FMCG, pharmaceutical and logistics operations are set to benefit from the release of Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure Automation Expert version 21.1, its software-centric universal automation system.
With this latest release, Schneider urges manufacturing and process industries to embrace the benefits of universal automation, sustainability and digitalisation to boost global economic recovery through next generation industrial automation.
“EcoStruxure v21.1 is an important milestone in our journey to help manufacturers achieve the step-change advancements possible with a digital-first approach to industrial automation,” says Fabrice Jadot, senior vice-president, Next Generation Automation, Schneider.
“Today’s operations need to react quickly to fluctuating market and environmental dynamics and rapidly mitigate potential risks.
“By separating the hardware and software lifecycles, EcoStruxure enables automation applications to be built using asset-centric, portable, proven-in-use software components, independent of the underlying hardware infrastructure.
“This software-centric approach delivers unprecedented cost and performance gains and frees engineers to innovate by automating low-value work and eliminating task duplication across tools.”
Schneider has implemented EcoStruxure in its own Smart Distribution Centre in Shanghai, China to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
Because the software is decoupled from the hardware, modifying the conveying line to adapt as flow requirements change is easier and more cost-effective. According to Schneider, identifying the root cause of failure and troubleshooting is four times faster, and with 45 per cent less products on the error line, throughput is increased by 5.3 per cent.
“EcoStruxure provides a smooth integration of third-party software, so now we can seamlessly adapt our operations by reconfiguring our processes to increase throughput,” explains Mourad Tamoud, chief supply chain officer, Schneider.
“Having a holistic view across the full system using one single point of reference increases our maintenance efficiency through faster failure identification and response in our Shanghai Smart Distribution Centre.”
Among other advancements, EcoStruxure V21.1 includes enhanced cybersecurity, diagnostics, discovery and commissioning features, and expanded libraries and language support.
In addition, improved integration with AVEVA System Platform ensures EcoStruxure customers can take advantage of AVEVA’s market-leading software for supervisory, enterprise, SCADA, MES and IIoT applications with minimal engineering overhead.
With the latest release, Schneider urges manufacturing and process industries to embrace the benefits of universal automation, sustainability and digitalisation to boost global economic recovery through next generation industrial automation.
“EcoStruxure is changing the game for industrial automation and demonstrates Schneider’s commitment to universal automation,” says Jadot.
“We continue to invite industrial developers everywhere to create their own software components and solutions based on the IEC61499 standard, which can easily interoperate with EcoStruxure.”
