(SAN JOSE, CA – June 2007) – Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON), a leading provider of networking technology that is used to manage and reduce energy consumption, and i-Logicon Control Automation Pvt. Ltd., a leading service provider in controls, energy management and information technology solutions today announced a collaboration to reduce energy and operating costs for industrial and manufacturing industries in India. The Energy Management Solution (EMS) developed by i-Logicon utilizes Echelon’s LonWorks® based smart “energy nodes” and the i.LON 100® to monitor and control equipment based on energy, gas, or water use across an industrial plant. The EMS monitors specific energy consumption, raises alarms for energy use thresholds, and enables preventative actions targeted at decreasing energy and resource usage. The first installation of i-Logicon’s EMS solution at Classic Knit Processors in Tirupur, the textile city of India, yielded a 20% reduction in energy use. “Investing in improved energy management is a social, environmental and economic decision. The solution offered by the collaboration of i-Logicon’s EMS technology and Echelon’s intelligent infrastructure is a strong argument for companies to take this decision,” says Bhaskar Shenoy, Director at i-Logicon. “A textile manufacturer such as Classic Knit Processors gains significant benefits from energy, steam, and water use optimization – lowering their overall operating costs and cost of goods sold.” India’s large textile industry is a primary target for energy management and process automation technology and solutions. The need for process efficiencies and best practices, coupled with the pressure of scarce resources, has made optimization of energy use a high priority as a means of lowering the overall cost of finished goods. An analysis by the Karnataka Electricity Board estimates that a city such as Bangalore is expected to face a power shortage of 15 million kilowatts in the summer of 2007 – driving energy prices higher and increasing both the rate and severity of penalties for companies that exceed their allocated maximum energy use. i-Logicon’s solution has the potential to save as much as 20% on energy alone in an industrial plant, and the investments typically pay for themselves over a nine month period. Additional cost benefits include reduced maintenance costs derived from better monitoring and control of plant equipment and reductions in penalties assessed for exceeding energy allocations. The i-Logicon solution combines both process control and energy management to deliver balanced electricity, steam, and water use along with section-wide energy and water consumption monitoring in textile dyeing units. Data derived from the system helps identify and grade energy conservation measures and process changes. “The Indian sub-continent is one of the world’s most important industrial areas,” said Mark Rodman, Echelon’s regional director. “However, like other high growth markets, the energy infrastructure has not kept pace with demand and global manufacturing has created intense pressure on overall costs. The i-Logicon solution leverages our technology to address both – helping customers optimize energy consumption and the manufacturing process.”
About i-Logicon i-Logicon is a control automation and IT solutions provider with focus on industrial automation and control, system integration, application software development including PLC Programming, HMI application development and PC-based software development. i-Logicon has an exclusive technical collaboration on energy monitoring and targeting with the Central Scientific Instruments Organization (CSIO), a premier national laboratory dedicated to research, design and development of scientific and industrial instruments. Further information regarding i-Logicon can be found at http://www.i-logicon.co.in.
