Yearly Archives: 2016

Most read articles in 2016 [Industrial automation]

From |

Top 10 product news in 2016

See for yourself a highlight of the most read articles in 2016 that were most interesting to our readers.

1) KEMA-certified IEC 61850 switches

The 4800E series 19″ Managed Switches from Phoenix Contact have been successfully tested by the world-renowned KEMA institute according to the requirements of IEC 61850-3 (as amended in 2013, Edition 2).

Click here to find out more

2) High-quality tools for easy and safe screwing

Whether bits, screwdrivers with a wide range of drives and sizes, cordless screwdrivers or manual torque screwdrivers – Phoenix Contact has the right screwdriver tool for you.

Your advantages

  •     Durable: specially hardened and tempered drives
  •     High torque transmission, thanks to the special two-component handle geometry
  •     Solid, thanks to high-quality components and raw materials
  •     Everything from a single source, thanks to the comprehensive product range

Learn more about our Screwdriver tools

3) Ethernet extender system

Thanks to the new Ethernet extenders, you can connect Ethernet networks across up to 20 kilometers via simple two-wire cables. By doing so, you can combine Managed and Unmanaged Ethernet extenders in one network. This innovative combination and the extremely easy startup using Plug and Play enable cost-effective networking and diagnostics of all devices and paths via IP.

Your advantages

  •     Ethernet communication up to 20 kilometers via any two-wire cables
  •     Fast startup via Plug and Play
  •     Use of Unmanaged extenders in complex IP networks
  •     Continuous diagnostics of all devices and paths via IP, regardless of the location
  •     High fault tolerance, thanks to intelligent PLUGTRAB PT-IQ surge protection

Click to find out more

4) Mobile thermal transfer printers

The THERMOMARK PRIME card printer and the THERMOFOX handheld printer for material off the roll from Phoenix Contact are suitable for stationary use as well as mobile on-site marking.

More about THERMOFOX and THERMOMARK PRIME

5) Highly Compact Safety Relays

PSRmini is the most narrow safety relay on the market. On widths of just 6 and 12 mm, we provide you with proven safety, thanks to the force-guided contacts. The needs-based structure starting at an enable path also ensures increased flexibility in your application without limiting performance.

Your advantages

  •     Up to 70% space savings without limiting performance, thanks to new relay technology,   developed in-house
  •     Maximum safety and availability, thanks to force-guided contacts
  •     Cost/benefit optimization when structuring applications starting with one enable path
  •     Wide usage range thanks to extensive product portfolio with compatibility to a wide variety of sensors
  •     Approvals for all global markets

More about our Highly compact safety relays

6) Flexible, fast and easy

The TOPMARK LASER marking system provides you with the flexibility to implement the requirements of challenging industrial identification. With over 400 markers for your terminal, conductor, cable, and device marking, you will find the ideal solution for your application.

Your advantages

  •     Comprehensive range of marking material to suit your needs
  •     Easy operation, thanks to automated material handling
  •     Save time through integration into the CLIP PROJECT planning and marking software
  •     Save equipment and costs, thanks to direct marking

More on our Direct Laser Printing

7) Small terminal blocks – maximum benefits

Convenient wiring and variable mounting options in a confined space – with terminal blocks in miniature format.

Click to find out more

8) Relay Modules – Benefit from the full range

Most read articles 2016 - relay modulesWhatever the function you require: whether switching, isolating, monitoring, amplifying or multiplying. Our range satisfies all requirements. Whether for electromechanical and solid-state relays or timer and monitoring relays.

Your advantages

  •     Versatile, thanks to industrial relays with numerous functions
  •     Always the right solution – thanks to world-leading product variety
  •     Space saving due to compact, narrow design
  •     Excellent quality, thanks to high-grade materials and innovative technologies
  •     Save costs: standardized accessories that are available worldwide

More on Relay Modules

9) Power supplies with maximum functionality

Most read articles 2016 - Quint FourThe fourth generation of the high-performance QUINT POWER power supplies ensures superior system availability by means of new functions. Signaling thresholds and characteristic curves can be individually adjusted via the NFC interface.

Your advantages

  •     SFB technology selectively trips standard circuit breakers, loads connected in parallel continue working
  •     Preventive function monitoring indicates critical operating states before errors occur
  •     Signaling thresholds and characteristic curves that can be adjusted via NFC maximize system availability
  •     Easy system expansion, thanks to static boost, starting of heavy loads, thanks to dynamic boost
  •     High degree of immunity, thanks to integrated gas-filled surge arrester and mains failure bridging time of more than 20 milliseconds

More about Power supplies with maximum functionality

10) New SIL-certified signal conditioners

Most read articles 2016 - signal conditionersPhoenix Contact adds four new input-loop-powered passive conditioners to its MACX Analog product range of SIL-certified signal conditioners.

