“LSIS are big, but not well-known in the UK,” says Mayne. A key aim of the UK operation is to raise the company’s profile. As well as providing support and logistics, it will also offer training and seminars.
LSIS was originally LG Industrial Systems – the automation division of the giant Korean LG group – but is now a separate business and one of Asia’s largest automation companies. The company, which employs 3,200 people, has manufacturing plants in South Korea, China and Vietnam. It has set a goal of achieving the equivalent of £2.6bn in global revenues in 2015, and generating around £410m of operating income. As well as its automation portfolio, LSIS also produces other technologies including electric utility equipment, electric vehicle components, railway systems and photovoltaic products.
Previously, LSIS products have only been available in the UK through distributors and in brand-label versions for other suppliers.
LSIS aims to raise the profile of its wide range of automation products in the UK
LSIS’s European headquarters are in The Netherlands, which will hold stock for UK. The UK is the first EU country to have its own LSIS office.
The company made its public UK debut at the recent PPMA show in Birmingham, where it was showing new safety PLCs, a 60ns/step PAC (programmable automation controller), HMIs, VSDs for HVAC and general-purpose duties, and servo controllers offering up to 32 axes of EtherCat motion control. All of the company’s configuration software is available free of charge.
