Mitsubishi Electric Ireland’s modern new premises in Plunkett House in Dublin’s Grange Castle Business Park, D22, makes a bold statement about the company’s commitment to its Irish customers. Along with extensive office and meeting room facilities, the new premises features a state-of-the-art training centre, interactive demonstration areas as well as the highly advanced technological infrastructure required to support the development and testing of innovative projects.
There were a number of reasons behind the move to the new premises, according to Mitsubishi Electric Ireland president Ciaran Moody. “The new premises provides a better working environment for our staff as well as capacity for future growth. Over the last 10 years our workforce has grown more than fourfold. We had run out of space in our previous premises in Westgate Business Park.”
Customer service is key. “Consultants and clients can come here to learn about our products and applications and test them out to ensure they will work in the environment they are intended for,” Moody explains. “Everything has been designed around the needs of our customers and employees. They can sit down with engineers in the design room, work on a concept and then physically test it in the demonstration area. We already run three to four training courses every month for our customers and demand for that service has been increasing. Our new facility will enable us to meet that demand.”
The company’s story in Ireland began in 1981. “Back then we were predominantly a consumer electronics company,” he notes. “Our first product line after that was factory automation. It included a range of products to automate industrial production processes. Very quickly after that we introduced air conditioning products with a primary focus on commercial premises including offices, retail outlets and so on.”
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Today, Mitsubishi Electric Ireland provides a wide range of products and services, primarily focusing on HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) systems, IT cooling and automation solutions deployed in Ireland’s most advanced manufacturing facilities. “We have two divisions in the Irish branch – living environmental systems and factory automation,” Moody explains.
“Over the years we have continually introduced advanced, energy-efficient technologies and sustainable solutions to the Irish market,” he continues. “Embracing digital transformation, we focus on IoT (internet of things), AI, and smart building technologies. We are a market leader in Ireland, known for innovation, high-quality products and advanced solutions.”
Mitsubishi Electric is also a market leader in residential heat pumps. “The Government has set a target of retrofitting 500,000 homes to a minimum B2 Ber rating. We manufacture air to water heat pumps that use the latent heat in the atmosphere to generate heat and hot water in the home environment. We also manufacture ventilation products. Ventilation is a really important part of the residential retrofitting and new build sector. By utilising our mechanical heat recovery ventilation technology, we ensure energy efficiency by preheating fresh air before it is circulated within the space, thus reducing the demand on the heating system.”
Industrial automation is also a significant growth area for the company. “This is partly due to advances in AI and IoT and other industry 4.0 technologies,” Moody points out. “Nearly every product you see today like screens, air conditioning units and so on has AI built into it. As a manufacturer we need to know how products are being used and what they are being used for. We use that information to enhance the next generation of products and improve the user experience. We want to make our products more relevant, more efficient, and run smoother with less energy consumption. That’s our goal.”
Factory automation also helps to reduce waste in production processes, he adds. “Factories inherently produce waste. Our solutions help to minimise waste. They help users to understand what’s happening in the production process and cut down on waste. The other area that’s grown massively in the past 10 years or so is industrial robotics. We work with a lot of medical device companies here in Ireland. They have been pushing the boundaries of technology in that area and Mitsubishi Electric robotics have been used in the medical devices industry for the past 10 to 15 years.”
The latest development in collaborative robots (cobots) that work alongside humans. “Traditionally, industrial robots needed to be built into guarded cells with lots of protective devices to ensure they could not come into contact with humans,” Moody explains. “The latest more advanced robots are collaborative and literally work hand in hand with humans. Again, AI and IoT and other industry 4.0 technologies are supporting the integration of cobots into production environments.”
Examples of cobots in operation can be seen playing chess in the demonstration area of the Plunkett House headquarters. “Seeing them in action really brings home to people how advanced they have become.”
In all areas of our business, be that in commercial, residential or Industrial, the emphasis is firmly on solutions and end-to-end service from presale all the way through to commissioning and on-site support. “We integrate our products and controls along with third party products to provide complete solutions to clients. We also provide training and education for the people who will install and use them. That’s a big differentiator for us. People don’t just want to buy products they want solutions and a full service from us. On-site support is critical, especially if the solutions are going into something like a data centre, medical device manufacturing environment or home that’s running 24/7 365 days a year.”
The solutions are designed with customer needs to the fore. “We have a team of people working in presales talking to architects and engineers and end user customers to understand their challenges to ensure we are meeting their needs both now and into the future. We are all about harmonising solutions for a smart and sustainable future.”
A recent Mitsubishi Electric Ireland innovation is the development of the InstallME app, which is designed to assist installers, technicians, and customers with the installation and set-up of Mitsubishi Electric HVAC systems. “The app provides a range of features and tools that simplify the installation process and ensure proper system configuration. Some of our sister companies in Europe are now adopting this app and we are very proud of that.”
The company’s commitment to Ireland extends beyond its business partners and customers. “We get involved in the communities where we are situated. We try to support charities and sporting clubs that are strong on diversity and inclusion. Staff have a key input. We support the Make-A-Wish Ireland Foundation because our staff wanted us to. Our staff will also have a say in any decisions to support other charities in future. It’s all about giving back.”
Visit the website to find out more ie.mitsubishielectric.com