Mitsubishi Electric Automation Debuts iQ Automation Platform

Mitsubishi Electric Automation has introduced its iQ Automation integrated control system platform, the next generation of the company's automation systems based on the Q Series Automation Platform, a revolutionary architecture, which according to Mitsubishi, helped define the category known as the "Programmable Automation Controller" (PAC).

"IQ Automation meets the key goals of today's manufacturers," said John Browett, product marketing manager, Mitsubishi Electric Automation. "First, there is a need to drive down costs, which iQ does by standardizing all control systems to a unified set of components. Second, increasing interaction with IT support applications means control systems must handle ever larger data volumes much more quickly.

"Mitsubishi Electric products have always defined superior control performance and iQ elevates it further, but more importantly, iQ adds the data handling performance and ease of integration that manufacturers need to minimize their total cost of ownership."

"Manufacturers continue to look for automation platforms that consolidate the multiple control domains required by their processes," said Craig Resnick, research director, ARC Advisory Group and author of the PAC definition. "Mitsubishi Electric has pushed the envelope of the ARC definition of a PAC by the fact that the iQ Automation's backplane has been designed with significant bandwidth to accommodate multiprocessor architectures for high-speed, inter-processor communications.

"The net benefit for the manufacturer in applying PACs with this increased bandwidth includes reduced investment and operating costs, along with enhanced throughput and quality of their manufactured products that characterizes lean and efficient production operations."