Category Archives: General

The First Thing You Should Know about Phoenix Contact (but Probably Don’t)

From jerryyee | April 23, 2018

Think you know a lot about Phoenix Contact? Maybe you do, or maybe you don’t. Here I would like to shed some light on the first thing you should know about Phoenix Contact.

The birth of Terminal Blocks

Phoenix Contact was founded in 1923 in Essen, Germany.

The world’s first modular terminal block was developed by Phoenix Contact in 1928.

The birth of the terminal block occurred while working with the Rhine-Westphalia Electricity Works (RWE). This led to the development of today’s align-able terminal blocks mounted onto din rails.

As terminal block innovation is the soul of our company, Phoenix Contact never fails our customers with new terminal block innovations until today.

Evolution of Phoenix Contact Terminal blocks

In the early 1950s, our company went into re-engineering and upgrading the RWE terminals. A new generation of Phoenix Terminal series was born, and this proved to be an all-time game changer for us.

1956 was the year that Feedthrough & Disconnect Terminal blocks were developed along with the pioneer of Clipline Complete.

Phoenix Contact never stops developing innovative ideas and solutions for the market.

From the 1970’s onwards, we once again relooked into developing the different connection methodologies for Terminal blocks.

In the year 1978, we developed the ST “Spring Push-in” technology into modular terminal blocks. We created the first modular terminal block with a direct plug-in spring connection, designed to offer installation engineers an easy and safe conductor connection method.

Nearing the late 1980’s, QTC fast connection terminal blocks were developed and added into the Clipline Complete range. This design of connection can save up to 60 percent of the time required for wiring, and it is no longer necessary to strip the wire protection.

2009 is the year we proudly introduced our new PT – Push-in terminal block in a new series with a new design: the integrated push button. PT terminal blocks not only increased the safety standards required; it also allows easy conductor removal with no special tools required.

As a pioneer in electrical connection technology, Phoenix Contact offers Clipline Complete – a comprehensive terminal block system with an extensive range of accessories for industrial control cabinet wiring.

In spite of our universal range of applications, there are regional limitations to consider where acceptance is concerned. With this in mind, Phoenix Contact has closely studied the requirements of current and potential customers in Southeast Asian markets.

In the year 2015, BT Barrier Terminal blocks were developed and integrated into our Clipline complete. This is where a cultural aspect comes into play – and not just in Japan but also across much of Asia, most particularly Southeast Asia: the importance of tradition, customs, and the approach to decision making.

With our ever growing Clipline Complete range of Terminal blocks, we have the different connection technologies available for each application and the answers to all your market requests.

There are many more things to find out about Phoenix Contact and if you are interested to know more, please feel free to contact us!

CUTFOX 10 Automated Cutting Device

From wendyfoo | March 5, 2018

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Are you still using cutters to manually cut wires? Of course it would be practical if the job scale is small, involving less than 480 pieces of wire of length 0.5m daily.

What happens when you have a bigger job, where you are required to cut more than 1000 pieces of wire of length 0.5m every day?

One possible solution would be to buy another cutter to fulfil this requirement.

However, in doing so, you have an increased the labour cost to that of 2 well-trained operators.

Also, this does not account for human errors as well as quality issues. Are humans capable of repeatedly cutting wires of fixed length with an acceptable precision? Are they capable of running non-stop without tiring, constantly producing an output of virtually identical wires for extended periods of time? All of this would lead to increased costs and wasted materials.

With that in mind, what could cut wires with a consistent precision and can operate for long durations on end without rest? The answer is simple – a machine. Introducing Phoenix Contact’s CutFox 10.

Compared to the same range of automatic wire cutting tools in the market, our CutFox 10 has 2 additional functions with regards to its Speed & Software:

SPEED – Maximum Throughput of wire is 8mm with 0.5m/s max. feed rate.
SOFTWARE – CUTSOFT allows the CUTFOX 10 to read Microsoft Excel files, which can be exported to the machine. You can create a table of data with records of cutting jobs, containing information on the number of wires and length desired. These data records are then processed sequentially by the CUTFOX 10.

The Cutfox 10 not only cuts your labour costs, it also removes the costly element of human error and fatigue. In doing so, quality output is assured. In addition, it is also safe to use, compared to a manual cutter in the hands of a tired and weary operator, minimizing the risk of an accident.

This piece of automation ensures Return of Investment (ROI) in less than 6 months of constant usage, in addition to solving your manpower, quality and safety issues. If you are sick of cutting many, many wires, then this device is perfect for you!

