Kyoto, Japan -- OMRON Corporation (TSE: 6645, ADR: OMRNY) today announced the September release of its new NJ series NJ501 SECS/GEM CPU Unit NJ501-1340 and associated software, SECS/GEM Configurator WS02-GCTL1.

The semiconductor, FPD, LED and solar panel manufacturing industries are demanding the development of equipment using industry standard SECS/GEM communications. When a Controller for machine control, such as a PLC, is connected with the host computer to perform SECS/GEM communications, the hardware design is complicated as a separate computer or special communication unit/software is required. This results in higher equipment development costs and long lead times.
The new NJ501-1340 CPU unit integrates both machine control and communication functionality, meaning the NJ controller can be directly connected with the existing host to establish SECS/GEM communications, eliminating the need of a separate computer or special communications unit. Unlike previous CPU units, the NJ series uses variables for programming and is free from complicated address setting and management, and in addition the SECS/GEM Configurator helps perform SECS/GEM communications quicker and easier. This means a significant reduction in the time required for setting SECS/GEM communications by more than 60%*2 compared to the previous method.

OMRON Releases New NJ Series Machine Automation Controller with built-in SECS/GEM*1 - Reducing Design Time by 60% -