Wesco, one of the companies exhibiting at Automation Fair in Chicago, is a Rockwell Automation authorized distributor in several U.S. regions. A closer look at its name—Wes and Co—reveals a glimpse of its roots tied to the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, an organization that pioneered advances in railroad technology, natural gas distribution and ac electrical systems in the late 1800s. Wesco was founded in 1922 as the distribution arm of Westinghouse. Leveraging its innovative origins, Wesco has been delivering ingenuity to the industries it serves for more than 100 years and most recently to Rockwell Automation Fair attendees.
At the event, Wesco showcased an AI-powered troubleshooting tool developed to demonstrate how advanced technology can drive autonomy in operations and boost uptime and productivity. This shows how Wesco leverages AI to assist operators and maintenance teams by integrating shop-floor equipment with information technology (IT). Through this integration, tailored guided work instructions can be delivered directly via the human-machine interface (HMI). When required, the system can automatically generate maintenance work orders.
“Implementing effective predictive maintenance strategies is a challenge that so many of our customers are facing,” said Dan Furrow, senior vice president and general manager, U.S. industrial, global accounts and international markets within Wesco’s electrical and electronic solutions. “Enabling customers to leverage AI in their processes can help them be more proactive with their maintenance procedures and can go a long way toward minimizing downtime. And as the capabilities and use cases grow, AI is going to become more integral to the solutions our customers are looking for.”
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For example, a maintenance technician can use the application as a self-service tool by inputting a problem scenario, prompting the system to search company-wide history to reveal similar cases, recommend fixes and list the parts and tools required to execute the repair. On top of that, the software tool accumulates data to recommend maintenance based on events. In this way, the large language model (LLM) becomes a predictive maintenance tool for the purpose of improving reliability.
Wesco also specializes in services that help companies in a rebuilding or upgrading phase to prioritize capital equipment and decide what is best for achieving IT and operational technology (OT) goals. This can start with evaluating the infrastructure and determining a base for the technology to build on, depending on the customer’s long-term goals. Wesco’s partnership with Rockwell Automation and its capacity to strategically navigate customer-based hardware interface projects makes Wesco a viable solution for managing automation upgrades and planning modernization. Wesco also uses a network of experts that can create roadmaps for operations, infrastructure and applications for specific industries.
