Expert advice on automation

OEMs and machine builders have a new source of independent advice to help solve control and automation problems, with the introduction of the Routeco "Expert Automation" team.

OEMs and machine builders have a new source of independent advice to help solve control and automation problems, with the introduction of the Routeco "Expert Automation" team.

Most OEMs would currently approach an automation supplier when looking for a control solution, perhaps believing that a distributor would not have the necessary expertise.

But a manufacturer will usually offer products from its own range, and these may not offer the ideal or complete solution for the application.

Routeco, as the UK's leading distributor of industrial automation and control products, is ideally placed to source a range of hardware and software from leading suppliers to provide a "best fit" solution.

Routeco's experts are able to look across the market and provide hardware and software to exactly match the OEM's application.

The Expert Automation team includes 19 product and application specialists, covering areas such as motion control, PLCs, SCADA, communications, sensing, barcoding, drives, motors and safety.

In the area of motion control, for example, Routeco can supply a complete kit of parts including stepper drives, servos, gear heads and linear slides that are guaranteed to work together.

The motion control expert will assist in the design and specification of a system that will best meet the application requirements.

"OEMs today are under intense time pressure", says Routeco's UK OEM Sales Manager Richard Meakin.

"The technical department's priority is often production, leaving little time for machine development, while most procurement departments have already driven down the component costs to the minimum".

By acting as a single source of supply, Routeco is able to help procurement departments minimise their true net costs by reducing transaction costs, cutting the number of vendors they deal with and speeding the integration of controls products.

"Controls manufacturers are generally limited by their product ranges, and can rarely provide the complete solution", says Meakin.

"Our aim with this new service is to provide OEMs with 95% of their control product requirements backed with 100% of our knowhow and expertise".

The introduction of the Expert Automation team now means Routeco can offer customers the very best advice on the design and use of its extensive product range.

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