Motor management: Designing reliability and resilience in the digital era

The age of digital transformation that has been ushered in by Industry 4.0, is redefining what OEMs, design engineers, and end users expect from motor management. A long time has passed since the simple powering on/off of industrial motors.

Motor management is now a key player in any supply chain’s ability to improve production efficiency, enable proactive maintenance approaches, and contribute to overall sustainability targets.

Customers expect the reliability and functionality of traditional solutions, whilst also meeting the needs of the digital era. Modern motor management solutions must be easy to integrate in highly varied industrial environments, as well as having the ability to future-proof operations through rapid scalability.

Heritage of reliability
Schneider Electric is in a unique position when it comes to motor management, having served in this space for over 100 years. A lot has changed since industry’s first bar contactor, TeSys, was brought to market in 1924, but the legacy of that innovation remains at the heart of the technology. The future of motor management is about evolving that legacy to meet the needs of a digitally transformed facility. 

Looking at the needs of today, we can see that electricity accounts for more than 90 percent of the total lifetime cost of a typical industrial motor, meaning that any improvements to efficiency will have wide-reaching implications for businesses looking to reduce energy bills and carbon emissions.

In addition, increasing pressure from regulators and governments in the journey to net zero is pushing businesses to rethink energy management with more urgency, a challenge for which motor management provides a solution. 

Read the full article in DPA's October 2024 issue