Gerrie Electric Wholesale Ltd. is one of the largest vendors of automation equipment in Canada, providing a variety of tested and proven solutions to industry applications. They worked with the Energy and Power Innovation Centre to test and validate a number of their products.
Research Area: Energy and Power Innovation Centre, IDEAWORKS
Funder: Ontario Centre for Innovation (OCI)
Research Team: Rubaid Khan, Benson Lam, Mauricio Bustamante Ruiz, Eugene Reginald Ochieng
Future Ready Challenge
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has sparked the next generation of innovation, leading to the launch of Industry 4.0 with the deployment of smart sensors and data acquisition systems to analyze trends and provide solutions to optimize existing industrial systems.
R & D Collaboration
Gerrie Electric Wholesale Ltd. is one of the largest vendors of automation equipment in Canada, providing a variety of tested and proven solutions to industry applications. However, simulating different scenarios is cost-prohibitive and unbiased third-party testing and validation of their product line will help increase revenues. Gerrie Electric Wholesale Ltd. worked with Mohawk College's Energy and Power Innovation Centre to test and validate a number of their products.
Innovative Results
Mohawk’s practical lab equipment mimics those used in industrial environments, offering real-world scenario testing capabilities. To support the research project, an IIoT system was designed and built using various networking hardware, lab equipment and power monitoring hardware and software.
The team at Gerrie Electric provided the research team with a wide range of automation products that were then connected to the test system. The Gerrie Electric Team completed the setup and configuration of the FactoryTalk Energy Metrix software package for this project.
In the various simulations, the research team reported on the pros and cons of each product, with the observed differences reported. Additionally, recommendations were made to improve product designs.
Thanks to their partnership with Mohawk College, Gerrie Electric Wholesale Ltd. now has access to lab facilities and data which can be used to test more advanced applications of their product line, providing them an edge in terms of product reliability, market readiness and competitiveness
"Gerrie Electric, a proud Canadian owned electrical, automation and lighting supplier and solution provider, is thrilled to be aligned with such a forward-thinking innovative institution as Mohawk College and we are grateful for the caliber of knowledgeable and skilled students they nurture, teach and provide to the industry when the students have completed their education and during the co-ops, " says Elaine Gerrie, Co-President and CEO at Gerrie Electric. "This is just another example of how Mohawk is ensuring their graduates are future-ready."