If you are interested to find out more about our automatic cutting and crimping tools, feel free to contact us at marketing@phoenixcontact.com.sg!

Why Use Safety Relays?

From William Tan | January 29, 2018

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Let’s say you are asked to be a Design Engineer for a day and are tasked to come up with a Process Control Safety System. What are the questions you should ask?

What happens to the Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) when the relay contact is welded?
When did it happen?
Where can you find this faulty relay?
Why did this happen?
Who will be responsible for monitoring this fault?

Safety Relays are devices that implement safety functions. In the event of a hazard, a safety relay must work to reduce risk to an acceptable level. The safety relay must initiate a safe and reliable response as well as monitor the integrity of its function.

The Process Automation Fire & Gas System is always on standby mode and it becomes more important to have multiple diagnostics to make sure the relays used in the Fire and Gas System Safety remain functional with all wiring connected.

7 Functions the ideal safety relay should have for Fire & Gas Systems:

Power loss diagnostics to field devices such as the Beacons, Solenoid Valves and Fire Sounders.
Field devices disconnection diagnostics.
Alerts when Field Devices short circuit.
Welded relay contacts diagnostics.
Able to Proof Test relay points without the use of external power.
Diagnostics via the same cable to the relay coil by the use of test pulse filtering. This also saves money as there is no need for additional DI cards and cables for monitoring function.
Option for redundant connection to the relay coil.

Safety Relay Connections

PSR-PC50 Series SIL Coupling Relay

The Phoenix Contact PSR-PC50 series SIL Coupling Relay has the 7 functions you are looking for and it can also be used for power adaptation and electrical isolation in Safe-State-ON applications up to SIL 3 according to IEC 61508 as well as IEC 61511.

This category 3 device is designed for installation in zone 2 potentially explosive areas. By filtering the controller test pulses, premature failure of the safety relays is prevented. The contact side is fully monitored for open circuits and short circuits as well as load and diagnostics supply voltage. If an error occurs, the internal device input impedance is affected. As such, the test pulses sent from the controller are disrupted and the error is reported to the corresponding digital output without additional wiring effort.

If you have any questions or want to know more about this product, please feel free to send us an enquiry at marketing@phoenixcontact.com.sg and a product representation can be arranged to discuss in more detail.

Information on the Go

From charlielim | January 22, 2018

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The mobile phone is one of the best inventions in our modern era and it has become such an integral part of everyone’s lives. A large population of the world is becoming increasingly dependent on this small electronic device which we put in our pocket.

A quick check on the internet reveals that there are estimated to be more than 5 billion mobile phone users currently and more than 50% of them are smart phone users.

With the current world population standing at approximately 7.6 billion, this works out to more than 30% of the world population having access to a large pool of information at their fingertips. High speed accessibility to critical information is very often the deal breaker in game changing decision making.

With this in mind, Phoenix Contact developed a plethora of mobile phone apps that seek to address this hunger for faster and highly efficient apps. Old bulky catalogues are slowly becoming a thing of the past, when an entire encyclopaedia can be retrieved and searched within seconds.

One of my favourite apps is our very own Phoenix Contact marking apps where it provides the user with the capability to scan the barcode of the marker and the user will know what printers it is suitable for. Our clear and concise product information with photos speak a thousand words.

The apps provide us with great amount of flexibility and high speed access to information.

Phoenix Contact’s mobile phone apps are easily available for both Iphone Appstore and Google Playstore users.

when you search of the word “Phoenix Contact” on the Google Playstore, there will be a wide range of apps developed by the different product groups ranging from power supply to marking and also general catalog.

With the general catalogue app, you will have easy navigation to the full range of products within Phoenix Contact product structures. The information provided will facilitate ease of communication when you place the order.

Phoenix Contact Catalog app

I believe the best way to understand what the Phoenix Contact apps can offer is to experience it.

Improvement is a continuous process, we welcome all users to provide feedback via the form below so that we can improve and enhance the Phoenix Contact experience.

Go ahead and download it and enjoy the Phoenix Contact experience.

Want to find out more? Feel free to contact us at marketing@phoenixcontact.com.sg!

New Year Resolutions

From Anita Heng | January 8, 2018

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It’s finally to an end to all the weeks of excess booze and food consumption and the end of the school holidays. The New Year is here.

When I reminded my daughters of the school reopening, they gave me a shocking look with an alarming “Oh no! C’mon…” And indeed, I felt the same because it’s time to turn my attention to the New Year resolutions.

