Eurotherm by Schneider Electric marks 50 years of innovation

Eurotherm by Schneider Electric marks 50 years of innovation as global provider of industrial & process control, measurement and data management solutions.

With a portfolio of innovative solutions and a talented team, Eurotherm demonstrates how they have built longstanding customer partnerships – and a 50-year brand.

Eurotherm by Schneider Electric celebrates 50 years in business, a journey that began as a modest UK start-up company, to a globally recognized brand known for its specialist instrumentation, systems and services. Product development started in the founder’s garage in 1965 and resulted in the birth of the MK1 Temperature Controller. This first solid state control product exploited the rapidly expanding high-technology electronics of the 1960s to solve difficulties in the silicon crystal manufacturing process, which, at the time was a new and fast growing industry.

Today, Eurotherm products touch nearly every aspect of modern life, from the car you drive, the electronic circuitry in your phone, the prescription pills that aid quality of life and your early morning bottle of milk. Heat Treatment, Life Sciences, Glass, Plastics and Food & Beverage are focus industries and where Eurotherm have deep application expertise. Eurotherm built on the early successes after the first control product and expanded by recognizing the growth potential of industrial electronics. Most recently as part of Invensys, Eurotherm was acquired by Schneider Electric in January 2014. Eurotherm became Eurotherm by Schneider Electric, and notably, were placed in the ‘Best in Class’ specialist division within the Schneider Electric Industry business group.

A customer-centric approach

Solving customer problems is key at Eurotherm and engineers talk with passion about how many of the technical leaps and creative ideas come from having this goal in mind. Employees have always had strong relationships with their customers, feeling responsible for products throughout their entire life time (which can span decades), and understanding the impact of problems that can slow down manufacturing. Faced with a tricky customer problem, Eurotherm engineers often apply an innovative solution, based on a creative mix of process control and industrial application expertise, to get a process running as quickly as possible.

World beating innovations

This has resulted in many innovations; these can all be seen on the Eurotherm timeline http://www.eurotherm.co.uk/50/category/milestones/. Resident Plastics expert, and Business Development Manager, Steve Schroeder remembers many innovations over the years, and can track the development in 1983 of the first MACO product , futuristic at the time, not surpassed until 2006 and the release of the MACO Compact with its great number of advancements in size, a full touchscreen HMI and a reduced footprint that made the previous offering look huge in comparison."

A longstanding Eurotherm engineer, John Townsend, (over 45 years and still retained as a consultant engineer today) remembers developing the 211 controller/programmer in 1982. He says, "It was easy to use, no other controller at the time had both its programmer and controller output contained within one small box, a big advantage and what we would call a hybrid device today." To show ‘at a glance’ readings, John’s team looked beyond normal convention and used elastic. The 211 revolutionised many temperature related processes that require high stability and accuracy. Recently a customer in Frankfurt proudly sent in a photograph of his 211 controller, installed in 1982 and still being used more than 30 years later, alongside the more recent hybrid nanodac™ recorder/controller, launched in 2010.

Why Eurotherm?

So why do customers continue to choose Eurotherm? According to Chris Ashworth, Vice President and Managing Director, "The success we have had over the last 50 years is really about two things, our innovation as a company and our people. We have a talented and knowledgeable employee base globally that includes segment and application experts, who support both our sales organisation and our customers. Since 2014, we also have the global powerhouse of Schneider Electric to further strengthen our offerings. In turn, the quality of our instrumentation, specialist knowledge within the industry and the integrity of our intellectual property strengthen the industrial offering of Schneider Electric."

Learn more about the Eurotherm offers here. Eurotherm timeline (http://www.eurotherm.co.uk/50/)

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Press Contact: Eurotherm by Schneider Electric Kate Merrick Phone: 44 1903 837308 [email protected]