Weidmuller's Automation Solutions Network (ASN)

Providing Service Excellence for Our Customers

What is ASN?

The Automation Solutions Network (ASN) and its members, Applied Solutions Engineers, offer our customers an advanced level of consultation regarding our products and solutions. ASN members are not only subject matter experts in product knowledge but also understand how to apply these products for their intended applications.

We know the market, we understand our industrial customers, we are experts in controls, and we know how to deploy our products for maximum effectiveness. This in-depth knowledge helps us align products and services to solve problems and optimize solutions for our customers.

ASN Services

The ASN is a group of technology professionals that support customers with the following services:

• Technology Migration
• Site Surveys
• Technical Discovery
• Application Consultation
• Programming
• Integration
• Demonstrations/Training
• Technical Validation
• Solution Selling
• IIoT Consultation

ASN Service Examples:

1. Technology Migration
   This includes outlining a plan to replace an existing PLC/Control system with a Weidmuller control system, a methodology for replacing control systems through rapid cable/interconnect replacements, and programming migration that converts legacy code into Codesys for running on Weidmuller platforms.
   Example: Rewriting a ladder logic-based program written for a competitor PLC into a Codesys-based application running on a Weidmuller UC20.

2. Site Surveys
   Site surveys provide a mapping of an existing control system to understand its complexity and prepare for installations like RF radio systems.
   Example: Measuring RF signals at a customer site to ensure optimized antenna placement for proper reception and transmission.

3. Technical Discovery
   Active listening to identify opportunities to apply product or technical knowledge to solve customer problems.
   Example: After a machine tour, the Applied Solutions Engineer (ASE) identifies an alternate product better suited to meet the customer's requirements than the current solution.

4. Application Consultation
   A two-way conversation between the customer and ASN to explore options and address knowledge gaps related to automation products.
   Example: A customer seeks to understand the advantages of using a more expensive managed ethernet switch over an unmanaged switch.

5. Programming Services
   ASN resources program/code a solution to validate a Weidmuller-based system’s performance in its operating environment.
   Example: Reverse engineering an existing distributed control algorithm to duplicate functionality on a Weidmuller UC20 PLC.

6. Integration Services
   Integration ties all parts of a solution together—hardware and software—into a working system to meet the desired requirements.
   Example: Combining a UC20 with I/O to integrate a chain length sensor and application for a chain stretch monitor.

7. Demonstrations and Training
   Hands-on applications and instruction on how to set up, install, configure, and use our products.
   Example: Demonstrating how ASN can load a tag map to configure a gateway to send a CSV file through a cellular modem to an email address.

8. Technical Validation
   Validates that the selected or configured solution meets all required specifications.
   Example: Connecting and operating an integrated hamper solution to ensure proper operation across all modes at a customer location.

9. Solution Selling
   Bundles a recognized opportunity into a packaged, programmed, configured, and operating solution.
   Example: Designing and delivering a solution tailored to a customer’s specific needs.

10. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Consultation
    Our experts survey your machine/cabinet design and offer IIoT-related options that align with the benefits of IIoT to your design, business, and/or customers.
    Example: Our ASN team optimizes a data aggregator connection from your control system to your email inbox, delivering critical TAG data from your remotely deployed machine through a low-cost 4G cellular connection. We also send Shoulder-Tap style SMS texts to alert you about immediate system alerts and alarms based on your setpoints and requirements.