On February 1, Emerson acquired GE’s Intelligent Platforms business and their complete portfolio of industrial automation controls and edge devices. With the acquisition of Intelligent Platforms, we not only acquired industry-leading programmable automation controllers (PAC) but also a broad portfolio of Edge devices such as Industrial PCs, Operator Panels, and PanelPCs.
Throughout its entire history in automation and controls, Intelligent Platforms has been known for its innovation, performance and reliability. Looking back at historical launches, including of one of the world’s first PLCs in the 1960s, the first remote IO in the 1980s, and the first PAC controllers in the early 2000s, we see a pattern of industry-defining technology in the automation and controls space. Most recently, in 2017, the team introduced the world to the first outcome-optimizing controller. The PACSystems CPE400 series and CPL410 set an unprecedented industry standard for edge controls and analytics and earned the business Frost & Sullivan’s 2018 Company of the Year Award.
The CPL410 is the world’s first edge device that allows customers to run real-time deterministic controls alongside edge technology stacks, running on general purpose operating systems, such as Linux, directly on the hardware in a safe and cooperative manner. This has many benefits:
Customer benefits include reduced unplanned downtime, minimized maintenance costs, maximized asset utilization, and increased network and asset security.
At Emerson, we believe connected controllers, like connected humans, are key to unlocking the potential of industrial assets. Outcome-optimizing controls are the foundation for a new future, as edge technologies can be coupled with traditional controls for more effective outcomes