The latest version of the world’s first software-centric industrial automation system offers value for end users, integrators, OEMs, and vendors by creating a single digital thread from OT to IT
Schneider Electric, the leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, has launched its next-generation industrial automation software, EcoStruxure Automation Expert v24. The new update supports larger plant sizes and additional communication protocols.
The software-centric industrial automation system supports Schneider Electric’s vision that every enterprise can benefit from the latest digital capabilities regardless of the age of the hardware already in place. It can be deployed across energy and chemicals, life sciences, water and wastewater, food and beverage, logistics, and mineral, metals and mining.
Version 24 features Input/Output (I/O) capacity of 5000 I/O per solution to support larger plant architectures. In addition to its present wide scope of Open Industrial communications including Ethernet/IP, Modbus TCP and HART, it now also integrates MQTT, OPC-UA and Profinet communication protocols, and provides easier navigation and enhanced cyber security. Furthermore, a new artificial intelligence (AI) function will help engineers develop advanced features such as visual inspections.
The updates reinforce EcoStruxure Automation Expert as software that removes the barriers of proprietary systems by communicating across different machines, devices, and sensors so they work together efficiently. The digital-first approach increases reliability, productivity, and sustainability without changes to hardware; additional best-in-class components can be seamlessly integrated at any time.
The software enables operators to fix operational problems and alter production flows faster and with less risk than traditional approaches. Studies with Schneider Electric’s customers have found that EcoStruxure Automation Expert provides up to 3x faster application creation, 6x faster diagnostics, and 7x faster production alterations. The solution will provide users with an enhanced cyber security posture, AI integration and the ability to update the industrial controller, maintaining high levels of availability.
Looking beyond efficiency, EcoStruxure Automation Expert can also integrate new energy solutions without overhauling entire automation systems. Even renewable energy businesses stand to benefit by simplifying the management and maintenance of complex assets while extending their lifecycle. In both examples, EcoStruxure Automation Expert acts as an enabler of industrial sustainability by supporting the collective effort of the sector as it works towards net zero goals.
Dave Sutton – Product Marketing Manager for Industrial Automation; Schneider Electric
“EcoStruxure Automation Expert v24 is a reflection of Schneider Electric’s commitment to realising universal automation. If every industrial enterprise had the digital foundation to improve their own processes while scaling at their own pace and selecting the best-in-class components, the collective efficiency improvements would be staggering. EcoStruxure Automation Expert v24 empowers businesses to make the most of energy and resources while delivering flexibility that easily adapts to the needs of the customer, whatever they may be.”
EcoStruxure Automation Expert has continually delivered value for multiple industrial processes, for example:
- Brilliant Planet is a pioneer in low-cost, algae-based carbon capture, that permanently sequesters carbon at the gigaton scale to help combat climate change. To meet their scalability needs required a solution that modularised the application, enabling them to copy, paste, and scale at each site. Brilliant Planet selected EcoStruxure Automation Expert, linked to an AVEVA System Platform which controls the site’s algae cultivation utilizing data from a high-frequency satellite. This led to the ability to effectively manage and increase yield in an automated closed-loop manner and provided the foundation for further expansion.
- Synesis works to facilitate the development & innovation of Industry 4.0 software for small and medium-sized companies, which can often be a challenge. By working closely with Schneider Electric, and leveraging the IEC 61499 compliant EcoStruxure Automation Expert, Synesis has developed a complete IEC61499-based application on a demonstrator to highlight the possibilities of this new standard, resulting in 50% less effort in developing control software.
EcoStruxure Automation Expert is a new category in industrial automation, fundamentally changing how Schneider Electric delivers technology, but also shaping how that technology interacts with what’s part of industrial processes now and what will be added in the future. End users, system integrators, and OEMs can explore a level of operational effectiveness that could only be dreamt of a decade ago. Version 24 is adding greater scalability and adaptability.
