Energy reduction and efficiency have become major initiatives for original equipment manufacturers looking to cut costs and improve machine performance. Schneider Electric now offers MachineStruxure, the latest addition to the company’s comprehensive EcoStruxure energy management architecture portfolio. EcoStruxure connects five domains of business expertise – power, data centers, process and machines, building control, and physical security. According to the company, MachineStruxure is designed to help OEMs design machines that are optimized for cost, energy efficiency, and performance. Sanjay Mehta, OEM Products and Solutions Marketing Manager, Schneider Electric recently spoke to Manufacturing Business Technology about MachineStruxure, energy efficiency, and some of the other challenges OEMs face in today’s competitive business environment.
MBT: What are some of the key challenges faced by OEMs?
Mehta: I would say the number one challenge is reduced design time and time to market. Number two is machine performance and energy efficiency. Number three is increased profitability while reducing cost. They are very concerned with cost, no question. Nevertheless, OEMs are always looking for Solution simplicity combined with innovation from both, the machine-level and from the automation offer used.
MBT: Are manufacturers really taking a hard look at energy efficiency?
Mehta: I think the pressure is now building heavily on OEMs to consider very energy efficient offerings.
Working with the serious OEMs, they are always looking to improve machine performance and energy efficiency. They are always asking us for ways to offer new energy efficiencies in terms of automating, metering, and monitoring even at the machine level.
MBT: What does MachineStruxure offer OEMs?
Mehta: It offers one single software environment for four controlled platforms.
It’s also an entry for OEM products and solutions into EcoStruxure (Schneider Electric’s energy management architecture portfolio). It is an approach that enables intelligent energy management solutions for customers, allowing them to optimize energy efficiency across multiple domains.
With open and flexible technology architecture, we can deliver up to 30 percent savings in energy efficiency. That’s our EcoStruxure campaign.
MBT: What are some of the benefits they are seeing?
Mehta: If I really take a look at the big picture, we all understand that by 2050 energy demand will double. The pressure of a common goal to save the planet and reduce the level of pollution, everyone has to contribute. Now (OEMs) are asking us if, in our automation offering, can we give them some metering function, or can we monitor their energy consumption, or how they can even optimize it by using more speed drives. The speed drives offer a huge reduction in terms of energy consumption, even as much as 30 percent, when you have full optimization.
MBT: One of the purposes of this solution is to cut design and implementation time. What are some of the specific advantages OEMs can see in this area?
Mehta: MachineStruxure offers tested validated documented architecture. That gives OEMs a very solid base to start optimizing their automation architectures. In my experience, when you use tested validated documented architecture you are already 50 to 60 percent in advance, compared to a simple product approach. So it saves up to 50 percent of design and implementation time, and it gives you the guarantee of performance.
MBT: Where do you think these types of technologies and solutions are headed in the future?
Mehta: Moving forward we will see more and more optimization around some of the offerings.
Number two, my observation is we will find more and more active energy efficiency features offered through something like a PLC or a controlled platform. Because without a clear understanding of metering and monitoring, we can’t move forward to the next steps in optimized energies.
Visit www.schneider-electric.com to learn more.