While I pondered over my own 2018 resolution, I wondered where the idea of “New Year Resolutions” came from and I found my reply on Google:

I was surprised by the fact that the practice started 4,000 years ago and decided to find out more on the success rate of “New Year Resolutions” in modern times.

According to the research done by U.S. News, the disheartening fact is that “80% of New Year’s resolutions will fail by February”.

That’s hardly 1 quarter into the year and this piece of information was not to my liking.

So what would be a good “New Year Resolution”?

Personally, I’m not good at making big plans, like quitting booze for a year or switching to vegetarian food or maybe cutting down on my online purchases with online shopping platforms, and the list goes on… I believe some of us feel the same way.

Therefore, to help myself and those who are reading this, there’s a list of suggestions which I, in my capacity, have come up with to jumpstart the self-improvement for our 2018.

No electronic devices at the dining table.
Try putting away your electronic devices, particularly when you are eating with your family and friends. Spending more quality time with your loved ones is definitely more important than the Pokémon or your email. I started this “house rule” with my daughters at home and it seems a good practice to have as we are more engaged in talks. Remember, quality time waits for no one.
Cook a different meal every month
In the midst of the busy lifestyle that working executives have nowadays, when was the last time you stepped into the kitchen to cook up a storm? Try this to broaden your kitchen skills, it may be a salad or soup and you will be starring in MasterChef in no time! Your family or loved ones will enjoy the food as much as you enjoyed making it in the kitchen.
Walk to work / school
This is an all-time favourite. Although I drive to work, I have seen colleagues who have taken a walk up the stairs to the 4^th floor where our office is. I think, maybe I shall start doing this too.
Read a book
When was the last time you supported the National Library or used that Kindle that you received from a friend? Try reading “Who Moved My Cheese?”, by Dr Spencer Johnson or “Getting to Yes”, by Roger Fisher & William Ury.

I know of somebody who is always ready to and will gladly share his books with you. If you need more details, feel free to let me know.
Plant some flowers or grow something to eat
Trust me, I do not have green fingers. But I did not give up on this little greenery that I have been trying to build along my small narrow HDB corridor. So far, I managed to up keep these plants which are curry leaves, pandan leaves, chilli plant, mint and lime!
Hence, if I can do so, you will be amazed by what you can harvest.
Decide on your own
Stop procrastinating over what happened in 2017, avoid all the negativity and put aside all the differences.Your life belongs to you. Do what you want, when you want, as long it doesn’t hurt anyone. You’re going to have a great time in 2018.

I offer to you, the above 6 potential New Year Resolutions for the awesome 2018 in front of us.

Start taking actions and F.O.C.U.S. Start setting your goal on the sticky note on your board or on your lappie. Stay highly charged and truly make a difference with your achievements this year.

No more waiting for the perfect opportunity or perfect time.

It’s NOW.

Cut, Strip and Crimp – Tools to Ease Your Cabling Pains

From eunicechua | October 25, 2017

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Today, we enjoy the fruit of technology as we turn on our television, air-conditioner, lights or our smart devices. Have we thought about what are the nitty-gritty details that have led to our enjoyment in this day and age?

What is common amongst all this technology is the need for electricity, and more importantly, what carries electricity around are wires. Wires and cables are the root that carries electricity all round; it allows current to flow from one point to another. What is often missed out is the hard work spent by the electricians who, behind the scenes, manages this labyrinth of wires.

Photo by: Derek (https://www.flickr.com/photos/dcmorton/2446443103)

Cutting, Stripping and Crimping are steps that are very familiar to our electricians. However, they are not just merely steps; but in fact, they are techniques that we need to offer much respect to the electricians who handle them. Providing the right tools for the job makes it even more crucial to ensure they put their techniques into the right place.

Cutting, Stripping and Crimping of wires sound easy and effortless. However, using it on a daily basis requires the tool to be designed more than just a normal tool. Phoenix Contact takes ergonomics, usability into consideration and provides the optimal tools for its end users.

Tools to Cut, Strip & Crimp

Cut – CUTFOX 18

Safety Lock
Safety is a true concern in a workplace, and every effort to keep the workplace safe is extremely important. Slip guards are attached in our cutter which keeps the blades closed.
Less Fatigue
Spring-loaded pliers opens up automatically, which means users spend lesser energy. With the pivot near the cutting edge, it provides optimum power transfer.
Cutting Quality
Cut your wires perfectly with the special curved metal giving your wires a nice and squeeze-free cut.
Reliable Material
The steel material of the cutter has gone through heat and surface treatment ensuring your tool to be long lasting and corrosion resistant.
Comfort
Consisting of both soft and hard parts, meant for the best comfort for any hands. The curved designed of the handles and the angled head for the ultimate ergonomics.

