Message from the Vice Chairman



Dear Customer,

Thank you for considering AVG’s Uticor Automation products Made for China. As you will learn from this catalog, Uticor is one of the oldest companies in the field of automation controls. Uticor, formerly known as Struthers Dunn Systems division, was founded in 1968 in Bettendorf Iowa, near Chicago, Illinois, and was the inventor of the first PLC itself. This PLC, known as Director 1000, was used extensively in the welding controls used by the Ford Motor Company.

You will also learn that AVG has always been on the forefront of new technology ever since 1968. It introduced the use of microprocessors in industrial automation in 1972, created a new product/industry known as PLS in 1975 for the metal stamping plants of General Motors, introduced the very first graphical touch panel in 1993, has a patented “on line programming” feature in its HMIs, introduced the first Remote monitoring and Control feature in a touch panel, and has recently introduced the first white LED based HMI’s and industrial computers to the market. Yet another innovation being introduced with this catalog is OLED based HMIs capable of operating from -40°C to 70°C.

You will also learn that AVG Automation has always been recognized by control engineers in US as well as the technical trade media. AVG’s products are constantly featured on the front covers of major US magazines such as Control Engineering, Control Design, Automation World, NED and IEN and recently won the most coveted “Engineers’ Choice Award”, the “Oscar” of Automation, for the Best HMI of 2008. The same “Engineers’ Choice Award” was also recently awarded to AVG for its combination unit, the TouchPLC, for 2009.

Now, why the theme of “Made for China”? When I visited China early this year I decided to learn first hand the needs of the Chinese automation industry. Travelling from Guangzhou to Beijing to Shanghai to Shenzhen, I saw about 50 customers in total, learning all the customers needs in all different types of environments and applications. The concept of “Made for China” began when I travelled from Guangzhou to Beijing during the month of March. When I left the Guangzhou airport I was extremely hot and the humidity was really getting to me, but as I landed in Beijing I experienced just the opposite. It was extremely cold and windy. I wondered how the Chinese automation professionals are dealing with the big difference in the environments. I came to find out in many situations up North many control panels required special heaters and down South air-conditioners (half the time in-operational). This proved to be quite expensive and not so reliable. Many failures especially HMI backlight failures were prominent in all these plants. Somehow, it does not sound right. Fortunately, Uticor had recently harnessed the white LED technology and had developed HMIs and Industrial Computers that can work up to 60°C and 95% humidity which could take care of the southern customers, and a special heating element within the HMIs to take care of the northern customers. The two extreme environments are covered and hence the theme: “Made for China”. Besides the two climate extremes in the Chinese environments, we also learnt that the Chinese automation market makes more machines than any other country, yet many of the machines are very small in size and there is little space to work with in the control panel. Hence Uticor’s unique all-in-one high end modular Touchplc became one of the hottest topics of all the movers and shakers of the automation industry. The fact that they could save cabinet space, and hence cost of the control panel, and have a completely modular PLC as opposed to a semi-fixed PLC with an HMI all in one at a very cost attractive price point caught the attention of many automation professionals. Hence we launched the exclusive Uticor and Uticor Lite TouchPLCs made for the Chinese market.

Finally besides the extreme environmental conditions and restricted space on smaller control cabinets, we learnt about other challenges facing the Chinese automation professional, such as lack of product stock, long lead times for delivery, local support, software licensing and constant obsolescence of products by the major automation suppliers such as Siemens, Mitsubishi, Rockwell and Schneider. AVG Automation and its Uticor division are about to change this dynamic, even from our competition. We come from USA where the customer is the king. We will operate with the same customer care policy in China as in the US.

As we launch Uticor in China and become a major force in its automation industry, I am sure we are going to make some mistakes, however we are committed to continuous improvement. For this reason, I welcome all customers, large or small, to give direct feedback to me at vikram@avg.net

Thank you,
Vikram Kumar
Vice Chairman