Tips for choosing the right industrial PC

02Sep

posted by: Stephen Hayes, Beckhoff Automation Ltd

The first machine that could be considered an industrial PC (IPC) was released by IBM in the early 1980s, designed for the rigorous operations of industry. Almost 40 years later, IPCs are commonly used as automation controllers in many industrial environments. However, selecting the right IPC for these industrial environments is anything but straightforward.

Here, Stephen Hayes, Managing Director of Beckhoff Automation UK, explores the main considerations when choosing an IPC.

It’s something of an understatement to say automation is at the centre of modern industry. Automated systems and software have made significant gains in efficiency, productivity and safety over the past few decades.

In PwC’s 2019 Annual Manufacturing Report, almost three-quarters (74 percent) of industrial companies accepted that they’ll need to adopt digital technologies to prosper in the years ahead.

Many have started this journey. BDO’s 2019 New Economy: Investing in Automation report indicated that 93 percent of manufacturers had invested in automation – six percent more than the average adoption rate nationally. Yet, the UK Government’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee still believes that UK industry is lagging behind other world economies.

However, getting started with automation systems can be quite complicated. Part of the adoption process requires investing in the right hardware, which invariably requires choosing the right automation controller for your operations – be it a programmable logic controller (PLC), IPC, or programmable automation controller (PAC)...

Read the full article in PBSI's September issue