Schneider Electric yesterday announced the release of its Telemecanique-brand Modicon M340 programmable automation controller (PAC), featuring communication, motion, database, and manipulation capabilities, in addition to the Modicon line's real-time logic-solving platform for industrial environments.
The Modicon M340 PAC is intended to make its mark in the growing mid-range automation controller market, the company said, and will complement some of Schneider's existing products in this market segment. The M340's primary differentiator, said Richard Hutton, senior automation marketing specialist at Schneider's North American Operating Division, is its use of Schneider's Unity application development software. In addition, he said, the Modicon M340 PAC will be a replacement option for current Modicon Compact984 PLC applications where compatible requirements exist.
One aspect of the M340 that separates it from competing products, according to Schneider, is the availability of as many as two communication ports in addition to a high-speed USB port. "Since there are multiple CPU versions that embed the open standard Ethernet protocol Modbus/TCP, we have enabled companies to benefit from direct, simple collaborative control and communications with all currently available Modicon PLCs, plus many third-party devices as well," Hutton said.
Other features of the M340 include fast execution of both Boolean processing and floating decimal calculations, 4 MB of internal memory, and an internal Flash memory and SD-based memory card. The unit can accept from four to 12 modules with a maximum density of 64 channels per module.
Some examples of shop floor machines that can benefit from the M340's PAC features include conveyors, sorters, wrappers, packers, elevators, boxers, filtration and pumping systems, injection and other machines, automated assemblers, and transportation wash systems, Hutton said.
Other members of the Modicon family include the Modicon Premium and Modicon Quantum programmable logic controllers (PLCs). Users of traditional PLCs are beginning to demand PAC-type functionality from the automation suppliers that have provided PLCs for years, ARC Advisory Research Director Craig Resnick told Managing Automation, especially in hybrid environments — including food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and life sciences industries — in which process applications such as temperature level control and packaging applications such as material handling are managed simultaneously.
PAC systems feature a single database that stores and maintains data from several applications — whether process or discrete — simultaneously.
"PAC makes life easier for companies running separate systems for disparate control applications because there's only one platform to maintain and one HMI," Resnick said. "It really lowers total cost of ownership for the user when they need maintain only one system."
Other automation vendors offering PAC products include Rockwell Automation and GE Fanuc, Resnick said. Automation vendors that offer PAC-like functionality with their PLCs include Mitsubishi, Omron, and Siemens, he added.
ARC sees a strong market for both PACs and PLCs moving forward, with PLCs maintaining their popularity in process plants that don't necessarily require the extra functionality of a PAC.
The worldwide market for PLCs is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3% over the next five years, according to a recent study by ARC Analyst Himanshu Shah. The PLC market was more than $8.3 billion in 2006 and is expected to grow to nearly $12 billion in 2011, according to the study.