Mitsubishi Electric unifies factory data interchange for the next generation of automation using its e-F@ctory solution.
As more IT systems are used by manufacturing industry in order to remain competitive, increasing amounts of shop floor information needs to be included. Without a unified solution the sheer volume of data required can overwhelm control systems and force costly retrofit or clumsy work-around solutions to be employed. The answer is e-F@ctory, Mitsubishi Electric’s vision for manufacturing that unifies its leading technology control hardware and networks with enterprise IT systems offered by strategic partner companies such as IBM.
Comment from Mr Thomas Droth, Sales Manager, Central Eastern Europe, Mitsubishi Factory Automation - European Business Group.
“e-F@ctory’s enterprise connectivity solution offers numerous advantages over traditional data collection methods and is built to handle high levels of data processing and interaction, not just today, but in the future.”
This technology provides the tools to immediately improve almost any enterprise’s bottom line through increased productivity, reduced lead-times and waste. e-F@ctory was born out of the expertise Mitsubishi developed in-house through facing its own challenges as a global manufacturing enterprise.
e-F@ctory is based on four main components: the iQ Platform; iQ Works; the CC-Link network architecture and the MESIF (Manufacturing Execution System Interface) / eMESIF (enhanced MESIF).
The iQ Platform represents the next generation of automation from Mitsubishi Electric based on the Q Series controller, of which there are more than four million systems installed worldwide. The iQ Platform unifies sequence, motion, process and PC based control on the same compact, industrially hardened system, and adds CNC and robot control capability. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) can be reduced by eliminating the engineering work needed to integrate disparate control disciplines on the same system.
iQ Works is the complementary integrated development environment for the iQ Platform that can be used to develop and maintain complete systems, regardless of the control disciplines and networks involved.
With e-F@ctory, Mitsubishi Electric is contributing technology to the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) that takes the established open CC-Link network technology and expands it into a fully developed architecture. This takes the form of CC-Link IE (Industrial Ethernet), the world’s first commercial application of gigabit Ethernet in the industrial automation market. With essentially unlimited bandwidth, CC-Link IE uses innovative program-free configuration technology that permits even large networks to be set up and operated without needing to write any program code. CC-Link IE connects entire manufacturing or assembly plants.
Mitsubishi Electric’s Manufacturing Execution System (MES) Interface (MESIF) and enhanced MESIF (eMESIF) technologies offer tremendous cost savings by allowing shop floor controllers, such as the iQ Platform, to communicate directly with enterprise IT level servers and mainframes. This avoids the need for intermediate PC-based hardware and its associated reliability, cost and maintenance issues. MESIF goes beyond just eliminating excess hardware; through MESIF’s low-cost, direct channel to IT systems, manufacturers gain a valuable window into their processes, resulting in higher efficiency, reduced waste, better quality and ultimately, an improved bottom line.
Once reserved for large corporations with large budgets and IT staff, MESIF and eMESIF levels the playing field by putting this capability into the hands of any company, it also offers this capability to users of third party equipment. MESIF and eMESIF are compatible with a wide range of IT platforms, including those from industry leaders such as Microsoft, IBM and Sun, as well as industry standard technology such as SQL.
About Mitsubishi Electric
With over 85 years of experience in providing reliable, high-quality products to both corporate clients and general consumers all over the world, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TSE: 6503 / ISIN JP3902400005) is a recognized world leader in the manufacture, marketing and sales of electrical and electronic equipment used in information processing and communications, space development and satellite communications, consumer electronics, industrial technology, energy, transportation and building equipment. The company recorded consolidated group sales of 26,6 billion Euro in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010.
Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Japan, and represents over a 30 year history of sales, service and support of automation products within the European market place.
* Exchange rate: 125,93 Yen = 1 Euro as of 31.3.2010 European Central Bank
Further Information:
www.mitsubishi-laser.eu
www.creating-productivity.com
http://global.mitsubishielectric.com
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Company Contact
Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V. : Hiroshi Hasegawa
Tel: +49 (0)2102 486-4940 Fax: +49 (0)2102 486 7090
Web: www.mitsubishi-laser.eu
Email: hiroshi.hasegawa@meg.mee.com