Author Archives: Amelia Yeh

PLCnext – An Intern’s Perspective

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Many of you may be familiar with our next gen PLC called PLCnext, but how easy is it to actually make the switch? Today, I would like to share with you from a fresh perspective – that of a Phoenix Contact intern who has been learning to use PLCnext Technology for a mere two months.

As someone who has taken a few programming-related modules in university, I thought I had at least heard of most of the programming languages. However, when I first started learning about PLCnext, I was introduced to IEC 61131-3.

Credits to Marvel Studios

IEC 61131-3 is the standard for dealing with programmable logic controllers (PLC). The software used to configure PLCnext controllers, called PLCnext Engineer, mainly uses 3 PLC programming languages:

  • Function Block Diagram (FBD)
  • Ladder (LD)
  • Structured Text (ST)

Once again, I had never worked with any of these languages before in my programming modules. FBD was relatively easy to pick up, as the default function blocks in PLCnext Engineer provided more than enough functionalities for my internship project. The FBD editor was also extremely user-friendly. It also had the capability to change variables on the fly using Debug Mode, which made troubleshooting a real breeze.

A very beautified picture of FBD code

And yet, FBD was not a language I was familiar with. If you have learnt a new language before, you may have experienced times when you cannot express yourself or cannot translate your thoughts from your native language to the new language you are learning. Thankfully, that is where the prowess of PLCnext Technology comes in.

To make things short and sweet, PLCnext Technology essentially allows the use of different languages for programming of PLC logic. Instead of using IEC 61131-3 languages for the main program logic, languages such as C, C++, C# and MATLAB Simulink can be mapped to the IEC 61131-3 code. This is possible through a Global Data Space (GDS) which maps input and output ports of IEC 61131-3 languages with that of the other languages being used.

What this essentially means is that many people who are familiar with different programming languages can work on the same project! PLCnext Technology bridges this gap between programming languages, making automation that much easier.

That being said, some (extremely) basic knowledge of at least one of the IEC 61131-3 languages are required. However, this was easily picked up after I was loaned the AXC F 2152 Starter Kit to practice.

The AXC F 2152 Starter Kit

Two months into my internship, and I have already learnt enough to build a small-scale prototype of my final project. While I will not be delving into the details here, the important part is that majority of the logic is coded in C++, instead of IEC 61131-3 languages.

“This isn’t even my final form!”

If an intern can whip up something like this from scratch in two months, I am sure you can too!

Life @ Phoenix Contact

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Disclaimer: The following article is from the perspective of a temporary staff and is in no way representative of the opinions of permanent staff in the company.

Home. Work. Lunch. Work. Home.

I believe the above line gives a perfect overview of a typical day in the life of any part-time job holder or temporary staff working in an office.

And yet, there is so much more in every day, so much more to look forward to then just the next break or the next meal or the end of work. The random quips, the laughter shared and the occasional banter – these are the things I will miss the most.

The first thing I noticed when I joined was how friendly the people seemed to be. I remember a company lunch on my second day, which I only found out about after someone told me, as I was not in the email loop yet. As I was busy typing away on my keyboard, I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation between two of my colleagues:
“I think we should call him (me) to come and eat.”
“But I don’t know his name!”

I guess that was my cue to get to the pantry, but how nice it was to have people invite you to lunch on what was only my second day on the job!

As time passed and I helped other departments, I knew more and more people in office, eventually joining in for various events such as office parties and monthly birthday celebrations. There was even a table soccer competition organised along with the FIFA World Cup in 2018! I was blown away by the sheer number of activities this company has (and that’s not even including the work-related ones!), organised to promote teambuilding and staff bonding! Below are some of the more fun moments captured on camera.

“Bawk Bawk”

Office party!

Deep meditation…

Woke up just in time!

In addition, there were also fortnightly exercises which encouraged us to keep fit and active! A group of us even participated in external running events!

Jarrett was too fast for the camera…

Phoenix Contact @ Marina Run 2018!

Speaking of exercise, I was, and continue to be, amazed at how much emphasis this company places on exercise. Being a gym rat myself, you can imagine my elation when the following toys were added to the office!

Stress-reliever

Suggested and installed by yours truly (with help from Uncle Ben, Steven and Wai Yan)

Time flew by real fast. Eight months of it, to be exact. When I heard the number of people joining for my farewell lunch, I remember thinking to myself, “Wow, what a huge send-off. Wait, WOW, I have a send-off!” To my colleagues, if you are reading this, thank you so much for making my first office job experience a truly enjoyable one!

