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After rising by an estimated 1.2% in 2020 to 359.2Mt, global bauxite production is forecast by GlobalData to increase by 3.8% in 2021 to reach 372.8Mt. The leading data and analytics company notes that increased output from mines in Australia (+4.1%) and Guinea (+3.6%), as well as production from mines elsewhere returning to their pre-COVID levels, will be the key contributors.

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Vinneth Bajaj, Associate Project Manager at GlobalData, comments: “Over the forecast period (2021-2025), global bauxite production is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.2% to reach 406.7kt by 2025. Australia (+1.6%) and Guinea (+6.5%) will maintain a steady supply growth, supported by a series of upcoming projects. Together, they account for eight of the 17 planned bauxite projects, tracked by GlobalData, which have the potential to commence production by 2025.”

In Australia, bauxite production growth will be supported by the recommencement of Metro Mining’s Bauxite Hills mine, where operations were halted due to the wet season. The mine is expected to produce around 4Mt of bauxite in 2021. Further, the formal commitment of the stage 2 expansion of the mine to a capacity of 6Mt, which is part of the company’s long-term development plan, will be dependent on the global market conditions.

Bajaj continues: “In Guinea, the Boffa mine, which began operations in January 2020, is expected to gradually reach its full capacity during the second half of 2021. The mine is expected to produce up to 9Mt of bauxite in 2021, compared with 7Mt in 2020. Earlier in 2021, operations began at the Garafiri project which has over 300Mt of bauxite reserves. The project has an initial production capacity of 3Mt, which will be expanded up to 8Mt.”

In late July 2021, China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) announced completion of the construction of a railway line from Boffa to Boke, which will now increase the single trip freight volume to 10kt, up from 5kt earlier, as part of the first phase of the Boke developement project. Phases 2 and 3 include exploitation of bauxite resources in the new mining areas of Santou II and Houda and development of an alumina refinery in the Boke special economic zone. Overall, this will play a crucial role in establishing Guinea as an export nation.

About GlobalData

4,000 of the world’s largest companies, including over 70% of FTSE 100 and 60% of Fortune 100 companies, make more timely and better business decisions thanks to GlobalData’s unique data, expert analysis and innovative solutions, all in one platform. GlobalData’s mission is to help our clients decode the future to be more successful and innovative across a range of industries, including the healthcare, consumer, retail, technology, energy, financial and professional services sectors.

The Middle East is expected to register the highest refinery condensate splitter capacity additions globally between 2021 and 2025, contributing more than half of the total capacity additions by 2025, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report, ‘Global Refinery Condensate Splitter Units Outlook to 2025’, reveals that the Middle East is likely to witness total condensate splitter unit capacity additions of 486 thousand barrels per day (mbd) by 2025, mostly through new build refineries.

Teja Pappoppula, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Iran is the sole contributor to the Middle East’s condensate splitter unit capacity additions as it continues to process gas condensate produced from the giant South Pars field. Among the new build refinery projects in the country, the planned Siraf refinery in Iran is likely to add a capacity of 360 mbd in 2025. The refinery will process gas condensate mainly to produce gasoline and petrochemical feedstock.”

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GlobalData identifies Africa as the second highest contributor, accounting for around 27% of the total additions by 2025. Forcados and Ohaji are two refineries in Nigeria that are contributing 100 mbd of capacity each in the region and both are expected to become operational in 2023.

Asia ranks third globally, contributing around 7% of global condensate splitter unit capacity additions during the outlook period. Malaysia accounts for total capacity additions in the region, with 150 mbd of capacity expected to be added by 2025 from the new build Pengerang II project.

Announced/Planned: Denotes only new build assets that are in different stages of development and have not started commercial operations.

  • A new build project that has not received relevant/ required approvals to develop/build the project is considered as Announced.
  • A new build project that has received relevant/ required approvals from the national government/ energy ministry/ regulatory authority/ local environmental authority/ port authority/local government, etc to develop/build the project is considered as Planned.

This report was built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis conducted by GlobalData’s team of industry experts. 

