Sydney, Australia – automation leaders, Schneider Electric and Citect raise their collaboration to a new level today, announcing a strategic business partnership that will see them jointly promote, deliver and support automation solutions throughout Australia. Underpinning the relationship is Unity FastLinx, an end-to-end automation solution that offers customers a choice of best-of-breed, hardware and software solutions to lower risk and total cost of ownership (TCO).Developed by Citect as part of Schneider’s Global Unity Partner Program, Unity FastLinx is a tightly integrated offering that seamlessly links Schneider's MODICON range of Unity PLCs to CitectSCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition), to reduce configuration time and overall ownership costs.
“Unlike typical end-to-end solutions, the Citect-Schneider offering delivers best-of-breed technologies for both PLC and automation software to reduce technical risk for our customers”, said Christopher Crowe, General Manager Sales, Schneider Electric. “Unity FastLinx delivers to all of our stakeholders: Less time, lower cost and higher quality. Who wouldn't rather see their engineers having more time to spend on high value activities?” , said Michael Kelly, Engineering Manager, Electro 80.With this strategic move, the partner companies aim to increase market share by offering their combined, superior capabilities to end users and integrators to lower project costs and risk.
“The obvious benefit and excitement generated by Unity FastLinx has enabled Schneider Electric and Citect to capitalise on their strong 10 year relationship in Australia and create even greater value for our customers”, said Frank Volckmar, General Manager, Australia, Citect.Together, Citect and Schneider Electric are targeting the metals, mining and minerals, food and beverage and utilities markets. Further value-added, product integration is planned for the future to continue reducing the total cost of owning automation assets while improving overall performance. Unity FastLinx will be free to existing customers to download from the Schneider Electric Australia and Citect websites.
About Citect
Citect is a worldwide leader in industrial automation and manufacturing enterprise solutions, and is the largest independent vendor in its field, in the world. In terms of both revenue and market share, Citect is one of the top 5 multinational technology companies in Australia and works with over 85% of leading Australian Manufacturers. Its CitectHMI/SCADA, Citect Plant2Business and CitectIIM software are complemented by professional services, customer support and training. These solutions are enhanced by strong partner programs and are sold in numerous industries, including mining, metals, food and beverage, facilities monitoring, gas pipelines, pharmaceuticals and power distribution.
Citect is headquartered in Sydney Australia, has 15 offices in Australia, USA, Europe, China and Africa, and its products are distributed in more than 50 countries worldwide. Please visit www.citect.com for further information.
About Schneider Electric
Electricity, (flexible, safe, clean), plays an essential role in our daily lives and is critical to the production of virtually every product and service we use. With 85,000 employees in 130 countries and sales of €10.4 billion in 2004, Schneider Electric through 13,000 sales outlets, is the only global enterprise devoted exclusively to Electrical Distribution, Automation & Control.Our goal is to enhance our customers’ performance by providing increasingly comprehensive, effective and easy-to-use solutions. We deliver an unparalleled lineup of products, services and solutions for the Residential, Buildings, Industry, and Energy & Infrastructure markets.
Schneider Electric builds its offer around its leading global brands - Merlin Gerin, Square D and Telemecanique, strong local brands and specialist brands recognised as amongst the best in their field.
