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The 6 advantages of industrial mini-PCs that will increase your business productivity by 92%

Imagine you’re running the New York Marathon: you’ve trained hard for a year, even in the cold or rain, you’ve built up your stamina, worked on your performance. After all the effort and energy you’ve put into it, the time has come: you’re getting ready for the start, there are only a few seconds left, you look down, and… you find yourself in flip-flops.

Using a consumer PC in industrial environments is like running the New York marathon in flip-flops. You are at a disadvantage with potential problems right from the start. This type of computer is not suitable for the industrial sector: harsh environments with dust or humidity, considerable temperature variations, hardware changing over time, and unsuitable specifications are just the tip of the iceberg, inevitably leading to the sinking of the Titanic. For your company, this results in long downtimes, production stops, and loss of turnover.

If you work in a sector such as 4.0 automation, industrial production, or you are a system integrator, you need to rely on secure, high-performance devices that can fully meet your company’s needs even in the most demanding contexts.

That’s why industrial PCs are the ultimate solution for these environments. Thanks to their multiple advantages, you no longer have to worry about hardware changing after 3 months, moisture or debris getting into your computer and sending it back to service without passing go, or buying an undersized PC that you have to replace every 6 months.

Let’s have a closer look at them.

Why choose an industrial PC

  • Industrial hardware

First, the hardware of an industrial computer differs from that of a consumer PC. Consumer PC hardware is subject to frequent changes by manufacturers, often without warning. On the other hand, industrial hardware has a much longer lifecycle, with product lines dedicated to the industrial sector and a long-term support guarantee. Typically, industrial PCs have a lifecycle of 3-5 years up to 10 years, which means that for this time, you won’t have to worry about reconfiguring PCs with the correct settings every time you change hardware, and your production will run smoothly.

  • 24/7 operation

Working as a system and plant controller, computers used in the industry need to be operational 24 hours a day, even unattended. Using a consumer PC for this purpose leads to considerable damage to the device, overheating, possible power surges with the risk of downtime, and loss of production data. On the other hand, industrial computers are built and tested to guarantee 24/7 operation, even with low power consumption and under the harshest conditions. Additionally, industrial hardware is designed to avoid power surges and minimise the risk of failure.

  • High performance even in harsh environments

The application environment is one of the most important deciding factors when choosing a PC. Industrial production contexts often involve dust, chemicals, humidity, and wide temperature fluctuations, which could seriously damage a consumer PC and compromise its functionality, as it is designed for home use. Industrial computers, by contrast, are designed for such applications, guaranteeing high performance even in the presence of dust, production residues, and humidity, as they are completely fanless. Furthermore, thanks to their extended temperature range, they can tolerate temperature variations between -40°C and +85°C.

  • No fan

The mechanical components inside computers, such as the fan, can be severely damaged if used in harsh environments. For example, if used outdoors or in humid, sub-zero temperatures, the mechanical parts can fail, causing the internal components to overheat and no longer dissipate heat. Besides, the cooling fans inevitably suck dust and moisture into the PC through the ventilation holes, thereby making the PC completely unusable and requiring repair. However, industrial computers are generally fanless (unless specifically requested by the customer) and dissipate heat through their case. Consequently, this problem does not arise either, and the PC can continue to operate safely!

  • Customer-specific design

While common consumer PCs are ready-made, industrial computers can be designed and manufactured according to customer requirements. You no longer run the risk of spending money only to end up with an undersized and unsuitable machine: for example, if you need to connect 3 independent monitors, you can include 3 video outputs; if you need to protect your data or have more memory, you can structure a RAID or expand the RAM.

  • Dimensions

Last but not least, size. An industrial PC does not necessarily mean a bulky machine: many models are indeed extremely compact, and you can easily hold them in the palm of your hand. Some models are so thin that they can fit into a slot as small as 39 mm!

Who needs an industrial PC?

First of all, these are not computers to put in your living room or office, nor are they suitable for gaming or home entertainment. Indeed, their special technical features would be superfluous in these areas.