About GlobalData

4,000 of the world’s largest companies, including over 70% of FTSE 100 and 60% of Fortune 100 companies, make more timely and better business decisions thanks to GlobalData’s unique data, expert analysis, and innovative solutions, all in one platform. GlobalData’s mission is to help our clients decode the future to be more successful and innovative across a range of industries, including the healthcare, consumer, retail, technology, energy, financial and professional services sectors.

Cyber security is a pressing concern for manufacturers. According to the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA)’s 2020 threat landscape report, there are 203,000 new strains of malware created every day and, on average, it takes companies a worrying six months to detect a data breach. To solve this issue, industry and academia must work together, which is exactly what’s happening at the Christian Doppler Laboratory on Security and Quality Improvement in the Production Systems Life Cycle (CDL SQI) in Vienna, Austria. In this article, Reinhard Mayr, Head of Information Security and Research Operations at COPA-DATA explains what the latest security research means for manufacturers.

Today’s cyber attackers most commonly seek out security vulnerabilities that already exist in industrial systems. But, as component manufacturers close these gaps, this strategy will change. It’s predicted that, in the future, cyber attackers will attempt to compromise the engineering and operational processes of industrial production systems.

By attacking engineering systems, rather than devices, hackers can embed vulnerabilities into future industrial systems. Making it much easier to access in the future — after all, exploiting vulnerabilities you’ve created yourself is much quicker and simpler than finding new ones. But, can anything be done to prevent this?

The CDL SQI is a research laboratory at the University of Vienna working with industrial partners, including COPA-DATA, to investigate information security, particularly the quality improvement of engineering processes in software-intensive systems — often referred to as production systems engineering (PSE).

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This research will help minimize the risk of espionage and intellectual property (IP) theft, protect production from system failure, loss of confidential data, quality losses and rising costs due to sabotage, and ensure security issues are considered during development, operations and maintenance.

While this research will prove incredibly valuable for future secure industrial control systems, what about the current situation?

The challenges for manufacturers

Implementing security measures is not without its challenges. Historically, industrial control systems operated entirely offline, thus further removed from threats. Now though, the appetite for data to monitor and improve production systems, schedule maintenance and avoid downtime, has driven manufacturers to connect legacy systems and devices to the internet.

Greater connectivity brings advantages, but also risk. Now that these systems or devices are connected, their vulnerabilities, which previously didn’t matter, become prime targets for cyber attackers. With many manufacturers gradually adding smart devices over time as the need arises, all of different ages with different security protocols, operational technology (OT) systems can be incredibly difficult to secure.

Plus, industrial control systems have long life-span compared to the norm — think consumer electronics or business software — therefore they are much harder to update. It’s therefore essential to come up with a strategy to protect industrial control systems from attack, both now and in the future.

All this requires a change in mindset. It’s no longer enough to set up security systems and leave them running. It must become a daily routine to check for risks, plan counter measures and perform updates. For best practice, it’s far better to act as if you’ve already been hacked, you just aren’t aware of it.

The role of software

To overcome these challenges, manufacturers should look to software to help build up an information security concept for the OT environment. COPA-DATA’s zenon 10 industrial software is one such platform.

zenon addresses security issues by ensuring all systems across a manufacturing plant uphold the same security standards. Designed to meet IEC62442 standards, zenon can encrypt communications, ensure binaries are signed and support the regular updates and security patches.

Software offers real-time monitoring of all production processes, and can be integrated seamlessly with existing systems. One major fear for manufacturers is touching a running system — who wants to risk downtime and system failure, when something is already working? But the threat of cyberattack means this approach is no longer feasible, any gaps in security need to be patched quickly.

Thankfully, zenon can be updated even while production is underway, without any need for downtime, meaning you can continue to benefit from up-to-date security standards.

Looking to the future

When implementing cyber security measures, it’s essential to prepare for the future. Production systems will become more interconnected, even across different sites around the world, they’ll also continue to incorporate more and more smart devices. Which poses a greater risk.

To support your information security strategies, zenon is an excellent choice. zenon 10 already offers the features manufacturers need to protect their production systems — for example, encrypted data transfer and secure communication. 