Strip – WIREFOX 10

Easy Adjustment
Depth of the blades can be easily adjusted as required. Length of the stripped length can also be easily adjusted with the small measurement ruler and the stopper in place.
Flexibility
Interchangeable knife cassette gives you the option for all different wire sizes as required. One casing for all wire sizes!
Stopper
A wire stopper equipped in the knife cassette helps you to position your wire at the stripping length you need.
Convenient Cutter
Equipped with a cutter at the side, it gives you the convenience to cut your wires any time.
Comfort
Consisting of both soft and hard parts, meant for the best comfort for any hands. The curved designed of the handles and the angled head meant for the best stripping experience.

Crimp – CRIMPFOX CENTRUS 6S

Phoenix Contact Tools - CRIMPFOX CENTRUS 6S

Multi Range Die
Self-adjusting principals of the die covers a large cross section (0,14 – 6mm²), so you can use one tool for most of your needs.
Good and Complete Crimp
Built in ratchet mechanism is the key for a good crimp as it doesn’t allow the pliers to open until the process is complete. In this way, it ensures a proper and complete crimp.
No need for recalibration
Due to the special die closing process and its ball bearings, it reduces wearing out. Thus, eliminating the time and effort you need for re-calibration.
Less effort
Equipped with a rotating crimp mechanism, together with the tool size, ensures an optimum power transmission. In other words, you use less energy!
Comfort
Consisting of both soft and hard parts, meant for the best comfort for any hands. Its small size of 18cm tall, 6.5cm wide, and weighing at 380g serves as a compact and handy tool. The optimal positioning of the pivots gives the smallest opening handle angle in the market. Not forgetting the soft non-slip pressure pad supports your force transmission, so you can, for example, have it sit against a table surface!

After introducing the key features and ergonomically designs of our Phoenix Contact tools, would you like to experience it first hand on its comfort and ease of usage?

Get a “Cut, Strip & Crimp” Toolset kit today with our current promotion in Phoenix Contact! For more information on the promotion, just leave us your contact details at marketing@phoenixcontact.com.sg and we will get back to you soon.

Quality of Service: Phoenix Contact Thailand

From chart | October 23, 2017

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Quality Service Phoenix Contact strives to deliver excellence in both product quality and customer service.
Our team mission is for our customers to achieve optimal satisfaction when they use Phoenix Contact products.

I’ve never imagined that I would be writing an article for the company’s official blog. I did not consider myself a good writer; even curating a short post was not easy for me.

However, one cannot avoid challenging tasks forever.

Phoenix Contact is an electrical engineering company. We manufacture our own industrial-grade electronic devices and solutions. Our core products are our terminal blocks!
Most of our blog articles are technical or solution-based in nature. Thus, I felt that articles should be written by our product managers or engineers.

I had to crack my brain to figure out what article to write. It took me a whole week to think of something! Since I serve customers directly, I decided to write about why customers choose to work with us. From a salesperson’s point of view, customer relationships are key. We always do our best to figure out their likes and dislikes, and understand more about their needs.

QUALITY IS OUR PRIORITY.

Our Design and Engineering Team back in Germany ensures that all products are high-quality and user-friendly. The best proof? Our customer satisfaction feedback for product quality is always 100%, and they never have to worry about quality issues! We are extremely grateful for the constant effort that our German colleagues invest in product quality.
Additionally, we emphasize on providing great customer service to every client, and we work together as a team, from colleagues to our Southeast Asia headquarters back in Singapore, to each individual subsidiary sales office around the region. Every team member has a common goal – which as our team mission states: optimal satisfaction from start to finish with every purchase.

How do we define excellent service?

Here’s the breakdown:

Our sales team responds promptly to each customer regarding any kind of purchase, or project, regardless of size or nature. We understand that time is precious, so we try our very best to get back to our customers ASAP.

Our product managers are always on standby to assist and support any technical issues that may arise. They are also responsible for price negotiation. At Phoenix Contact, we try to make our product prices fair and reasonable to all customers. We suggest only what they need and we don’t upsell. We take pride in making our customers feel comfortable about what they are purchasing.

Our customer service team supports any order enquiries, while our logistics team handles the rest of our requests which are deemed as “almost impossible to be solved”. Almost impossible – but not completely!

We are not just a company that is solely about profit generation. We genuinely would like our customers to work with us to establish long-term friendships and working relationships.

