Schneider Electric Launches EcoStruxure Automation Expert Version 21.2 to Manage Full Automation Lifecycle of Water and Wastewater Operations
October 18, 2021
Schneider Electric, a major provider in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, recently announced version 21.2 of EcoStruxure Automation Expert, further enhancing the capabilities of the world’s first software-centric universal automation system.
Following previous success with its implementation across the consumer-packaged goods and logistics sectors, the new release will focus on helping future-proof water and wastewater (WWW) plant operations.
Water and wastewater plants that implement EcoStruxure Automation Expert will now have complete lifecycle management, seamless integration of IT/OT services and improved system diagnostics for their automation systems. The solution also enables close integration with the AVEVA portfolio, further extending capabilities and options to add or modify as future needs arise.
EcoStruxure Automation Expert v21.2 is the next in an ongoing series of updates and enhancements that Schneider Electric delivers to the market at least twice a year. Schneider Electric are currently showcasing this and other innovations for the water and wastewater industries at the 2021 Water Environment Federation’s Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC) in Chicago Oct. 16-20 in booth #2604.
“As the water/wastewater industry prepares for significant investments in modernization and growth, they will need to incorporate new digital tools to properly manage their operations and gain the greatest efficiencies moving forward,” said David Lee, Water/Wastewater Segment Leader, Schneider Electric. “By incorporating EcoStruxure Automation Expert, operators will gain greater control of their systems and reduce operating costs, while simplifying future maintenance needs.”
With $2.25 trillion dedicated to infrastructure spending in the proposed American Jobs Plan, the water and wastewater industries expect to see a dramatic increase in investment in the coming years. This is the time to make significant enhancements and progress in the sector by embracing universal automation to drive the next level of sustainable water operations.
Future-proof flexibility
With a life span of 25-35 years, water and wastewater plants typically remain with one automation provider throughout their entire project lifecycle, leaving them with outdated and rigid operations. Introducing EcoStruxure Automation Expert allows the automation software to be separated from the hardware, providing freedom for WWW enterprises to break their dependency on proprietary hardware suppliers.
EcoStruxure Automation Expert will provide a single platform that evolves with time for water and wastewater subsegments, including:
- – Treatment infrastructures: water treatment and wastewater treatment plants, desalination plants and industrial wastewater
- – Network infrastructures: water and wastewater networks
- – Water resources: distributed systems, such as irrigation systems
Technology transforming industries of the future
New enhancements in EcoStruxure Automation Expert v21.2 include:
- 1. Enhanced lifecycle management: From designing and building water and wastewater plants to improving operation and maintenance, EcoStruxure Automation Expert offers seamless connection to engineering software – including AVEVA – so new designs or changes to existing ones can be validated virtually prior to implementation, both reducing errors and saving time and money. This asset centric approach allows for automatic deployment of process elements (with e.g., their control, supervisory, mechanical, electric and control designs) enabling process assets to be managed digitally across their entire lifecycle.
- 2. Improved device integration and out of the box application libraries: A continued drive for open, universal automation platforms has led to a streamlined licence model and the introduction of a native visualization solution with EcoStruxure Automation Expert HMI now available on cost effective local panels.
- 3. Complete digital solution from end point to the cloud: A seamless integration of IT and OT systems boosts security and longevity, while ensuring customers have a solution that will evolve over time.
Embracing universal automation
Schneider Electric believes the time is right for a bold move in industrial automation and is calling on industrial users, vendors, OEMs, systems integrators and EPCs across industry to embrace universal automation.
Universal automation is the world of plug and produce automation software components based on the IEC61499 standard that solve specific customer problems in a proven way. Adoption of an IEC61499-based standardized automation layer, common across vendors, will provide limitless opportunities for growth and modernization across industry.
With the launch of EcoStruxure Automation Expert v21.2, Schneider Electric further extends the capabilities of existing IEC61131-based systems and enables an app-store-like model for automation software components. As more universal automation solutions become available, Schneider Electric believes other vendors will adopt universal automation, and end users will begin to demand it from their automation suppliers and ecosystem.
