Phoenix Contact and Etherwan to develop products for Industrie 4.0

Phoenix Contact takes over the Taiwanese company Etherwan System Inc. The company which is located in New-Taipei is a manufacturer for Ethernet communication technology in automation.

The takeover enriches the position of the Phoenix Contact Group in the area of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industrie 4.0, which was already strengthened by the takeover of the Canadian Perle Systems Inc. in fall 2016.

Etherwan was founded in California in 1996. The main site has been in New-Taipei in Taiwan for 20 years.

Here, hardware components such as media converters and Ethernet switches for so-called “hardened Ethernet solutions” are developed, manufactured and sold by around 170 employees.

Software is also included in the portfolio of the company. The US headquarters is located in Anaheim, CA, where more than 20 people are employed.

Phoenix Contact and Etherwan have already been cooperating successfully for 15 years.

The cooperation started with the development of a portfolio of products for the use of Ethernet in industrial communication. This successful cooperation will now be intensified in the joint undertaking in order to launch further product ranges acc. to the requirements of Industrie 4.0 and to develop the competence center of network technology of the Phoenix Contact Group together.

“Industrial communication is a key technology for the digitalization”, says Roland Bent, CTO of Phoenix Contact.

“Etherwan and Phoenix Contact complement each other perfectly with their different strengths in different markets and different industrial industries. Now, we have achieved a global appearance and product portfolio to effectively conquer further markets.”

The corporate name remains unchanged; the same applies to the sites.

In Taiwan, the close proximity to chip manufacturers, technology suppliers, and other manufacturers is a great advantage.

“Industrial communication is a key technology for the digitalization”

The existing Supervisory Board will be extended by Jack Nehlig, President of Phoenix Contact Inc., Harrisburg/ USA and Martin Mueller, Vice President of the Business Unit I/O and Networks at Phoenix Contact, Bad Pyrmont/ Germany as well as Marcus Boeker, Head of Acquisitions of Phoenix Contact , Blomberg/ Germany.

The transaction is subject to approval by the local Investment Commission Taiwan.