Let’s work together

Collaboration is the key to future-proofing efficient and effective manufacturing.

Much has been pronounced about open architecture, networking, automation and seamless integration. These are buzzwords aimed at reassuring an engineering audience that incompatibility between system components, hence commercial lock-out, is not happening. In reality this is not true.

Not only do purveyors of such automation fabrication mislead a public that already has anxieties about keeping up with production deadlines, cost constraints and ever-rising targets, they also fail to grasp the true needs of their customers.

In practice, the vast majority of manufacturers have simply defined quests: to make their products efficiently and at lowest cost; to maintain their facilities and machinery; to control output; and to be free to migrate to system improvements as new technology is available.

To achieve these objectives requires the confidence of the automation manufacturer to deliver truly open systems in the sure knowledge it will continue to compete in the future; and to establish long-term partnerships based on trust and detailed knowledge of the client’s needs.

It is only through initiatives such as Schneider Electric’s Collaborative Engineering that a realisable manufacturing model can be attained. Founded on a platform of software, transparent ready hardware and know-how, such partnerships are designed to last and glean the maximum rewards for the end-user.