and technology segment, in its report "The Road to Universal Automation" puts the potential savings from the universal automation approach at $20-30 billion annually. Pilot tests indicate potential CAPEX savings of US$1 million per unit, as well as even greater OpEx savings, according to ARC.
Schneider Electric to represent HM partner country Indonesia in Hannover
The Ministry of Industry of the Republic of Indonesia has selected Schneider Electric's Smart Factory in Batam, known from the World Economic Forum, to represent the implementation of the fourth industrial revolution in Indonesia. Schneider Electric is therefore also represented together with the Ministry of Industry as a co-exhibitor in the Indonesian pavilion.
Since 2018, Schneider Electric has had a strategic partnership with the Ministry of Industry of the Republic of Indonesia around the Making Indonesia 4.0 initiative. In conjunction with HM 2021, Schneider Electric has also signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Industry of the Republic of Indonesia to become a partner in the development of a Digital Capabilities Centre as well as a university-level training programme related to the Ministry's Industry 4.0 programme.
Key dates for Schneider Electric at Hannover Messe
Keynotes, innovation sessions, panel discussions and interviews will feature speakers from Schneider Electric, customers and partners (including AVEVA), as well as industry experts, providing information on the most important developments of the past year. The overview:
Tuesday, 13 April
15:00 CEST: Industrial Sustainability - A Roadmap to Decarbonisation and Resource Conservation: Innovation Session with experts from Schneider Electric as well as BloombergNEF and Microsoft.
Wednesday, 14 April
11:00 CEST: Keynote by Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman & CEO of Schneider Electric: Smart & Green, Digital & Electric - Towards a more resilient and sustainable future.
13:30 CEST: Panel: Not business as usual industrial automation. A panel discussion moderated by ARC Advisory on universal automation. Participants include Schneider Electric as well as customers and partners.
14:45 CEST: Panel: Climate Neutrality - New International Alliance. Olivier Blum, Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer of Schneider Electric, discusses technologies and frameworks to achieve climate neutrality with other industry representatives.
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