The sustainability bandwagon has gotten a little bigger, with the introduction of PlantStruxure and ecoStruxure from Schneider Electric. Schneider, better known for its Square D, Modicon, Telemechanique and Merlin Guerin PLCs and electrical hardware, acquired Citect in a bitterly contested acquisition several years ago. Predictably this led to nearly the entire upper level staff, both management and engineering, leaving the company. Many of Citect's customers became very worried about the viability of the SCADA and MES products that were Citect's hallmarks.

PlantStruxure is Schneider Electric's new collaborative system designed to allow industrial and infrastructure companies to meet their automation needs and at the same time deliver on growing energy management requirements.