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Wonderware Expands With Operator Panels From Beijer Electronics

02/19/2008

Wonderware signed a strategic agreement with Beijer Electronics in which it gains access to a range of CE-based touch panels and launched these as Wonderware Compact Panels, a bundled solution that includes a runtime license for a subset of Wonderware InTouch 10.0 software and Beijer Electronics’ operator panel hardware.

For Wonderware, this offering complements the existing Industrial Computers product line, expanding Wonderware businesses into the CE-based HMI market. For Beijer Electronics, which develops both HMI software and hardware, this is an unusual agreement. “This shows that we can also help others create value for their customers by combining our different product offers,” says Conny Persson, CEO of Beijer Electronics Products. “Wonderware and Beijer Electronics cooperating like this is an example of alliances that we will see more of in the future. In a global industry with increasingly high demands for flexibility and quality, new types of partnerships between suppliers are required to provide the best possible solutions for end users.”

The combination of the hardware from Beijer Electronics and Wonderware’s InTouch HMI software offers OEMs and machine builders a visualization solution that is designed to be easy to implement. “Since the development environment for these Compact Panels is the same Wonderware Development Studio that our customers are currently using, with InTOuch 10.0 and Wonderware System Platform 3.0, any of our existing customers will be able to quickly build applications and use the new Compact Panels as part of a networked software solution,” explains David Gardner, WIC product manager, industrial computers, at Wonderware.

“The operator panel platform from Beijer Electronics met our requirements for Class I, Division 2 applications,” continues Gardner. “It also presented a clean, modern, stylistic design with the OEM adaptability we needed.” The panels will be marketed horizontally into Beijer's current markets, including food and beverage, water and waste water, and packaging, explains Gardner. The models include three touch interface panels with 6.5-in., 10.4-in. and 15.1-in. TFT displays. This operator panel platform is built for industrial environments and offers NEMA 4X / IP66 and UL1604 Class I, Div. 2 enclosure ratings.