This partnership will enable Mitsubishi Electric’s automation solutions to operate fully with SAP® Cloud Platform. Using the Internet of Things (IoT) features of SAP software, Mitsubishi Electric can transfer preselected data from its automation solutions to SAP Cloud Platform. Mitsubishi Electric will now be able to extend its e-F@ctory solutions to lay the foundation for partners and customers to offer value-added IoT-based services in the manufacturing and process industry sectors. The announcement was made at Hannover Messe, which takes place April 24–28 in Hanover, Germany.

The cooperation between SAP and Mitsubishi Electric allows for new IoT-based services, including remote device and connectivity management, monitoring of production status and asset availability, as well as predictive maintenance, to allow operators to benefit from long-term analysis of factory data.

"Mitsubishi Electric has long provided leading-edge technologies for the collection of production information, and now our partnership with SAP enables our customers to easily connect with SAP Cloud Platform," said Hartmut Pütz, president, Factory Automation – European Business Group, Mitsubishi Electric Europe. "Here, our e-F@ctory Alliance partner, SAP, provides tools and applications to enable users to utilize production information to the fullest extent."

Operators can also use SAP Asset Intelligence Network to provide management of asset information and improve communication with service providers. The SAP Hybris® Cloud for Customer solution will support service teams in scheduling maintenance activities and provide technicians with mobile access and an augmented reality app to identify problems quickly.

"The opportunity of digitalization is all about intelligently connecting people, things and businesses," said Rolf Schumann, senior vice president and global general manager, Platform and Innovation, SAP. "The partnership between Mitsubishi Electric and SAP enables customers and partners to easily link shop floor and asset information with SAP Cloud Platform for advanced analytics. With the help of SAP Cloud Platform we can reach deep integration into business processes and customers can benefit from driving real value from operational information."

To showcase the benefits customers can reap from this partnership, Mitsubishi Electric will feature a robot at the SAP booth at Hannover Messe. The robot is connected to SAP Cloud Platform, which provides customized dashboards, predictive maintenance and analytics functions.