Unprecedented numbers of cyber-attacks mean that cyber security is something that manufacturers simply can’t continue to ignore. Looking to the future, COPA-DATA will focus more strongly on engineering processes, joining with academic research partners, including the CDL SQI, to secure worldwide project communication and infrastructure.

To learn more about zenon 10, head to COPA-DATA’s website.

About COPA-DATA

COPA-DATA is an independent software manufacturer that specializes in digitalization for the manufacturing industry and energy sector. Its zenon® software platform enables users worldwide to automate, manage, monitor, integrate and optimize machines, equipment, buildings and power grids. COPA-DATA combines decades of experience in automation with the potential of digital transformation. In this way, the company supports its customers to achieve their objectives more easily, faster and more efficiently.
The family-owned business was founded by Thomas Punzenberger in 1987 in Salzburg, Austria. In 2020, with more than 300 employees worldwide, it generated revenue of EUR 54 million.

Hi-line Industries, an established and reputable UK manufacturer of high-quality compressed air purification equipment, is able to offer a cost-effective and proven way of meeting the ongoing demand for replacement compressed air filters. Rather than pay for expensive and often low-efficiency OEM filters, an increasing number are turning to Hi-line’s vast range of alternative elements, which frequently provide an ‘upgrade’ on competitor solutions at less cost.

Hi-line’s vast range of alternative elements and filters frequently provide an ‘upgrade’ on competitor solutions at less cost.Hi-line’s vast range of alternative elements and filters frequently provide an ‘upgrade’ on competitor solutions at less cost.

Hi-line is not only renowned for its proprietary range of high-quality filter housings and energy-efficient elements, but its vast range of alternative elements to ‘upgrade’ and replace competitor products. There is no longer any need to pay a premium for replacement compressed air filters as Hi-line’s alternative range of flow elements can cost circa 60-70% less than those available from compressor manufacturers. When considering there could be four elements on one system, the saving is significant.

The alternative elements produced by Hi-line provide an exact match with the size and connection specifications of the originals. Hi-line’s elements offer at least the performance of the original, although in many cases they actually provide higher performance because the company upgrades the technology. For instance, Hi-line uses pleated filter media rather than wrapped as it offers four times the cross-sectional area of standard elements.

The company stocks alternative elements worth a total of more than £1 million at its Midlands factory, ensuring circa 167,000 filter elements/cartridges are available for next-day delivery and installation.The company stocks alternative elements worth a total of more than £1 million at its Midlands factory, ensuring circa 167,000 filter elements/cartridges are available for next-day delivery and installation.

The larger cross-sectional area provides a number of important advantages, including lower pressure drop, which in turn saves energy as the compressor does not have to work as hard to force air through the filter. Further benefits include higher contamination-holding capacity, longer service life and greater flow characteristics - all for less financial outlay.

Hi-line alternative filter elements with ‘pleated’ media allow the original housing to give users the high-performance, low-cost filtration features enjoyed by Hi-line filter elements. However, Hi-line can of course supply its own die-cast aluminium filter housings, which are subject to alu-chrome treatment on both external and internal surfaces, and finished (externally) with a tough epoxy baked-on paint in compressed air blue (RAL 5015). These treatments provide long-term protection, even when subject to the harshest of conditions.

Hi-line uses pleated filter media offering four times the cross sectional area of standard elements.Hi-line uses pleated filter media offering four times the cross sectional area of standard elements.

Another major advantage of using Hi-line is availability. The company stocks alternative elements worth a total of more than £1 million at its Midlands factory, ensuring circa 167,000 filter elements/cartridges are available for next-day delivery and installation. The Hi-line sales team takes advantage of fully computerised cross-referencing software to ensure the swift turnaround of enquiries for same-day despatch.

