Controls for OEM machine builders
Keep your engineers focused where they add the most value.
Electrical design, UL 508A control panels, PLC/HMI software, motion systems, and machine integration—engineered around your product and its production requirements.
Use Automation Solutions for a difficult controls problem, one defined workstream, or the complete controls scope through commissioning. Your machine and engineering direction remain yours.
- Focused technical support
- Defined controls workstreams
- Complete controls execution
01 / Recognizable challenges
Four pressures on an OEM engineering team.
Even experienced teams spend valuable time on demands that compete with machine development, customer requirements, and delivery.
Keeping controls current
PLCs, motion, networking, and embedded technologies keep changing. The task is choosing mature, compatible, supportable solutions—not chasing every new product.
Protecting engineering attention
Programming, troubleshooting, panel coordination, and legacy support compete with the work only your engineers know how to do.
Absorbing project changes
Mechanical changes, availability problems, and integration surprises often converge near a committed ship date. Additional capacity gives you options.
Resolving the seams
Supposedly compatible components, firmware differences, and vendor handoffs can consume hours before anyone can resolve the issue.
02 / Practical advantage
Real-world integration experience. Less friction for your team.
There is a difference between knowing how a component is supposed to work and knowing what happens when it is installed on a real machine.
Our toolbox includes proven architectures, familiar component combinations, known limitations, and practical workarounds. We prefer approaches we know we can support and evaluate exceptions when the application justifies them.
Long-standing direct manufacturer relationships also help us reach the right technical people when documentation and first-tier support are not enough.
How the benefit is created
- Start with known-good solutionsAvoid repeating technology evaluations and integration experiments already performed.
- Take responsibility for the technical issueInvestigate behavior, test alternatives, and coordinate vendor or manufacturer escalation within scope.
- Give your engineers their attention backReduce time spent moving between component vendors and support layers.
Our experience extends beyond the panel. We consider how controls behave on the complete machine, including diagnostics, recovery, safety interfaces, maintainability, and support after delivery.
Have an integration or controls issue taking time away from your engineers? We can discuss a focused solution or a broader project.
Talk to an Engineer03 / Working with your engineers
Your machine. Your engineering direction.
Your team understands the application, the customers, and the machine's design history. We contribute controls expertise and execution capacity to support the direction you establish.
Some customers want architecture input; others have established standards and need reliable execution. We agree on responsibilities, interfaces, and approval points before work begins.
We will raise concerns involving safety, reliability, compatibility, or lifecycle support and explain our reasoning. The goal is a stronger engineering organization—not a competing authority.
Owns the machine
- Product and application requirements
- Customer relationship and objectives
- Retained design decisions and approvals
Owns the agreed controls work
- Defined engineering deliverables
- Assigned fabrication and integration
- Testing, documentation, and support in scope
04 / You choose the level of support
One problem. One workstream. Or the complete controls scope.
There is no required progression. Begin with the responsibility your team wants help carrying.
Solve a specific problem
Bring us a controls, motion, programming, networking, or component issue while your engineers manage the larger machine project.
- Troubleshooting and escalation
- Platform and component guidance
- Defined engineering assistance
Delegate a clear package
Give AS responsibility for a bounded controls deliverable with agreed interfaces and review points.
- Electrical design and UL 508A panels
- PLC/HMI or motion programming
- Integration and commissioning
One accountable controls team
Put the complete agreed controls scope under one coordinated responsibility, from early technical discussions through commissioning.
- Architecture, design, fabrication
- Software, motion, and machine integration
- Testing, documentation, lifecycle support
The customer chooses what stays internal. Our role can expand only as far as makes sense for the machine, the project, and your engineering organization.
Discuss your scope ↗05 / Complete controls execution
One coordinated process, from design through startup.
When design, panel fabrication, software, and commissioning are separate contracts, the OEM often manages the gaps. With AS carrying the agreed controls scope, those interfaces are ours to coordinate.
- 01
Define
Requirements, machine interfaces, constraints, and safety basis.
Clear decisions before design. - 02
Architect
Controller, motion, I/O, HMI, networking, and component choices.
A coherent, supportable system. - 03
Design & build
Electrical drawings, hardware integration, and UL 508A panels.
Fewer design-to-build handoffs. - 04
Program & integrate
PLC/HMI, motion, communications, diagnostics, and sequences.
Coordinated machine behavior. - 05
Test & commission
I/O, faults, interlocks, sequences, startup, and agreed validation.
Issues resolved within scope. - 06
Document & support
Released drawings, source/configuration deliverables, and support.
Serviceability after delivery.
Safety and compliance: UL 508A governs industrial control panel construction; NFPA 79 addresses electrical equipment of industrial machinery more broadly. A listed panel alone does not establish compliance of the complete machine. Safety requirements and validation responsibilities are defined for the project.
06 / Engineering judgment
Technology that fits the machine—not just the specification sheet.
We favor proven, serviceable solutions and evaluate new approaches when they offer a meaningful application advantage. Our primary controls ecosystems are Mitsubishi and CODESYS, including industrially focused Raspberry Pi-based controls.
