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MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC BV

Japanese culture meets European demand

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Mastering New

OPPORTUNIT Mitsubishi Electric’s e-F@ctory concept epitomises everything that the European Factory Automation Business Unit has become renowned for over the years, championing culture and customer-centricity above all else Writer: Matthew Staff Project Manager: Arron Rampling or a Company able to display the name ‘Mitsubishi Electric’ and the famous red diamonds within its branding, the art of innovation should come as no surprise, but for Mitsubishi Electric, the goal of continuous improvement doesn’t derive from a sense of personal status, rather than from a commitment to customers, business partners and the growth of the wider market. Mitsubishi Electric comprises more than 130,000 employees across a truly worldwide footprint, turning over approximately US$37 billion each year. With 30 factories in Japan alone, its influence is unrivalled, but its values remain grounded. “It all comes down to our policy of

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strong quality and the importance of delivering high quality products and services to market,” opens and emphasises Mitsubishi Electric Europe BV’s Marketing Director Factory Automation for EMEA, Klaus Petersen. “This notion has been part of the Mitsubishi Electric Group since its founding in 1921 and is confirmed by Mitsubishi Electric’s customers to this day who testify that our products, once installed, just run and run and run! “In fact, many of our customers quip how they hate to have bought spare parts from us when buying machines equipped with our products, as they never actually need to use them. The quality of our equipment really is outstanding.” The foremost reason attributed to such sustainable prominence is the Company’s ability to merge production and development; the two arms working harmoniously and collaboratively at their Japanese headquarters in order to sing off the same hymn sheet, and work towards a common goal: quality. “This is applicable to all the different business units we have,” Petersen explains. “We of course have Factory Automation which is where I’m coming from and what I’m representing here in EMEA. But then, to name just the best known, you also have living environment systems like air conditioning systems, etc., while we are also active in the areas of elevators, transportation, energy, space, and of course we are a supplier to the automotive industry as well.

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ompanies looking for an open automation network architecture that will support the requirements of Industry 4.0 now and into the future should consider CC-Link IE industrial Ethernet. CC-Link IE is the only open industrial Ethernet currently available that offers gigabit communication speeds with control, safety and motion functions combined on the same network architecture. One of the key requirements of Industry 4.0 applications is the ability to share large amounts of data between many devices in real time. Bandwidth is a key requirement to do this with maximum productivity. By offering gigabit bandwidth, CC-Link IE has established itself as the technology leader in the industrial Ethernet market. It has proven itself in a wide range of different industries around the world, ranging from automotive to consumer electronics. CC-Link IE and its fieldbus counterpart, CC-Link, are developed and promoted by the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA). The CLPA is a global organisation, headquartered in Japan and was established in 2000, demonstrating that we offer mature, established technologies that can be depended upon for the future. Currently the CLPA has more than 3,000 partners who include more than 300 device manufacturers. Between them they offer around 1,700 CC-Link IE and CC-Link products. This provides sufficient freedom of choice to provide a solution to most application challenges as shown by a global installed base in excess of 19 million devices. To offer full market coverage, the CLPA recently introduced CC-Link IE Field Basic. This extends compatibility

to 100Mbit Ethernet devices and can be implemented by software alone. The CLPA has also been working with other associations such a PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI) and the OPC Foundation in order to increase application possibilities for end users, machine builders and system integrators. This includes a joint specification with PI for CC-Link IE interoperability with PROFINET, and working with the OPC Foundation to add support for OPC-UA to CC-Link IE. CC-Link IE and CC-Link originated in the Japanese market. From there, they quickly spread throughout Asia and onto the rest of the world. They remain market leaders in Asia, which is believed to account for about half the world’s spending on automation. This has led the CLPA to provide the “Gateway to Asia” (G2A) programme which assists overseas manufacturers to develop CC-Link IE and CC-Link compatible devices and market them in Asia in order to tap into this vital market. For more information, contact us at partners@clpa-europe.com, or visit eu.cc-link.org

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to the customers, rather than generally to the market. “It’s most important for us to look at what value each of our products or solutions will bring to a customer when we implement it.” This philosophy is reflected in the groundbreaking initiative in place since 2003 called e-F@ctory. This allows - in cooperation with the Company’s e-F@ctory Alliance partners - for example predictive maintenance solutions and smart services to be formed based on the specific applications, patterns and requirements of each particular customer; using data in real time to create information Klaus and solutions bespoke to each Petersen client’s industry, market, systems and challenges in their digital transformation “We then also have semiconductors process. “This is where we see the value which integrate well with our many in IoT and industry 4.0,” Petersen electric components, giving us a adds. “The overall vision is important further advantage in ensuring we’re because it drives you forward but offering the right products built with what justifies it is the value it brings the right components.” to the table. If you stick to the vision of these initiatives and technologies, Down to earth solutions then it sounds like a great unbelievable Such scope is rare in the industry story, but there’s no reality to how it is but not unique. A select few implemented, and that’s why we opt competitors can indeed boast their own large ranges of products for their for realism and collaborative down to earth solutions ahead of optimism and customers, which they then promote just selling the vision.” as part of a turnkey, ‘one-size-fits-all’ The consideration of flexibility offering. and collaboration begins in the This is where Mitsubishi Electric production and development phase, differentiates itself though, in with aspects of integration heavily optimising its vast array of products promoted throughout Mitsubishi and skills not to create a standardised remit, but to become the most flexible, Electric’s products in order to reduce the complexity of the end solutions. customisable and customer-centric Instead of encouraging customers to provider in the industry. learn, adopt and purchase numerous “We’re a customer-oriented different controls for different Company and this is pivotal when you applications, Mitsubishi Electric look at the latest market trends, and how quickly they can change,” Petersen promotes a concept of integration in order to oversee all controls via one says. “If you look at industry 4.0 or the Internet of Things (IoT), customers solution. “And there’s a lot of flexibility in were very confused to begin with, terms of which products are put on and this makes these trends more of a which market as well,” Petersen customer requirement than a market continues. “We have a development requirement. So we target our offering

