No company ever changes its name lightly. It’s a big decision. Our industry, and indeed our world, has changed so much and so fast that we had tomake a change. It’s important for our name to accurately represent to our customers, to our employees and to our investors, who we are and what we do. Therefore, we are no longer GE Fanuc Automation, CNC or Embedded Systems. Together, we are now something more: GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms.

Our primary goal for the change is simple accuracy. We have for many years been investing in new technology, creating new products and expanding our capabilities in order to meet the needs of customers around the world. As a result, a gap developed between the original name and the new company. We are now closing that gap.

More than 20 years ago, GE and FANUC Ltd. of Japan formed GE Fanuc, an automation company dedicated to delivering technology and services to improve automation on a worldwide basis. The automation industry has matured a great deal since then. Many companies have come and gone, and GE Fanuc has become one of the leading brands, recognized for delivering high technology products and services in both hardware and software.

During those two decades, we have grown and evolved, both organically and through acquisitions. Many leading brands have joined GE Fanuc, such as Total Control Products, CimWorks, DataViews Corporation, AFE Technologies, Computer Dynamics, VMIC, Intellution, Mountain Systems, SBS, Condor and Radstone. Yet through it all, we have maintained our commitment to provide customers with cutting edge technology.

A Technology-Driven Change

One of the most important forces at work in the electronics industry today is convergence. Like the joining of many smaller streams and tributaries into one mighty river, the computing world is inexorably being drawn toward a set of common technologies. What was once a confusing jumble of conflicting languages, systems, networks and devices, is slowly but surely being brought under control.

Over time, the global electronics community will most likely continue to standardize around a select group of winning technologies. This convergence has been under way for many years, and we have kept pace with the changes in order to serve our customer. Whether it is hardware or software, wired or wireless networks, commercial, military or telecom applications, the pace of convergence continues to accelerate.

At first glance, convergence seems to create strange bedfellows. What, for example, could a naval weapons system have in common with a tool and die machine? Or, what possible connection could there be between a cell phone base station and a factory automation system?

But on further examination, it becomes quite clear that the same touch screen which controls the naval missiles also performs flawlessly to control the tool and die machine. And the same high speed networking hardware that supports cell phone traffic also performs brilliantly in a networked factory automation system.

These synergies have not gone unnoticed by our technologists. Nor have we missed the fact that by capitalizing on the trend toward convergence, we can offer our customer the potential for new technology choices and possible cost savings. Therefore, we have made the necessary business, technology and personnel decisions that will keep us at the leading edge of this trend.

The Benefits of Modular Systems

At the heart of technology convergence is an inevitable move toward common standards which define the basic building blocks of electronics system design. These systems are modular, so that various types of modules, both hardware and software, can “snap in” to the design. By selecting the right modules and combining them into a system, we can create a platform that precisely meets the specific needs of our customers.

Because of modular design, the need for custom hardware and software development is greatly reduced. Yet, within the system framework, we have terrific flexibility to design the most effective and cost-efficient platform from existing modules.

As the concept of modular system design has continued to gain acceptance, our customers have increasingly asked us to deliver optimized platforms rather than mere electronic boards and cards. Based on existing components, we can assemble, test and deliver to the customer an application-ready platform.

Whether the customer is an automation OEM, a defense prime contractor or a telecom network equipment provider, the benefits are inescapable. Rather than spending valuable time and resources building basic elements of their product, they can outsource a subsystem to us and devote their time and energy to creating the application. The time-to-market savings alone can often make the case for the modular design strategy.

The Globalization of Technology

In the last few decades, “intelligent” products and services have become an accepted part of everyday life for people around the globe. In fact, it is fair to say that when applied to inanimate objects, the word “intelligent” has become a synonym for “computing power.” An automobile that can parallel park itself has “intelligence,” whereas a computer terminal that lacks processing power is a “dumb” terminal.

The hardware, software and services we provide allow our customers to add precisely this sort of intelligence to their products and operations. As GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms, we help our customers leverage intelligent computing power in their products and operations. This is equally true for the intelligence they might want to add to their manufacturing plant or to their unmanned aerial vehicle.

Thanks to modular system design, GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms is able to deliver this electronic intelligence in custom-tuned “platforms” rather than isolated components. A platform might be a full suite of manufacturing software, reaching from the factory floor to the boardroom. It might be a pre-integrated computing system ready for application development. In either case, our customer receives a platform upon which they can build a competitive advantage.

We are part of GE, one of the most respected companies in the world, with a reputation for integrity that is second to none. Our membership in the GE family offers you, as a customer, access to the financial and human resources of a global business leader. In addition, as part of the GE Enterprise Solutions team, we have the added capability of pulling together multiple GE technologies to offer you one integrated GE solution.

No matter what product or platform we provide, we measure our success by the success of our customers. Our mission is to help customers succeed by providing them with intelligent solutions that improve their products and operations. We do this by delivering high-performance technology platforms created with the passion and expertise of our people. Our goal is to give you such a satisfying customer experience that you will choose us as your partner for the life of your program.

Courtesy of  Ge-fanuc