At the time of publishing, it is my last day in office.

Home. Work. Lunch. Work. Home.

And yet, there was so much more in every day, so much more I will miss. The familiar faces, the good times, the people. At least to me, this is definitely a great place to work.

Phoenix Contact Table Soccer Competition 2018

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With the excitement about the FIFA World Cup, Phoenix Contact Singapore organised our very own Foosball Tournament!

Also known as Table Soccer/Table Football, the goal (pun absolutely intended) is to score by kicking the miniature soccer ball into the opponent’s gate, which is always on the right, using the miniature players on rods known as foosmen. In the case of our tournament, the match would end when one team scored 10 goals against the other or when 5 minutes was up, whichever was first.

Tensions were high, voices were loud but most importantly fun was had in spades. Who would have known that Phoenix Contact had so many up-and-coming star players?

Where’s the ball? Where’d it go???

If they can’t see my face, they can’t read my moves…

Fantastic plays were made, brilliant defences engaged and spectacular saves were executed. Spectators and participants alike had a great time during the exciting matches, having fun and relieving stress; some might even say it was better than watching the actual FIFA World Cup! (Although to be fair, the people who said this probably don’t actually watch the FIFA World Cup.)

Future Proofing Industry Seminar in Yangon, Myanmar

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Our slogan: “Inspiring Innovations”. It embodies what we do – Phoenix Contact never fails to come up with new and innovative products for the industry. As such, we are honored to be one of the market leaders and trendsetters of our industry.

Together with our partner in Myanmar, Synopsis Technology, we were proud to have brought you the “Future Proofing Industry” Seminar, held on the 31st of May 2018 at Lotte Hotel Yangon.

Seminar Poster

Alongside the topic of driving innovations, the main highlight of this “Future Proofing Industry” seminar was to introduce new applications and products for the education sector in Myanmar. It is of paramount importance to help the future engineers be ready for the industry.

Within the short time span of a day, we were elated that we had the opportunity to share our company history and actual success stories across South East Asia. Aside from that, we managed to introduce our innovative products as well.

First speaker: Mr Jiang

Our first speaker, Mr Jiang, who is also our Solution Manager, spoke about our new Industrial Cloud and Networking products for the first half of the seminar. Ideas and experiences were shared with the attendees.

Second speaker: Mr Maw Kon

The second speaker of the day was Mr Maw Kon, who is from Phoenix Contact Myanmar. He introduces our bread and butter products – the various connectors ranging from Terminal blocks to heavy duty connectors.

Third and final speaker: Mr Gary

Our last speaker, Mr Gary, never fails to draw the attentions of the attendees when it comes to introducing our surge protection devices. Live demonstrations and interactive activities were carried out and our attendees were all having a blast.

Last but not least, there was a mini competition held during the seminar.  All the attendees were encouraged to participate in the #futureproofingseminar and @phoenixcontactsea photoshoots. All they needed to do was to just take a photo during the seminar and upload them on their Facebook with the hashtag #futureproofingseminar together with a tag @phoenixcontactsea! The winner of the seminar was announced via our official Facebook page!

Make-before-break – Terminal Blocks for CT Test

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Make-Before-Break

Make-Before-Break (MBB) is a term “Denoting a switch or other device in which a new electrical connection is made before the existing one is broken”. In short, it simply means, shorting the circuit before disconnecting it.

You may know about MBB when purchasing a relay. But do you know there are terminal blocks designed with MBB in mind too? These MBB terminal blocks can usually be found in power industry applications.

For those who are familiar, you may have come across this term (MBB) during a Current Transformer (CT) testing on a protection relay. However, do you know the importance of ensuring MBB when conducting a CT test with your Terminal? Or what the consequences will be of not having a terminal blocks that comes with a MBB feature during the test?

Protection Relay

A CT will certainly be at risk of being destroyed or even worse (Explosion!) if the secondary is left open circuit while the primary current is present. This is due to the insulation failing from the “higher than rated” voltage that occurs. Therefore it is extremely important to ensure MBB before conducting a live testing. A good terminal block with MBB feature will definitely help you provide the extra mile in ensuring safety.

How does the MBB terminal blocks function and what does it look like?  Here are some good examples of a good MBB terminal block.