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SECOMEA Secomea A/S: An Alliance partner of Mitsubishi Electric Secomea is a proud e-F@ctory alliance partner of Mitsubishi Electric, officially approved in Japan, China, North America and Europe. With the e-F@ctory alliance partnership, a combined Secomea and Mitsubishi Electric solution provides a complete security concept for remote access connections scalable from small to large applications. To a part of the MELSEC System Q for the various applications (database connections) and protocols (IEC60870, IEC61850, DNP3) or for programming and visualisation. As our offering is generic, it furthermore complies with other Mitsubishi products in the control, drive and robotics technology. Secomea A/S is a privately-owned company and one of the leading providers of remote access solutions and secure IoT solutions for the automation industry. Over the years, Secomea has built a strong line of Industrial Communications Solutions with an emphasis on making the solutions easy to install, setup and use. This is implied in the company name that is an abbreviation of: Secure Communication Made Easy. Where typical remote access solutions are based on traditional VPN, the Security Certified Secomea solution has solved the common issues with Xxxxxxxx and xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx security network conflicts of such routed solutions by use of encrypted proxy relay connections. This allows an extreme flexibility in central administration and control of individual user access to specific devices, with a high degree of security and with full access auditing. Our remote access solution is deployed and used by major machine builders and system integrators all over the world. Read more at

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centre here in Europe which helps us to develop products that fulfil EMEA market requirements, helping us to get closer to the customer and to offer more customised products.”

Japanese culture

Continuous improvements of customer interactions also dictate internal drivers, with the Company constantly addressing its touch points and its interaction channels in order to enhance levels of communication and client satisfaction. Both this and indeed the Company’s internal ethos hark to yet another unique facet of Mitsubishi Electric: its Japanese origins and the unique Japanese business culture that still permeates the entire global Group. “I’ve worked for German and American companies in the past but this is my first Japanese employer and it’s a whole new world. It’s very exciting and gives you a new view on how to operate professionally. It is a different universe from any other culture,” Petersen notes. “It all starts with the Japanese culture which emphasises generating decisions as a Group rather than taking the lead from decisions made at the top of a structure, and the lower levels just accepting it.

e-F@ctory will serve as the foundation of the progression that Mitsubishi Electric is striving for in mastering the opportunities brought about by industry 4.0 and IoT

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Mitsubishi Electric’s European development centre supports market requirements in EMEA by offering customised products

EME Added value

Everything that Mitsubishi Electric has championed, embraced, adhered to and encapsulated over the years is epitomised by the e-F@ctory concept; an idea that not only aligns with the Company’s longstanding philosophies, but that does so in a way that differentiates the business from anything else available in the industry. Alongside the e-F@ctory Alliance partners, Mitsubishi Electric is once again proving that a one-size-fits-all approach “Manufacturing is not the Holy Grail when it comes to organisations need manufacturing operational excellence. to understand what “Every sector, then every sub-sector, they have to change today and implement then every company within that these changes over the sub-sector has its own set of unique coming years to remain requirements, so you can never truly meet competitive.” every requirement with a one-size-fits-all approach,” Petersen affirms. “Taking MES (manufacturing execution systems) as an example, these will differ completely whether you’re in the automotive, pharma, chemicals, food & drink or whichever industry. “Here, it is all about generating the “And that’s why e-F@ctory is so common decision powerful. We simply make the core that everyone stands concern the controls, but rather than behind...” giving customers numerous different controls for each application - motion, robotics, etc. - we partner with the companies on the shop floor to encompass what they truly need as flexibly and easily as possible.” Already today and over the coming years, e-F@ctory will serve as the foundation of the progression that “Here, it is all about generating the headquarters similarly come over Mitsubishi Electric is striving for in common decision that everyone stands to Europe to broaden their market mastering the opportunities brought behind and this helps when it comes to understanding as well. executing that decision further down A similar cultural fit is required within about by industry 4.0 and IoT. Petersen concludes: “We’re living in the process.” Mitsubishi Electric’s supply chain too, a disruptive industry. Manufacturing The old saying by Peter Drucker, where substance and mutual win-win organisations need to understand ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’, collaboration trumps size or status. rings true for Petersen, and it is “It’s vital to create partnerships based what they have to change today and implement these changes over the instilled into each employee from on transparency, open communication coming years to remain competitive. their first day in the Company. An and eye-to-eye understanding so we increasing number of employees are have chosen to partner with companies “In five years’ time, we as a company would be proud to say that we have sent to Japan for a period of time to that add value to the e-F@ctory contributed to our customers’ journey to truly experience and embrace the concept,” Petersen says. “The result is culture and the way of doing business; an increased level of expertise delivering remain competitive.” while employees at the Japanese better solutions to customers.” eu3a.mitsubishielectric.com “It’s most important for us to look at what value each of our products or solutions will bring to a customer when we implement it.”

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Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V., Mitsubishi-Electric-Platz 1, 40882 Ratingen, Germany Tel: + 49 2102 486 0 info@mitsubishi-automation.com

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