Further information is available from:
Hi-line Industries Ltd
Green Street
Burton on Trent
Staffordshire
DE14 3RT 

Tel: 01283 533377
Fax: 01283 533367

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
//lnk.ie/59MU4/e=This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it./http:/www.hilineindustries.com">www.hilineindustries.com

Oil and gas contract activity declined following the relatively stable activity in Q1 2021, with the industry recording a seven percent decrease in the number of contracts and a significant decrease in disclosed contract value in Q2 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The latest report by GlobalData, ‘Q2 2021 Global Oil & Gas Industry Contracts Review’, notes that the number of oil and gas contracts declined from 1,453 in Q1 2021 to 1,353 contracts in Q2 2021. The value of these contracts also decreased to $27.6bn in Q2 from US$46.4bn in Q1, wherein the significant difference maker was Chiyoda and Technip Energies’ US$12.2bn contract for North Field East LNG which was signed in Q1 2021.

Pritam Kad, Oil & Gas Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The decline in the number of contracts in Q2 2021 looks temporary and will begin to recover, as the industry foresees an improvement in contracts activity with business outlook, crude oil prices and COVID-19 restrictions now easing.”

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Operation and Maintenance (O&M) recorded 47% of the total contracts in Q2 2021, followed by procurement scope with 18%, and contracts with multiple scopes, such as construction, design and engineering, installation, O&M, and procurement, which accounted for 16%.

The notable contracts include Saipem and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) joint venture, as well as Keppel Shipyard’s contracts from Petrobras for the construction of Buzios VIII (P-79) and Buzios VII (P-78) FPSO for deployment on the Buzios field. Brazil, and McDermott International and Sinopec International Petroleum Service consortium’s US$2bn future Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Commissioning (EPCC) contract from Total for the EPCC services for Tilenga development in the Lake Albert Basin, Republic of Uganda. 

  • Quotes provided by Pritam Kad, Oil & Gas Analyst at GlobalData
  • Data taken from GlobalData’s Q2 2021 Global Oil & Gas Industry Contracts Review

About GlobalData

4,000 of the world’s largest companies, including over 70% of FTSE 100 and 60% of Fortune 100 companies, make more timely and better business decisions thanks to GlobalData’s unique data, expert analysis and innovative solutions, all in one platform. GlobalData’s mission is to help our clients decode the future to be more successful and innovative across a range of industries, including the healthcare, consumer, retail, financial, technology and professional services sectors.

Control systems integrator Cougar Automation is now operating as Actemium Automation, one of the UK’s largest automation providers. Employees celebrated the rebrand on 19th August, which signifies their strength and growth ambitions in the control and software automation market.

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Thursday 19th August was a joyful day for employees at Cougar Automation as they celebrated their business units’ rebrand and full integration into the Actemium network. The occasion marked a new chapter for the organisation since its acquisition by VINCI Energies UK & RoI four years ago as it officially becomes one of the UK’s largest automation providers.

“This change in name will give us new focus and energy as we collaborate closely with our Actemium colleagues to provide world-class service and expertise in the UK control systems integration market,” said Matt Barkwith, Regional Leader at Actemium Automation.

Actemium Automation now has a total of five business units: Actemium Automation Yorkshire (based in Warrington, Huddersfield and Birmingham), Actemium Automation Hampshire (based in Bristol, Portsmouth and Maidstone), Actemium Automation Nottingham (based in Nottingham and Northampton), Actemium Automation Teesside (based in Teesside and Worksop) and Actemium Automation UK 24/7 Support.

In addition to having 180 staff in ten locations, Actemium Automation draws on the knowledge and experience of 400 other Actemium business units globally. Whether customers require assistance with programming, networking, the Internet of Things (IoT) or Industry 4.0, functional safety or cybersecurity for industrial control systems, Actemium Automation is well placed to help.

Sectors served include water and wastewater, food, pharmaceuticals, cement, biomass, oil and gas midstream (pipelines and terminals), and alternative energy such as tidal, landfill gas and CHP (combined heat and power). Actemium Automation also operates at airports, providing automated systems for refuelling planes.

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“The atmosphere amongst our team has been full of optimism and excitement for the future. This is the next logical step in our growth and development, allowing us to send a strong message to customers and take advantage of new opportunities,” concluded Peter Goodson, Central Regional Leader at Actemium Automation.

Find out more at: www.vinci-energies.co.uk

Expanite - the Danish pioneer of surface hardening of stainless steel and titanium replaces or supplements the widespread DLC coatings with its technology. In addition to technical and commercial advantages, the sustainability of the Expanite process is playing an increasing role for customers.