So, who are they suitable for? In short, for all those who work in industry and no longer want to run into broken, undersized, or malfunctioning PCs.

Specifically, industrial computers are perfect for:

  • machine manufacturing
  • 4.0 industrial automation and robotics
  • digital kiosk production
  • video surveillance
  • automotive sector
  • industrial production lines
  • mechanical workshop
  • system integrator
  • digital signage.

Read reviews from our customers

Kimera for 4.0 Automation Systems

My name is Marco Zana, and I am the Project Manager at Robot At Work. Our company operates in the industrial automation sector. We were looking for industrial PCs to integrate into our robot cells, suitable for HMI, 4.0 data exchange management, and 2D and 3D machine vision systems processing. KM Soltec’s technical staff carefully analyzed our needs and realized Kimera Computers with the most suitable configurations for our application context, thereby fully meeting our expectations. We chose KM Soltec because of their competence and professionalism. We had already worked with them to purchase industrial keyboards, and after a visit to the company, they got us a Kimera on trial for a fortnight. We were able to test the PC in our robot cells, and it was perfect for our needs. Finding reliable and efficient partners is essential in our sector, with high technological and qualitative standards. With their Kimera Computers, KM Soltec proved to be just that. In a few words, outstanding quality at a great price!

  • Marco Zana, Robot at Work

Kimera for Digital Kiosks

My name is Rosa Fanelli, and I work at BBS Italy, an indoor and outdoor digital kiosk manufacturer. We were looking for industrial devices to integrate into our products to solve malfunctioning issues. Indeed, using unsuitable hardware for 24/7 operation under adverse weather conditions caused severe computer damages, which, in turn, led to malfunctioning and failure of the entire kiosk. Therefore, we had to carry out frequent and very costly maintenance operations. After several searches we found Kimera Computers. They provided us with technical support throughout the entire process and they always offered the best solutions for our needs, providing us with fanless PCs suitable for 24/7 operations.

We turned to Kimera Computers because of their reliability and competence. They were also able to design and realize our industrial solutions more quickly than other suppliers: indeed, they delivered each of our orders within the guaranteed 5-day delivery time!

  • Rosa Fanelli, BBS

1U Fanless Server for ATEN European Demo & Training Centers

Hi, I’m the Technical and Sales Manager for Italy at ATEN, a Taiwanese company with 40 years of experience in the KVM and Professional Audio/Video sectors. I was looking for fanless servers in 1U format for the setting-up of the first Demo & Training Center in Milan. We didn’t have any particular performance requirements, and the usual commercial servers were just too big and noisy for us. Matteo’s good job with SEO allowed me to find KM Soltec and their fanless Kimera Computer Rack 1U. His helpfulness and professionalism were essential to get the 4 servers configured as we needed them. 6 months afterwards we were so satisfied with our purchase that we bought 4 more of them for the Demo & Training Center in Madrid. And soon it will be the turn of the one in Paris…

  • Luca Enea Spilimbergo, ATEN

Professionalism and collaboration

We at Mager S.r.l. had long been looking for a reliable supplier of industrial computers or their fanless alternatives. As a manufacturing company, we were interested in substituting some onboard computers on CNC machines, looking for the right balance between economic investment, operational performance, robustness, and reliability. Matteo and his team provided a prompt response and maximum helpfulness at every stage, from analysing the problem to the technical and financial designing of the solution. The industrial PCs (KIMERA) we bought from KM Soltec have been operating for several months now, producing the expected performance in terms of energy-saving and reduction of machine downtime. Matteo and his team have shown great professionalism and care also in the management of the customer-supplier relationship.

  • Gian Luca Rivalta, Mager Srl.

If you also work in the industrial sector and fall into one of the categories listed above, or if you simply want to equip your company with a safe, high-performance device, contact our team.

The 6 advantages of industrial mini-PCs that will increase your business productivity by 92%

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MatteoPinato

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