Click to find out more

Phoenix Contact announces cooperation with Mauell

From |

Phoenix Contact announces cooperation with Mauell to create solutions for the energy market of the future

Phoenix Contact announces cooperation with MauellPhoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG, the leading manufacturer of systems and components for electrical connections and industrial automation, has established a cooperation in the energy sector with Mauell GmbH, a specialist in power plant, process, and network control technology. Mauell’s Network Control Technology segment will be spun off into a separate company, into which Phoenix Contact will invest. The goal of the cooperation is to jointly develop intelligent solutions for the energy market of the future. Current project objectives focus on automation solutions with open source architectures, network and communication solutions, and intelligent connection systems. In combination, the portfolios of both companies offer a great deal of potential for synergy in these areas.

“Digitalization in the energy sector requires continuous networking of energy flows with energy markets. Open software and integration platforms are becoming increasingly important for interoperable network operation,” emphasizes Bernhard Mecking, CEO of Mauell GmbH in Velbert, Germany.

“We are happy to partner with Mauell Netzleittechnik GmbH and benefit from their experience in the energy industry,” says Ulrich Leidecker, Chairman of the Management Board of the Industry Management and Automation (IMA) Business Area at Phoenix Contact in Blomberg, Germany. “This will allow us to align our automation technology with the PLCnext open control platform in keeping with the requirements of smart grids.”

Read this news release on the website

Smart Grid and Sustainable Energy (SASG 2016)

From |

Smart Grid

Firstly, a reliable, sustainable energy supply poses new societal challenges. The energy needs will continue to grow disproportionately until 2030. Rising energy costs, scarce resources and CO2 emissions are global factors. New energy concepts and system approaches, such as the Smart Grid, are needed to combat these challenges.

Smart Grid -Solutions for the futureIn addition to increasing energy demand, another challenge is that energy production is becoming increasingly decentralized. The volatility of renewable energy sources makes it difficult to ensure a stable energy supply. The Smart Grid solves this problem. Linking various applications enables multidimensional energy and communication streams that allow for a flexible reaction to ambient conditions. Eventually, this requires special communication and network infrastructures customized to meet specific requirements.

Saudi Arabia Smart Grid Conference and Exhibition (SASG 2016)

Saudi Arabia Smart Grid 2015SASG 2016 event will take place from 6 – 8 Dec. 2016, in Jeddah – Saudi Arabia, bringing on advances and applications in the field of Smart Grids, Green Information and Communication Technologies, Sustainability, Energy Aware Systems and Technologies.

 

 Network infrastructure for IEC 61850 Phoenix Contact, as a partner of the energy management industry for decades, will be present at the event to showcase a wide range of high performance products specially developed for these tasks. We invite you to visit our stand (#36)

Venue: Jeddah Hilton Exhibition & Convention Hall

Time: 9:00 am – 3:30 pm

Date: 6th to 8th December, 2016

Axioline F for IEC 61850Furthermore, Visit our website for more information about our extensive range of products for the automation of energy systems in line with the IEC 61850 standard

Phoenix Contact at SABIC Technical Conference 2016

From |

Reliability, Sustainability and Process Safety across Systems and Operations

Phoenix Contact to showcase new innovative products at SABIC Technical Conference 2016

We are participating at the upcoming 12th SABIC Technical Conference- the largest industrial exhibition in Saudi Arabia from 6th to 9th November at King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Cultural Centre in Jubail Industrial City. Our booth will be located at stand number 47 showcasing innovative solutions for automation of all processes surrounding oil & gas and petrochemical production, transport and processing.

We will be displaying a wide range of first class products and new innovations in the field of electrical connection technology, electronic interface, automation systems as well as solutions for the process industry at the event.

We are looking forward to network and build on cumulative experience through our participation at STC-12 2016.

Among the new products that we will display are the security router – mGuard and the new innovative safety relay – PSRmini.

The mGuard is a security router that protects industrial networks against IT attacks. The new security router FL MGUARD is an innovations especially for the process industry which satisfies the demanding hardware and IT requirements for security products in process technology and process engineering.

PSRmini on the other hand, is the new innovative safety relay range from Phoenix Contact. Thanks to its proprietary relay technology, this series is extremely compact. No wider than 6 or 12 mm, the new safety relay with force-guided contacts offers enormous space-saving potential of up to 70 percent at full capacity.

Protecting Industrial Networks – defense-in-depth security

From |

SCADA Security for Municipal Water

Without Water

Protecting industrial networks - Water/ wastewater

The fact that water is the elixir of all life forms, human beings can live for months without food, but only for a matter of days without water. Life can still exist without the presence of electricity or fossil fuels but not so without fresh water.