Diamond-like carbon or DLC coatings are today used in many areas where excellent friction properties and good wear resistance are required on component surfaces. The DLC layers applied by complex, time-consuming and costly PVD or PACVD processes are usually only a few micrometres thick. If the part also is required to be corrosion-resistant, making the use of stainless steels mandatory, the DLC system has some weak points. The soft stainless steel as the carrier medium and the correspondingly high hardness gradient to the thin DLC layer promote the eggshell effect this might lead to a defect in the coating, and it will easily start peeling off.

Diffusion hardness layer

Surface hardening of Expanite brings the solution using a gas-based diffusion process to store carbon and nitrogen deep in the component surface. This guarantees a better load-bearing capacity and efficiently counteracts the eggshell effect. If defects occur in the hardness layer while the part is in use, this does not lead to further flaking because, in contrast to the applied DLC layer, the Expanite technology is a diffusion hardness layer that is coherent with the base material.

expanite coatings

Environmentally friendly

A positive side effect: the gas-based diffusion process is significantly more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly than comparable wear protection processes and, thanks to the treatment in vacuum, no time-consuming cleaning of the parts, e.g., with aggressive chemicals, is necessary after hardening with the Expanite process.

"We have already replaced the classic DLC coating in various applications, from the typical running and sealing surfaces in bearings, through pump components or knife edges to applications in medical technology," explains Dr. Holger Selg, application expert and Expanite Sales Director DACH, and continues: “In some cases, the two technologies were also combined and a DLC layer was applied in addition to our Expanite hardness layer in order to obtain a very resilient system. "

The Expanite technology, specially developed for corrosion-resistant materials, offers a solution for austenitic, martensitic, ferritic and duplex stainless steels as well as for expensive nickel-based alloys such as Inconel and Hastelloy. The new special process ExpaniteHard-Ti, which the Expanite team of experts in Denmark has developed to market maturity in recent years, is used for titanium materials.

About Expanite A/S

Expanite offers state-of-the-art solutions for surface hardening treatment of stainless steels and titanium. With Expanite's processes, it is possible to increase the material’s surface hardness tenfold while at the same time maintaining and even increasing its corrosion resistance. Expanite is a global organization with a combined development and production facility near Copenhagen, Denmark, and hardening capacity in both US, Germany, Korea and China. Expanite's solutions are flexible and can be introduced directly into a customer’s own production line as part of a licensing arrangement. Learn more on www.expanite.com 

Anritsu Corporation and MediaTek are pleased to announce that the first OTDOA Protocol Conformance Test (PCT) for 5G New Radio (NR) has been verified with a device containing the MediaTek M70 5G modem and Anritsu 5G NR Mobile Device Test Platform ME7834NR.

5G NR introduces several new use cases involving positioning for applications in industrial automation, automotive and terrestrial arenas, consequently many positioning mechanisms have been added to the NR standards defined by 3GPP Release 16, with more planned for 3GPP Release 17 and later. OTDOA is one of the positioning methods which was originally introduced for 4G LTE and has been extended into 5G NR. OTDOA relies on the UE measuring the time difference of Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) received from multiple cells and uses this to compute its location with support from a location server.

“MediaTek’s collaboration with Anritsu continues to go from strength to strength, supporting us in this rapidly evolving industry with verification of these leading features in our 5G modems” said Mr. JS Pan, General Manager of Wireless Communication System and Partnership at MediaTek.

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Mr. Shinya Ajiro, General Manager of Mobile Solutions Division at Anritsu said, “We are proud to be able to support MediaTek with our test solutions, and together we look forward to introducing Advanced 5G features to market quickly”.

The conformance tests are defined by 3GPP in TS 37.571-4 and have been submitted by Anritsu to 3GPP RAN WG5 (Radio Access Network Working Group 5). These tests will also be submitted to GCF (Global Certification Forum) CAG (Certification Agreement Group), and PTCRB (PCS Type Certification Review Board) PVG (PTCRB Validation Group) for approval in the upcoming meetings.

