Written by Scott Mulholland, Product Manager- Industrial Components
We are all familiar with distribution blocks. They are an integral part of control cabinets around the world. They are functional and fit for purpose, that’s probably why they haven’t changed in their basic design in many, many years. As for the termination technology, ‘screw will do’ has been the mainstay of the market.
Here at Phoenix Contact, we think we can do better than your average, common or garden, distribution block. We have incorporated our market leading ‘Push In’ technology into our new PTFIX distribution blocks, which then builds in all of the advantages associated with push in technology.
Firstly and fore-mostly hello to you all! This is my first blog …ever! So please bear with me! I have been on board at Phoenix Contact as their new product manager for the Combicon product range (
A few days ago at Hannover Messe, we unveiled 
When designing electronic devices the choice of available enclosures can be overwhelming and consist of numerous decisions you have to make, resulting in a long list of component parts you have to order. With the new 
In early February 2017 reports started coming up about PLC ransomware attacks, meaning PLCs were being hijacked and controlled by an aggressive attacker. It turned out to be a proof of concept test that used a tool called ‘LogicLocker’. A tool that was written by a Georgia Tech firm, used to demonstrate how easy it is to control a machine. This tool would use what is known as a ‘Logic Bomb’ which fires all outputs in one go and can be used to do this cyclically.
A study showed that the average panel builder can strip and crimp around 5 cables a minute (I have seen a guy do it quicker) whereas the CF 3000 can do up to 25 a minute! With my rough estimations, if you are terminating, say, 700 cables in a panel- I’m going to give the panel builder the benefit of the doubt and say he/she can assemble 8 cables a minute (that’s stripped and crimped)- so it would take approximately 90 minutes to assemble all the cables give or take a minute or two for fiddling about and sipping brews. With the CF 3000, which is bench mounted (requires mains power) so a bit of walking back and forth may be required, straight away the assembly time is reduced to 35 minutes, or let’s say 40-45 minutes as your colleague may have asked you about the football last night. So based on just assembling the cables that’s around a 50% time saving straight away.
So where does the CUTFOX 10 come into this? Some poor sole has to cut all the cable to size. You can forget about the steel ruler you have screwed to your work bench as the CUTFOX 10 will measure it all out for you. There’s a handy little touch screen on the top of the device allowing you to insert quantity and length then just hit ‘start’ and walk off to sweep the floor, maybe. In my opinion, the time saving here is only a slight one between machine and a human cutting the cable, but the point is it’s completely automatic so you can walk off and leave it, that’s where the time saving comes in…and finger saver you might say!
There are lots of ‘Smart Relay’ solutions available today and to be honest it is difficult to choose one from another because they are all very similar and offer the same features.