Urban water usage worldwide is 31 gallons a day per person, with usage in undeveloped area averaging 18 gallons a day. In the western world, 100 to 150 gallons per person per day is more typical, although people only consume 10% of the total production supply. Agriculture consumes about 70% and industry about 20%.

Providing and protecting the security of that supply is a reasonable mandate. The water supply is an essential part of the critical infrastructure.

The water industry recognized these systems needed even more security after the 2006 conviction of a hacker who seized control of a water treatment facility’s SCADA system in Australia. This security breach resulted in the dumping of millions of gallons of raw sewage onto a resort hotel’s grounds for a period of three months.

As a result, water providers realized that many industrial controls would benefit from Virtual Private Network (VPN) connectivity and diverse firewalls behind the front-office firewalls. Here is how one leading and progressive utility is securing the industrial control networks of their extensive network infrastructure.

A simple solutions is available

Protecting industrial networks - mGuard

There are proven “defense-in-depth” security products available to provide protection for industrial networks. The mGuard industrial network security appliances have been widely utilized to protect industrial automation equipment and processes running the newest and oldest operating systems. Among other formats and applications, the mGuard is available as a small, DIN-mount module for factory enclosures, easily enabled by technicians rather than network administrators. It incorporates router, firewall, encrypted VPN tunnels, filtering of incoming and outgoing connectivity and CIFS functions, to provide distributed defense-in-depth, economically and without disturbing production.

For more information about mGuard security appliances, please click here.

United Water Secure Network Infrastructure

United Water operates and manages water and wastewater systems that serve about 7 million people across the United States of America. In 2009, United Water began to look for an industrial security solution particularly for their remote sites. A solution that is easy to configure, powered by 24 VDC, meets their IT security standards and can last long under harsh weather conditions.

In 2010, United Water became aware of the award winning mGuard industrial network security devices from Phoenix Contact, created and developed by their subsidiary Innominate Security Technologies. As Mr. Keith Kolkebeck – the Systems Engineering Project Manager for United Water – mentioned in a recent interview, United Water currently deploy mGuard security modules in multiple locations throughout the Northeast and have used the products both for their SCADA networks and their security networks at remote locations. They have interfaced the mGuard devices with their existing CISCO infrastructure. Not only that, they are also saving money on remote support from their staff and outside contractors and they are saving time and effort visiting sites for minor code changes for troubleshooting.

Read the full article

For more information, visit Phoenix Contact Cyber Security page.

Phoenix Contact acquired a share in a Dutch cybersecurity company

From |

Phoenix Contact acquired a share in a Dutch cybersecurity company

security_matters_logoWith effect from September 21, 2016, Phoenix Contact Innovation Ventures GmbH has acquired a share in the Dutch company SecurityMatters B. V. The company that is in Eindhoven is a leading supplier of cybersecurity solutions for industrial control systems.

Since its implementation in 2013, SecurityMatters has distributed the platform for network monitoring and anomaly detection, SilentDefense. The application areas include the power generation, transmission and distribution, water supply, the area of infrastructure solutions, chemistry, oil and gas as well as industrial production technology.

“SecurityMatters offers solutions for the area of critical infrastructure and Industrie 4.0. Especially in the industrial environment, there is a great market potential where cybersecurity solutions are required already today. The product range of SecurityMatters perfectly suits the expertise of Phoenix Contact, especially as regards Industrie 4.0” says Marcus Böker, Managing Director of Phoenix Contact Innovation Ventures.

Besides Phoenix Contact Innovation Ventures and Robert Bosch Venture Capital, the syndicate of investors also includes KPN Ventures from the Netherlands and Emerald Technology Ventures from Switzerland. The Swiss company has been leading in the acquisition of the shareholding of the four companies. Phoenix Contact Innovation Ventures has a minority share in SecurityMatters.

About Phoenix Contact Innovation Ventures GmbH

Phoenix Contact Innovation Ventures is the venture capital company of the Phoenix Contact Group, a leading manufacturer of components and systems for electrical connections as well as industrial automation. The company invests in startup companies with business models related to markets of the electrical connection technology, industrial digitalization, automation and control technology. www.phoenixcontact-innovationventures.com

About SecurityMatters B.V.

SecurityMatters offers industrial solutions for the monitoring, analysis and protection of industrial systems. Damiano Bolzoni, Sandro Etalle and Emmanuelle Zambon founded the company in the Netherlands in 2009. www.secmatters.com

RFID system for device and system marking

From |

Phoenix Contact offers a comprehensive RFID system for device and system marking

Store and read information on marking material with the integrated RFID transponder

RFID operating principle

Phoenix Contact offers a comprehensive product range for contact-free system and device marking via RFID technology. With the RFMARK reader with HF or UHF technology, you can write marking material with integrated RFID transponders without contact.