Product Outline - 5G NR Mobile Device Test Platform ME7834NR

The 5G NR Mobile Device Test Platform ME7834NR is registered with both the GCF and PTCRB as Test Platform 251.

The ME7834NR is a test platform for 3GPP-based PCT and Carrier Acceptance Testing (CAT) of mobile devices incorporating Multiple Radio Access Technologies. It supports 5G NR in both Standalone (SA) and Non-Standalone (NSA) mode in addition to LTE, LTE-Advanced, LTE-A Pro, and W-CDMA. When combined with Anritsu’s OTA RF chamber MA8171A and RF converters, the ME7834NR covers the sub-6 GHz and mmWave 5G frequency bands.

About Anritsu

Anritsu Corporation (www.anritsu.com), a global provider of innovative communications test and measurement solutions for 125 years. Anritsu’s philosophy engages customers as true partners to help develop wireless, optical, microwave/RF, and digital solutions for R&D, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance applications, as well as multidimensional service assurance solutions for network monitoring and optimization. Anritsu also provides precision microwave/RF components, optical devices, and high-speed electrical devices for communication products and systems. The company develops advanced solutions for 5G, M2M, IoT, as well as other emerging and legacy wireline and wireless communication markets. With offices throughout the world, Anritsu has approximately 3,800 employees in over 90 countries.

Gaps in Net Zero Technology Funding System to be Spotlighted at SPE Offshore Europe

An alliance of industry leading energy experts is to use SPE Offshore Europe (7-10 September 2021) to call for a drastic culture change between government, financial institutions, technology providers and the private sector to close gaps in the funding system for the novel technologies needed for the UK to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

FTech2Zero, which includes Siemens Energy, Wood, Net Zero Technology Centre, Deja Blue Consulting, Strategic Growth Services and the Energy Industries Council, contend that increased capital flows are not reaching the nascent technologies necessary to achieve the UK’s net zero goal due to disconnects between developers, financial institutions, end-user operators and government.

SPE Offshore Europe 2019, P&J Live, AberdeenSPE Offshore Europe 2019, P&J Live, Aberdeen

The group is to present ‘Financing Net Zero: Addressing Technology Risk for Financial Investments in the Energy Transition’ at the SPE Offshore Europe virtual conference on Friday 10th September.  A white paper is being prepared for launch during COP26 in Glasgow in November.

The group surveyed more than 120 operators, service companies, technology companies, consultancies, and technology investment specialists and held several roundtables to test the survey data and core hypotheses.

Keiren Lake, Business Development at Siemens Energy said on behalf of FTech2Zero: “Ambitions to achieve net zero goals by 2050 with the same approach that government, investors and the private sector have adopted so far, will almost certainly fail. We have identified several challenges in financing novel net zero technologies that sit across the value chain. There is a disconnect on how all the parties view the approach to project development and risk mitigation and drastic culture change is needed to turn this around and to re-frame investment discussions.

“To remain on track with Net Zero 2050 targets, a much more encompassing approach is required where government, finance and industry work together to establish a new multi-stakeholder financing framework where risks can be both fully understood and appropriately shared.”

FTech2Zero is comprised of nine companies and industry organisations: ACL Impact, Deja Blue Consulting, The Energy Industries Council, EnergyKnect, Net Zero Technology Centre, Portland Advisers, Siemens Energy, Strategic Growth Services and Wood.

Energy transition topics will feature prominently at the SPE Offshore Europe 2021 virtual conference under the event theme ‘Oil & Gas: Working Together for a Net Zero Future’.

The virtual conference programme will begin each day at 12 noon (BST) / 7.00am (EDT) to accommodate international participants. Full programme details and registration can be found here.

www.offshore-europe.co.uk

Ratingen, Germany 19. August 2021 A century of Mitsubishi Electric – a company with a rich history which parallels that of modern-day Japan. Since 1921 Mitsubishi Electric’s success has grown as a global player in the field of automation

The very first Mitsubishi company was established back in 1870 by Yataro Iwasaki. This company provided the foundations for what would later become the group of independent companies which are active in almost every industrial sector. In 1921 the company known today as Mitsubishi Electric Corporation was formed and became renowned the world over for its expertise and innovation in the development of high-quality electrical and electronic products.

