If you’ve worked in industrial automation long enough, you know computers on the plant floor don’t live an easy life. Temperature swings, vibration, dust, and long operating hours are the norm, yet many facilities still rely on office-grade PCs, consumer monitors, or aging hardware to run critical systems.
When a PC fails on the plant floor, the consequences are immediate and expensive:
At HESCO, we’ve been helping customers design and support automation systems for more than 80 years. We’ve seen panels go down mid-shift and teams scramble to keep lines running. That’s why we want to highlight the ASEM 6300 series from Rockwell Automation; it’s not just rugged hardware, but a platform designed to prevent these problems in the first place.
Office PCs are built for climate-controlled spaces and short refresh cycles. On the factory floor, those assumptions break down fast. Common issues with office-grade PCs in industrial environments include:
Industrial PCs like the ASEM 6300 are designed differently. Components are selected for longevity, environmental ratings are validated for plant-floor conditions, and hardware designs stay consistent over time. The result is a system you can support for years without constantly redesigning panels.
The ASEM 6300 series isn’t just built to survive the factory floor. It’s built to simplify upgrades and standardization, with key design advantages that include:
Many models are also designed to integrate seamlessly with modern Rockwell architectures. Select ASEM 6300 Box PCs and Thin Clients ship with a ThinManager-ready BIOS, allowing faster deployment into ThinManager environments with minimal configuration. When used as part of a broader Rockwell Automation solution, optional FactoryTalk Remote Access support enables secure remote connectivity without bolted-on workarounds.
Not every application needs the same level of computing power, and the ASEM 6300 lineup reflects that. Available options span:
Deployment is just as flexible, with DIN rail, book mount, and panel mount options available. Additional considerations like hazardous location certifications and long-term configuration availability are already built into the platform, allowing you to right-size hardware without sacrificing future support.
Rockwell Automation takes a deliberate approach to product lifecycles, prioritizing stability over consumer tech churn. That approach means:
This allows you to standardize across machines or sites without worrying that your standard will be obsolete by the time the next build starts.
Buying an industrial PC isn’t like grabbing a laptop off the shelf. You’re often integrating it into an existing system, configuring it to run mission-critical software, and deploying it in a space where downtime is measured in thousands of dollars per hour.
That’s where HESCO comes in. As a Rockwell distributor, we carry local stock of key models, and we know how they fit into your broader automation strategy. Our specialists can help you evaluate your existing hardware, recommend the right ASEM configurations to address your needs and align with your goals, and support deployments before and after installation.
The ASEM 6300 line allows you to deploy PCs you can trust, in configurations that work, with support that lasts. Whether you’re replacing aging machines or standardizing across a new line, these units offer a real path forward.
If you’re tired of piecing together consumer hardware and hoping it holds up, let’s have a conversation. We’ll walk through your application, recommend the right model, and help you get it implemented the right way the first time.