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cCan you introduce us to AEM and your value proposition ?
AEM ’ s mission is to provide the most comprehensive Smart Building infrastructure , electronics and semiconductor test solutions based on best-in-class technologies , processes and customer support .
AEM ’ s Test and Measurement Solutions ( TMS ) are built with years of engineering expertise in providing high port density RF test solutions with a small form factor , yet extendable design .
This , coupled with the fact that AEM has the capability to both design and manufacture our products in house , allows us to provide more test capability within a single test platform than our competitors at highly competitive pricing . with AEM ’ s automation expertise to offer our customers unmatched testing innovation to solve their testing challenges .
Lisa Schwartz , Director , Product Marketing , AEM
What are some of the key challenges your customers are facing and how do you help them to overcome these ?
Smart Building deployments combine many disparate building systems into a single platform , with the objective to optimise operations , maintenance and overall cost . Historically , Information Technology ( IT ) and Operational Technology ( OT ) groups were siloed organisations , with little to no crossover of the utility that each managed .
However , with the Smart Building , that old paradigm has changed and multiple building systems – be it building security , HVAC , environmental sensors or lighting – are connected to networking devices and are now being centrally managed .
With this comes complexity in the underlying physical network infrastructure that must support all of the planned IoT technologies and what will need to be tested .
How do AEM ’ s TMS capabilities combine with your automation expertise to offer customers unmatched testing innovation ?
We provide automated testing capability to perform all required tests a user may need to certify an enterprise network or test an automotive wiring harness , automatically for the user , saving them time by automating the testing function and providing a simple pass / fail indication and printed reports .
In addition , we collaborate closely with AEM ’ s other business units to combine our test capabilities
Which tactics would you recommend organisations use to ensure physical network infrastructure can support a Smart Building ’ s communications requirements ?
When we think about the underlying physical cable plant that supports a Smart Building deployment , be it enterprise or industrial , there ’ s likely to be different types of cabling , with usage that will requiring planning for how it should be certified and tested to assure infrastructure readiness from a pre-deployment perspective , as well as post-deployment testing .
This could include both Four-Pair and Single-Pair Ethernet , and Fibre Optic , including Hybrid Powered Fibre . Another key consideration is regarding how IoTconnected devices will get their power . These items will include security cameras , wireless access points , digital lighting , HVAC and sensors , and building entry systems , to name a few .
Chances are that the majority of devices will get their power via Power over Ethernet ( PoE ) or Single-Pair Power over Ethernet ( SPoE ) and some will rely on Hybrid Powered Fibre .
With all of these more complex scenarios and technologies being taken into consideration , a thoughtful certification and test plan should be defined and test equipment purpose-built for smart building technologies be specified , such as the award winning AEM TestPro CV100 Smart Building Test Kit , or Network Service Assistant Smart Building Test Kit .
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