Products developed and manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric can be found in all fields of industry, including information processing and communications, space development and satellite communications, home electronics, industrial automation, energy, mobility and building technology, as well as in HVAC systems.

Europe has long been a key market for Mitsubishi Electric, and in 1969 the company as it opened its first representative office in the region which would form the basis for its EMEA operations today.

Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V., German Branch, located in Ratingen near Düsseldorf. [Source: Mitsubishi Electric Europe]Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V., German Branch, located in Ratingen near Düsseldorf. [Source: Mitsubishi Electric Europe]

Factory Automation
Throughout its history, the Factory Automation division of Mitsubishi Electric has been one of the global leaders in automation product development. Combining innovative technologies with advanced functionalities and feature sets, with the highest levels of reliability. As early as 1973, the company developed its first PLC which was designed to replace relay control panels.

Innovations in frequency inverters, servo/motion products and industrial robots followed, and in 2007 the company launched the iQ Platform, the first automation platform to combine four types of controllers on a single platform – robot, motion, CNC and PLC.

Digitalisation pioneer
In 2001, Mitsubishi Electric launched its e-F@ctory concept – a pioneering approach to digitalisation that was years in advance of the definition of Industry 4.0 or the rise of the Internet of Things. It has seen the company develop a reputation with customers as a trusted partner through all stages of their digital transformation.

Strong partnerships have also driven the company to continuously evolve its e-F@ctory Alliance, an integral part of e-F@ctory concept. This has enabled Mitsubishi Electric and its partners to offer their joint customers a wider range of optimised solutions that help them to enhance their competitive advantage and further drive their digital business transformation.

With the development of Maisart (“Mitsubishi Electric's AI creates the State-of-the-ART in technology”), the stage has been set for the company to continue to be a driver of innovation for the next 100 years.

Further information at: 

About Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
With 100 years of experience in providing reliable, high-quality products, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) is a recognized world leader in the manufacture, marketing and sales of electrical and electronic equipment used in information processing and communications, space development and satellite communications, consumer electronics, industrial technology, energy, transportation and building equipment. Mitsubishi Electric enriches society with technology in the spirit of its “Changes for the Better.” The company recorded a revenue of 4.194,4 billion yen (U.S.$ 37,8 billion*) in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021.  For more information please visit http://www.MitsubishiElectric.com.

*U.S. dollar amounts are translated from yen at the rate of ¥111=U.S.$1, the approximate rate on the Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market on March 31, 2021

About Mitsubishi Electric Factory Automation Business Group
Offering a vast range of automation and processing technologies, including controllers, drive products, power distribution and control products, electrical discharge machines, laser processing machines, computerized numerical controllers, and industrial robots, Mitsubishi Electric helps bring higher productivity – and quality – to the factory floor. In addition, our extensive service networks around the globe provide direct communication and comprehensive support to customers.

About Factory Automation EMEA
Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V., Factory Automation EMEA has its European headquarters in Ratingen near Dusseldorf, Germany. It is a part of Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V. that has been represented in Germany since 1978, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Japan.
The role of Factory Automation EMEA is to manage sales, service and support across its network of local branches and distributors throughout the EMEA region.

About e-F@ctory>
e-F@ctory is Mitsubishi Electric’s integrated concept to build reliable and flexible manufacturing systems that enable users to achieve many of their high speed, information driven manufacturing aspirations. Through its partner solution activity, the e-F@ctory Alliance, and its work with open network associations such as The CC-Link Partners Association (CLPA), users can build comprehensive solutions based on a wide ranging “best in class” principle.
In summary, e-F@ctory and the e-F@ctory Alliance enable customers to achieve integrated manufacturing but still retain the ability to choose the most optimal suppliers and solutions.

*e-F@ctory, iQ Platform are trademarks of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation in Japan and other countries.
*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
*All other trademarks are acknowledged

Further Information:
www.eu3a.mitsubishielectric.com/fa/