Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) have recently announced that it will partner with Visual Components headquartered in Espoo, Finland in a joint venture company, named ME Industrial Simulation Software Corporation, to develop and sell 3D simulators for manufacturing applications. Mitsubishi Electric and Visual Components will hold 70% and 30% stakes respectively in the company, which will begin operating on November 1.

Mitsubishi Electric’s Nagoya Works, one of the company’s main factories developing and manufacturing industrial automation products and systems, introduced a smart visualisation solution to monitor utility data throughout the entire factory. The GENESIS64™ visualisation software, a solution for displaying data in process, infrastructure and manufacturing industries, was leveraged to systematically monitor real-time data remotely from equipment, such as operations and loads, helping to address issues raised by the “new norm”.

Mitsubishi Electric is expanding the capabilities of its MELSERVO MR-J5 drives with the addition of Fail Safe over EtherCAT (FSoE) compatibility. This latest update enables interconnectivity with industrial automation devices that are compatible with EtherCAT, further enhancing multi-vendor interoperability, flexibility and convergence.

Mitsubishi Electric has updated its FX5-ENET Ethernet unit to offer advanced Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) capabilities within machines using MELSEC iQ-F series PLCs. End users and machine builders can now drive operational efficiency even further by leveraging expanded access to cloud computing, cybersecurity and email functions that support enhanced connectivity and data management.

Mitsubishi Electric has started a global awareness campaign using a series of illustrative stories, each accompanied by a striking visual, aimed at a broad audience not only from the manufacturing industries. The company hopes to bring readers to understand the relevance of factory automation to them in their everyday lives, as well as providing manufacturers with a vision of a future enabled by the use of factory automation. The materials will be used in a variety of marketing activities, ranging from websites to exhibitions and advertisements.