Changing the world through innovation
Schneider Electric is a European multinational corporation that specialises in electricity distribution, automation management and the manufacture of installation components for energy management. Industry Europe looks at some of the company’s latest high-profile partnerships, and at how it is working to change the world through sustainable innovation.
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chneider Electric was founded in France in 1836 by the Schneider brothers, who acquired the Creusot foundries in order to make armaments and heavy machinery. Innovation played a key role in its fortunes and by 1891 Schneider had become a major player in the emerging global electricity market. Today the group leads the field in its key market sectors including UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) Movement Control and Building Automation. Furthermore, it has continued to strengthen its lead in advanced ‘Smart Grid’ technology. Schneider is headquartered in Rueil-Malmaison, France and is also based at the World Trade Centre in Grenoble, Switzerland. Today the company’s biggest markets are energy management, automation and control products for the metals, mining and water management industries. This is where Schneider’s programmable PLCs and validated architecture makes it easy for it to be much more energy efficient. All Schneider’s latest energy management products, including its revolutionary Modicon M580 automation controller, were showcased recently at the SCA Trade Fair held in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Sustainable innovation Schneider’s huge investment in R&D is designed to sustain its programme of innovation and differentiation, with a strong commitment to sustainable development. Innovation drives the company’s strategy for growth and dictates the research and development 56 Industry Europe
priorities designed to solve the planet’s energy dilemma and to make the IoT (Internet of Things) and the Smart Grid a reality. Having a deep understanding of its customers’ needs the company’s R&D teams create comprehensive, scalable and flexible solutions for both energy and operational efficiency. Every year Schneider invests around 5 per cent of its revenues in its various R&D programmes. One result of this continued innovation was last year’s introduction of the Water Network Optimisation (WNO) Suite, a Water and Wastewater industry solution powered by Aquis 7.0 and built on Wonderware System Platform. Water network operators can use WNO to acquire and centralise real-time data from network critical points for complete visibility and control of their water distribution network. ClearSCADA users can continue to leverage existing HMI/ user interfaces to gain direct access to this new industry solution, helping to accelerate deployment and time-to-value. The water industry, among others, faces the challenge of doing more with less. Infrastructure asset lifecycles must be extended, drought conditions have created significant sourcing and demand forecasting difficulties, and increasingly stringent regulations must now be adhered to. At the same time, greater focus on sustainability, energy cost and carbon reductions are putting new pressure on operations. Water Network Optimisation Suite is a new industry solution from Schneider Electric that delivers both real-time and ‘future-time’ vis-
