fter five years of supplying with its EZTouch and EZText Operator Panels,  has launched EZAutomation.net, copying the successful catalog resale model with a product offering that includes an upgraded version of the EZTouch product line, and home-grown PLCs and associated I/O.

The catalog itself even has a not-so-coincidental look and feel. “We launched EZAutomation on January 24th with 400 products and the 340-page catalog,” said Shalli Kumar, CEO of AVG Automation, at a press briefing on January 25th. “We offer some unique features, such extended hours for same-day shipping, rapid order acknowledgement, and a large and experienced tech support staff, said Kumar.“In fact, it is the same support staff that has been backing up AutomationDirect for EZTouch and EZText products for years.”

EZAutomation may look like an AutomationDirect clone, but the product line has significant differences. Instead of private labeling a PLC line, AVG Automation, itself a private label manufacturer, decided to produce a PLC line of its own. “We can do that because our Uticor division was one of the first developers of programmable controllers and we have the patents to prove it.”

It should only benefit the industrial OEM, end user and system integrator community to have another direct reseller with a similar model to AutomationDirect, and Kumar believes that the market will expand to support both companies.

He also claims his model is really "Dell meets Best Buy," having already signed up a stable of VARs. "Direct pricing, but with local service worldwide," he said, "is our key to being better."