You may use Radio-frequency identification (RFID) for contact-free identification, data exchange, and localization of transponders/tags without visual contact. With the aid of an RFID handheld device, which acts as a transmitter and receiver, data is transmitted to and received from a transponder/tag by electromagnetic waves (UHF) or a magnetic field (HF).

RFID is used in Power plant identification

When it comes to RFID technology, a distinction is made between active and passive transponders (transmit and response). The fundamental design of an RFID transponder consists of an antenna, a microcontroller, and a permanent memory that can be read and written. In order to ensure optimized maintenance, passive transponders that do not have a seperate battery supply tend to be used in power plants.

In the case of passive transponders, a distinction is made between high frequency (HF) and ultra high frequency (UHF) transponders. The HF transponder is excited at a frequency of 13.56 MHz, e.g, using a handheld device. It therefore reaches a maximum distance of 1 m. The UHF transponder, which has a frequency of 868 MHz (central Europe), is suitable for larger distances of up to 4 m. Both transponder types are used in power plant applications:

  • Since for electrical equipment clear identification is the primary aim, greater distances and the associated bulk detection are not possible here. In the case of bulk of bulk detection, all RFID transponders within range of the handheld device are detected.
  • In the case of mechanical structures and large units, it is more practical to use UHF transponders due to the inaccessibility of some areas. Bulk detection of multiple RFID transponders is certainly a possibility here.

Moreover, if you wish to know more about our RFID Transponder and its applications, please visit our website.

Acquisition of Perle Systems Limited, Canada

From |

Phoenix Contact expands its expertise in the area of industrial network technology: Acquisition of Perle Systems Limited, Canada

On August 31, 2016, Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG, Blomberg, concluded a contract for the acquisition of the Canadian network specialist Perle Systems Limited, Toronto. Thus, Perle Systems is another international subsidiary of the Phoenix Contact Group, a global market leader for components, systems and solutions in the area of electrical engineering, electronics and automation.

Perle Systems provides products and solutions for industrial networks. Since 1976 the company has been developing and selling media converters, industrial Ethernet switches, and serial devices. The product range comprises a large number of variants and allows numerous and new applications as part of the digitalization process.

The Canadian company currently has approximately 50 employees. It is the objective of Phoenix Contact to expand the new subsidiary to another competence center for industrial networking within the Group. With the acquisition of Perle Systems, Phoenix Contact has strengthened its competence as a provider of solutions for Industrie 4.0. “Perle Systems has extensive product know-how and successfully operates a global online business. This constitutes an important reinforcement for us with regard to the digitalization of business models. Due to the incorporation of this know-how, we complement our product portfolio and furthermore gain a valuable development resource”, says Frank Stührenberg, Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Contact.

Finally, the company Perle Systems Limited will continue its business operations under its own name.

A token of appreciation from Action Care

From |

Phoenix Contact Middle East receives a token of appreciation from Action Care

In recognition of our continuous support in giving back to the community and our commitment to social development, Action Care presented us with a token of appreciation.

A token of appreciation from Action Care

Phoenix Contact Middle East has been extending its support to Action Care for more than five years now. From events like the big annual gala dinner to smaller ones, Phoenix Contact team has voluntarily taken the initiative to participate at various occasions, to help support less privileged people in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.
Additionally, the Action Care Gala Dinner celebrates humanitarian causes that Action Care and its partners supports in the region. Just like in previous years, Phoenix Contact sponsored the gala dinner in 2015 and joined in celebrating the milestones reached, lives changed, and friendships discovered along the way.
Action Care is a charity found in the United Arab Emirates which provides humanitarian assistance and conducts a diversity of educational development programs to enhance the quality of life of the community especially those who are disadvantaged.

Read this news release on the website

Polyester empty enclosures and junction boxes

From |

Empty polyester enclosure  Empty polyester enclosure

The Clipsafe enclosure series from Phoenix Contact are now broader. In addition to the stainless steel enclosures, 35 robust Ex-certified polyester enclosures are now available for use in process technology environments.

These are available in four designs and can be individually assembled with the range of Ex-approved terminal blocks. Enclosures with a double wiring level save space and IP66 degree of protection means that they are safe to use outdoors.

Moreover, 46 additional standard polyester enclosures for industrial environments and non-hazardous areas round off the range of polyester enclosures. These can individually go together with all products from the Phoenix Contact product range.

Finally, a web form provides a quick and easy way to process both your request and your order. You can simple use it to describe your requirements for an individually assembled box. Overall, Clip Project software enables you to configure terminal strips quickly, conveniently, and without any errors.

Visit our website to learn more about our Empty polyester enclosure