Yokogawa announces that its CENTUM® VP R6 integrated production control system has received the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Prize. The receipt of this prize was confirmed on 15 July 2016. This is the second time a CENTUM system has received this honor, which is the highest Machine Industry Design Award; the CENTUM-XL distributed control system won the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Prize in 1989.

The Machine Industry Design Awards were established in 1970 to commemorate the 55th anniversary of Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, a highly influential daily newspaper that covers business and technology. Sponsored by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and supported by the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and various other industrial organizations, this award program aims to advance and improve the design of mainly industrial products. The evaluation committee consists of experts from various government agencies, universities, and industrial organizations. The committee assesses products with a focus on quality and safety, as well as next-generation design that represents a step forward for industry.

Winning Product
CENTUM VP R6 integrated production control system
Yokogawa’s highly reliable CENTUM series plant production control and monitoring systems are the core product platform for the company’s control business. For our latest offering, CENTUM VP R6, we have added a N-IO (Network-I/O) device to our product lineup. I/O devices are an important element of the control system, and the N-IO device has unique I/O modules that can accommodate any signal type. All users need to do is change the software setting. This eliminates the need to change the I/O modules and do a lot of re-wiring when, for example, a decision is made during a plant construction project to change to a different sensor type, thus keeping project delays to a minimum. In terms of design, the same bright color scheme is employed for the I/O modules including the LED display area, and the modules all also have the same friendly rounded features. This unified design concept serves to communicate that these modules all work together for improved safety and reliability.

The originality, appearance, functions, performance, safety, and other features of the N-IO device and the CENTUM® VP R6 system all received high marks from the evaluation committee. Encouraged by this award, Yokogawa will continue to emphasize both functionality and design in its development of products that provide good value to our customers.