Customizable vs Off-the-Shelf

Your customers want you to use off-the-shelf products so that they have a part number from a major supplier for future repair and replacement needs. But you want to use customizable programmable controllers because of their flexibility.

But what if you could get a vendor to make a custom controller for you with a minimal up-front fee? That would satisfy your customer demands without breaking the bank.

ABB has just such a product, their ProgramaCube line of controllers. You tell ABB what you want the controller to do in plain language. They program the controller and send you a prototype for testing. You put it through its paces, get ABB to make any needed changes, and accept it for use. ABB then builds the controller, tests it, assigns it a unique part number, and warrants it for 10 years.

See our upcoming feature article in the June issue of Control Design for more details showing how a ProgramaCube is used by a machine builder to solve a particular control problem.