“Open automation in the logistics industry can smoothly achieve digital transformation of logistics operations, simultaneously reducing costs and improving productivity.”

Schneider Electric Korea (Kim Kyung-rok, CEO of Korea Branch), a global company leading the digital transformation in energy management and automation, participated in the '2024 Advanced Robot Infrastructure Construction Project Convergence Exchange Meeting' held at Gaya Hall of Gimhae Lotte Hotel & Resort from the 14th to the 15th and shared the latest trends and insights in open automation with industry professionals.

This exchange meeting is co-hosted and organized by Gimhae Bio-Industry Promotion Agency, Korea Robot Users Association, Gyeongnam Techno Park, and Gyeongnam Robot Land Foundation, and aims to activate the joint platform business of used robot remanufacturing and logistics service robots.

At the exchange meeting that day, Manager Kim Geon of Schneider Electric Korea's Industrial Automation Division led a session on the topic of 'Software Defined Logistics Automation.'

In the session, Manager Kim Gun emphasized the need for open automation in the logistics industry and explained in detail Schneider Electric’s innovative open automation solution, EcoStruxure Automation Expert.

Schneider Electric provides manufacturers and suppliers with a more optimized logistics automation process.It emphasizes the importance of using open software that can be developed as independent modules without being dependent on specific hardware.

In the case of open software, it boasts high flexibility due to its excellent compatibility with other hardware platforms, and it is efficient in terms of time and cost by improving expandability.

Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure Automation Expert (EAE) is the world's first open automation solution based on the IEC61499 international standard, offering outstanding openness and compatibility.

It enables building software-centric automation applications by modeling and deploying software applications independently of the underlying hardware infrastructure.

In particular, it creates an environment that can respond quickly to the complexity and changing demands of logistics processes by flexibly integrating various hardware and software systems. This allows logistics companies to customize automation systems to meet their unique process requirements.

“In the logistics industry, open automation is a key technology that maximizes process efficiency and enables rapid response to changing industrial environments,” said Kim Geon, manager of Schneider Electric Korea’s Industrial Automation Business Unit. “With EcoStruxure Automation Expert, the industry’s first open solution, Schneider Electric is helping customers smoothly achieve digital transformation of logistics operations and simultaneously reduce costs and improve productivity.”

Also, at the meeting that day, Manager Kim Geon introduced Universal Automation.Org, a non-profit organization for the spread of open automation. UAO is an association that aims to share automation runtime engines across automation technologies, regardless of the specific brand of the supplier, based on the IEC61499 standard.

Currently, in addition to global industrial specialist companies such as Schneider Electric, Omron, Cognex, Yokogawa, Phoenix Contact, and Intel, the association also includes end customers and SIs (system integrators) such as Hyundai Motor Company, Shell, ExxonMobil, Cargill, and ISAAC Engineering, as well as educational institutions and government agencies such as the Korea Industrial Technology Association (KTL), Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), China's Huazhong University, and Australia's Edith Cowan University.