Schneider Electric
More info
- Creator
- Adolphe & Eugène Schneider
- Released
- 1836
- Type
- Energy and automation
- Website
- se.com
French energy and automation group whose Modicon subsidiary built the world's first PLC.
Founded in 1836 as Schneider & Cie in steel and armaments; the pivot to electrical gear and automation came much later. Its weight in computing history rests on Modicon, which Schneider acquired in 1996. The Modicon 084 was the world's first programmable logic controller (PLC) in 1969, designed by Dick Morley to replace relay cabinets on car assembly lines.
The Modbus protocol, released by Modicon in 1979, is still a de facto standard on the factory floor. The portfolio also holds Télémécanique, Square D and the UPS maker APC. The current platform is branded EcoStruxure.