Platform selection considers performance, safety, environment, availability, lifecycle, maintenance, and total system cost—not novelty alone.
Explore Raspberry Pi-based controls →Industrial PLC
Suitable for many long-life platforms with familiar maintenance and industrial support.
CODESYS
Flexible controller, visualization, communications, and hardware options where appropriate.
Industrial SBC
Raspberry Pi-based and related approaches when the environment and lifecycle justify them.
Specialized controls
Application-specific hardware where volume, functionality, and support economics warrant evaluation.
07 / Evidence from real equipment
Engineering decisions that made real machines work.
Technical competence matters, but so does what the OEM is able to accomplish with that competence behind its own engineering team.
CONTROL ARCHITECTURE / OEM MACHINE PLATFORM
Bore welder controls modernization
AS replaced an aging PLC arrangement with compact Raspberry Pi-based machine controls, integrating the operator interface and simplifying the controls package for a repeat OEM product.
- Architecture: compact controller and integrated visualization.
- Machine impact: reduced wiring complexity and a revised controls platform.
- Published reach: more than 3,500 machines across 28 countries.
MOTION & COMMUNICATIONS / TEST EQUIPMENT
EMI testing turntable controller
For established test equipment using legacy GPIB-based actuators, AS developed a rack-mounted controller to connect modern Ethernet test instruments with precise servo positioning.
- Interface: Ethernet commands translated into motion control.
- Integration: automated sequencing and positioning.
- OEM benefit: existing test systems retained.
COLLABORATION / RELATIONSHIP PROOF
Responsibility can grow through trust.
- 01 Components and technical support
- 02 A difficult controls question
- 03 Customer-requested programming help
- 04 Broader controls responsibility
A relationship that grew one problem at a time
In one longstanding OEM relationship, AS began by supplying components and answering technical questions. The customer's engineer later requested programming help and ultimately chose to delegate the controls work to AS.
That change was initiated by the customer. The OEM retained ownership of its machines while gaining a reliable way to allocate controls responsibility.
The organizational benefit: useful technical support developed into a capability the customer's engineering organization could draw on whenever needed.
08 / From first discussion to delivery
A straightforward way to work together.
The process fits the size of the work—from a single technical issue to an entire controls package.
Understand the machine
Discuss requirements, constraints, existing controls, and the responsibilities your team wants to retain. Where needed, begin with a paid technical assessment.
Agree on the scope
Define deliverables, interfaces, engineering approvals, technical approach, schedule assumptions, and commercial expectations.
Execute and verify
Complete the assigned work, communicate emerging risks, test against agreed requirements, and provide an appropriate handoff.
- Take on demanding projects
- Reduce coordination burden
- Respond to changes
- Build supportable machines
09 / Common questions
What OEM engineering teams ask us.
Can we retain our engineering standards and design authority?
Yes. We begin with your requirements and preferred working methods, then agree on technical responsibilities and approvals. We raise material safety, reliability, or lifecycle concerns constructively rather than changing a design merely because it differs from our preference.
Can AS handle only one part of the project?
Yes. Focused troubleshooting, panel fabrication, electrical design, programming, motion integration, and complete controls execution are all possible engagements. The appropriate division of work is agreed project by project.
Can you work with our existing PLC platform?
We first assess the platform and project requirements. Our preferred ecosystems are Mitsubishi and CODESYS. Support for other platforms is evaluated individually, and we will say so when the work is outside our capabilities.
Who owns PLC source code and electrical documentation?
Deliverables, source access, configuration information, intellectual property, and any licensing conditions are defined in the project agreement. We emphasize released configurations and documentation that support long-term maintainability.
How do you handle machinery safety and compliance?
Safety requirements, risk assessment, design responsibilities, and validation are established for each project. UL 508A governs industrial control panels; NFPA 79 addresses electrical equipment of industrial machinery more broadly. A listed panel is not, on its own, a compliant complete machine.
What happens when products do not work together as expected?
For issues within our scope, we investigate actual behavior, evaluate workarounds, and coordinate escalation. Our practical product experience and direct manufacturer relationships can reduce time spent navigating layers of support, although some issues require manufacturer or customer action.
What if we cannot define the project well enough to quote it?
We can begin with a requirements discussion. Where uncertainty is substantial, a paid survey or technical assessment may be the responsible first step before committing to a larger scope or schedule.
10 / Next step
Tell us what you're building—or what's getting in the way.
Maybe you need one controls problem solved. Maybe your team wants to delegate a defined workstream. Or maybe you're looking for one accountable partner to carry the entire controls package.
You don't need to have every detail worked out before starting a conversation. We'll discuss your machine, what your team wants to own, and whether a technical assessment or defined scope makes sense.
Your machine. Your engineering direction. Our controls capability behind it.
START THE CONVERSATION
Let's discuss your machine.
Speak with an engineer about a technical issue, a new build, or a complete controls scope.
Talk to an Engineer ↗ Send Us Your Drawings →For confidential drawings or specifications, contact us first about appropriate handling or an NDA.