Machine builder design efficiencies increase when core machine components are easy to select and simple to wire and install. Thanks, in part, to fast moving technology trends such as Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Until just recently, for example, it would never have occurred to most machine builders that they would have the ability to connect motors or other loads to the industrial networks and the internet in order to instantly access data required to make better design, installation, and machine maintenance decisions.

The TeSys Island from Schneider Electric has been designed as a digitized solution, tasked with improving OEM workplace efficiencies. Some of the new fully digital and object-oriented load management systems offer efficiency gains at every stage of the machine life cycle.

Configuring & Building

Traditionally when configuring a motor starter/load management solution, machine builders would typically find the required parts through physical catalogues, and once ordered and delivered would need to be assembled from different components and wired to multiple points including a PLC if required.

With the TeSys Island an online configurator tool is used to assist the machine builder based on their specific application. The knowledge needed to build an application is integrated within the avatars (modules) of the TeSys Island system. The machine builder simply selects the appropriate avatars that represent the functions they need and the configuration tool automatically generates the appropriate bill of materials. When the machine builder starts programming his solution, the file created by the configuration tool, and all the settings that were indicated in the selection process, are automatically imported to the island and PLC. This time-consuming task of dual or triple entry of specifications is avoided, reducing engineering time.