  1. A good MBB terminal block must have the feature where shorting is always present first before you are able to break the circuit. It would be best if the terminal blocks are able to automatically perform the short circuit for you whenever it is being disconnected during the CT test.
    Short Circuit function closed Short circuit function open
  2. Clear indication of Short Circuit and disconnection must be visible and this allows your engineers to have an ease of mind during testing.
    PTME
  3. Good MBB terminal blocks should have safe and easy to operate features. Having said that, these features can help to cut short the time while testing (shorten the risk) and ensuring the safety of the person that is conducting the CT test.
    PTME Terminal Blocks for CT Test

So where can you find good MBB terminal blocks for your applications? Phoenix Contact, of course!

With 94 years of experience manufacturing and designing terminal blocks for the Power Industry. Phoenix Contact has never stopped developing new innovative testing terminal blocks that will suits your application, at the same time ensuring safety and quality.

For more info, check out this video of our PTME terminal blocks or visit our website!

If you have more inquiries, feel free to contact us at marketing@phoenixcontact.com.sg and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Copper Connections – Why Settle for Less?

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Have you ever wondered what your current screw terminal block is made of? Does it have copper connections or steel connections?

Rusting car

Similarly, have you ever wondered why a wire is made out of copper? I did a search and Google told me this.

“With its exceptional current carrying capacity, copper is more efficient than any other electrical conductor Because of its superior conductivity, annealed copper is the international standard to which all other electrical conductors are compared . … Another advantage is that copper oxide also conducts electricity.” (www.copper.org)

We know that copper is well-known for its good conductivity; that is why it is used in most electrical components. What about Terminal blocks? You will be surprised that most of the screw terminal blocks in the market are not made of copper. Not convinced? I dare you to take the magnet challenge

Continue reading →

Introducing IIOT to your Clients – The PT Functional Terminal Blocks

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When you introduce IIOT to your client, one of the first questions your client will ask you is “What is IIOT?” (Yes, we get that a lot).

Confusion in IIOT

The typical look our clients are giving us when we talk about IIOT

Many manufacturers are baffled when they were asked to implement IIOT in their plant.

Well IIOT is not as complex. Here’s a sentence to explain what IIOT is:

“Using smart machines to consistently capture data in order to improve inefficiencies.”

See. It’s not that hard, is it?

When we further explain the sentence above, “smart machines” are simply referring to intelligent products like PLC or sensors that are able to help you in generating or gathering data.

Smart Machines

Smart Machines are getting smarter by the day

Smart machines allow data to be aggregated and analyzed in real time. With more accountability and control over equipment, workers can better predict maintenance issues and make faster decisions.

Not forgetting the ultimate motive “to save cost”.

Rain Money

Feel like a million bucks when you automated your business, and save half the installation cost. (Courtesy: Red Granite Pictures)

If you’re wondering how we can save you the effort and cost in installing IIOT systems, read on

The Revolutionary Test Plug Redux – FAME , FAME 2 and now FAME 3!

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Phoenix Contact's FAME 3

It was 2 years ago when I have first blogged about our revolutionary panel testing system – FAME systems that helped many of our customers worldwide in simplifying their protection relay panel testing procedure and at the same time ensuring the safety of the person who is conducting the test.

Do check out my previous blog “FAME 2- Enter, Push, Twist and Remove”, I did explain why Phoenix Contact FAME system is such a revolutionary testing system.  If you are dealing issues with your protection relay testing or any needs of installing a panel testing component, make sure you stay with us in this blog as I will review some updates and features that might be beneficial  to you.  No worries if you have missed out the previous blog, you can still read it here. Continue reading →

Living in a Singapore HDB flat

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As a Malaysian, I grew up living in landed property houses; we are lucky in the sense where we have more land area for the individual to enjoy. Why do we love landed property so much? Well, you can easily associate the lifestyle of living in landed properties with building your control panel with single of double deck terminal blocks. Let me show you why. Continue reading →

Electric Power and Renewable Energy 2016 Myanmar

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Exhibition Image

Electric Power and Renewable Energy 2016 Myanmar

We will be participating at the 4th International Electric Power and Renewable Energy 2016 Myanmar Exhibition from the 13th – 15th of October at the Myanmar Event Park (MEP) in Yangon.

Come down and join us to find out more about what we can do for you in the area of Power generation and transmission and solar. We are located at G16, Singapore Pavilion.

Click here to register at the event’s website.