Using next-generation solutions and a new approach to automation, logistics teams can be empowered by a single digital thread that runs throughout operations and makes data available for informed decision making. Schneider Electric is striving to be the chosen digital partner for logistics OEMs, system integrators, and end users, a mission that is underpinned by the company’s dedication to sustainability.
OEM Industrial SI & IAD Channel Marketing Manager
Jocelyn Golding, OEM Industrial SI & IAD Channel Marketing Manager at Schneider Electric speaks to Warehouse & Logistics News.
What role does Schneider Electric play in logistics?
Schneider Electric works closely with OEMs, System Integrators, and logistics end users, so we have seen the wide cross-section of applications that serve warehousing, manufacturing, parcel and post, and baggage handling. Schneider Electric are focused on being a complete single-source digital partner, providing the tools for an end-to-end solution that communicates with assets new and legacy.
How would you explain the Schneider Electric culture?
At the core of everything we do is sustainability. This is reflected in our own operations as well as in the solutions we deliver for customers. As a digital partner, we support clients to effectively use every energy and material resource, contributing to overall decarbonisation of industry. Logistics is a big part of that puzzle as it is linked in some way or another to all other businesses, any sustainability improvements in this sector will be a big step forward.
How does this culture assist your client’s requirements?
While the ways in which we work with OEMs, systems integrators (SIs), and end users differs, and each has their own digitalisation journey, what is shared across the supply chain is that advanced technologies offer a route to sustainability that accounts for the broad and varied application of logistics. Long gone are the days when only brand-new greenfield facilities could be built with sustainability in mind, our solutions look to open efficiency improvements in facilities that see a combination of new and legacy assets from multiple suppliers. For logistics this can take many forms, it could be adding a purpose-built robot to an existing line to modify a process or deploying an open automation platform that communicates with assets to present information for informed decision making. The point being that any digitalisation for logistics comes alongside an opportunity for sustainability.
Do you have direct contact with customers, and get involved in developing solutions?
Absolutely, Schneider Electric is part of an ecosystem that collaborates with OEMs, SIs, and end users to create an end-to-end logistics solution that streamlines the automation and robotic processes. Schneider Electric customers will see a true representation of the OT IT convergence through a seamless environment that covers all elements of logistics operations. Our aim is to enable the supply chain of the future and doing so requires communication from everyone involved.
What solutions do you offer customers?
Our portfolio is extensive, and it starts with our new way of automating. Our EcoStruxure Automation Expert is a platform based on the Universal Automation IEC61499 specification, and it breaks the established proprietary lock between vendors hardware and software meaning automation systems can now become hardware agnostic. As the world’s first software-centric industrial automation system, it creates a single digital thread from OT to IT. As an early adopter of robotics, the logistics sector regularly sees assets from multiple suppliers, both new and legacy, presenting an integration challenge. EcoStruxure Automation Expert sets the digital foundation that digital transformation can be built on across all logistics operations, allowing teams to deploy best-in-class components at any time, for any need, without limitations.
This paves the way for our robotics solutions, which bring modular and smart capabilities to meet the agility needs of the sector. Logistics operations can benefit from the Lexium MC12 multi carrier which provides the tools to react quickly to demand and utilise digital twins to simulate reprogramming behaviour before implementation, therefore predicting performance and blocking carriers. OEMs and SIs can incorporate the MC12 as part of a new solution or add it to a customer’s existing facility with seamless integration. The Lexium MC12 contributes to any logistics business’ sustainability efforts with energy-efficient and precise material handling, while actively reporting on sustainability markers to promote transparency.
The latest motor management solutions also enhance the efficiency and sustainability of logistics. Our TeSys Motor Control offer is now in its 100th year of innovation and leadership. As the newest digital load management solution for a direct starters – TeSys island can provide users with automated load management and reporting, energy consumption data, easy and remote access to predictive and preventive application data for early diagnostics, and integration with cloud-based platforms such as EcoStruxure Automation Expert. This allows facilities to achieve higher levels of efficiency, reduce downtime and decrease risk of software failure.
How do Schneider Electric solutions meet the agility needs of industry?
The combination of open automation and next-generation robotics enables logistics teams to respond quickly to market demands, without compromising on either efficiency or sustainability. Real-time data insights mean teams can act immediately to make continuous improvements, rather than only seeing a benefit at point of delivery. The key is to focus on end-to-end solutions that take into account the entire lifecycle of a logistics facility, helping overcome the technology hurdles that have remained in the sector for some time.
What are the biggest challenges facing UK logistics in 2025?
As with almost all industrial sectors, logistics is seeing a growing skills gap, especially around digital skills. Creating a single digital environment across legacy assets and new equipment means that existing and new workers can learn and work on the same system by using digital data to make existing assets more accessible to new workers. This essentially delivers the capabilities of IT and puts them in the hands of OT, which is becoming more and more important as Gen Z career starters expect industrial operating systems to have an interface that are as intuitive as the devices they use in their personal lives.
What does Schneider Electric have coming up for logistics?
We are very excited to show the logistics sector how we can help to join the dots across varied and disparate systems. We will be hosting a webinar to inform logistics end users, OEMs, and system integrators about reducing cost, boosting sustainability, and unlocking efficiency improvements for any business. You can find out more here: www.se.com
Schneider Electric
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