If you are looking for a solution, a product, or an answer to your industrial problems, do not hesitate to contact us. We’re always here to help!
Just drop me an email or text at:

Rattakarn Chartnakrop, DC sales Division (Thailand)
Mobile : +(66) 81 782 8826
Email : rattakarnc@phoenixcontact.co.th

Importance of choosing the right PCB enclosure

From Ivan Ang | October 19, 2017

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What is considered important when it comes to choosing the right PCB enclosure. Let us guide you through the process.

Price? Style? Service & support? Reputation of the supplier?

In the matter of fact, all of above are essential. The engineers should select the enclosure at first and then choice the mechanical & electronic components to suit the enclosure.
We need to consider

Material
The 3 common plastic enclosures are ABS, Polycarbonate, Polyester which are high functionality, light weight, flexible in design.

The Ingress Protection
The ingress protection classification DIN EN 60529 determines and rates protection against solid particle (e.g. dust) as well as liquid incursion.

The letters IP (ingress protection) is followed by a two-digit number; the first digit indicates the level of Solid particle protection and the second digit indicate Liquid ingress protection. IP Code

Environmental Considerations
How the enclosure will last over many years of operation depends on how well you evaluate the environmental impact of elements such as UV rays, temperature, airborne debris, etc.
Different materials offer varying degrees of impact resistance.

Dimensions
The internal and external dimensions of a PCB enclosure is extremely important. Sadly, in many cases, the PCB is chosen first and this makes it difficult for the engineer to source the best fit enclosure solution.

Modification of Standard Enclosures
The enclosure supplier may need to support modifications with value-added services that include drilling, milling, printing, color, etc. Some suppliers can even provide advance services like fitting membrane keypads, displays on the enclosure, etc as a complete solution.

Ease of Assembly
A complex PCB design may make it difficult to assemble electronic and mechanical components in the enclosure, which make is an important point to consider when selecting an enclosure.

Range of PCB Enclosure

Check out Phoenix Contact’s range of enclosures here

We, at Phoenix Contact, understand your problems and offer a wide range of options for shape, color, and function when it comes to choosing the right enclosure. Whether on a wall or on a DIN rail, from light gray to sky blue, narrow or wide, many many to choose from. With the two new enclosures, Universal case system (UCS) and Environment case system (ECS) added into the selection, it is much easier to choose your enclosure.

Please view the Enclosure brochure.

Want to find out more? Feel free to contact us at marketing@phoenixcontact.com.sg!

Electrical Safety Starts from the Connector

From Ivan Ang | July 27, 2017

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High Voltage Warning Do you know one common challenge for devices used in areas such as filter and inductor construction, energy distribution and power supply production is Electrical Safety i.e. how to lead the high power through the panel wall safety.

Finding the right wall feed-through terminal block to address electrical safety is a challenge as there are not many suitable solutions for high current and large wire cross-section. It is also unlikely that the manufacturers will choose the feed-through terminal blocks as early as the design stage. This often leads to manufacturers designing their customized solutions out of sheer necessity; thus resulting in problems such as maintaining touch protection or insulating the current bar from the device housing.

The device manufacturers may also face problem obtaining the necessary certification for their devices. If the device is to be used worldwide, IEC 61800-5-1 and UL 1059 certifications are required. Many solutions in the market are unfortunately not adequately certified.

High Current Feed-through Terminal Blocks

Phoenix Contact offers an extensive range of high-current feed-through terminal blocks for various applications. You can find both pluggable feed-through terminal blocks and feed-through terminal blocks for permanent connections. The pluggable feed-through terminal blocks permit quick replacement and are thus service-friendly. In addition, the conductors can be preassembled. However, feed-through terminal blocks for permanent connections are more economical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCv-bhu7Hzg

Do you know Phoenix Contact has been providing these feed-through terminal blocks for almost three decades?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQro-OA3pNE

Device manufacturers can choose the connection option to fit the application: fast push-in connectors, T-lox, conventional screw connectors, or simple bolt connectors. The connection areas range from 4 to 150 mm2 and the current-carrying capacity is up to 309 A.

These connectors come in standard and moulded designs, either with horizontal or vertical connection directions. The moulded version ensures high leakage resistance, even when a small amount of moulding compound is used. The product range provides various connection options for space-saving connections in all installation locations. This means that device manufacturers can flexibly select the connection type, direction, and cross section.

Interested to find out more? Get in touch with us at marketing@phoenixcontact.com.sg!

Phoenix Contact Takes Over Specialist for Industrial Communication Technology

From | April 26, 2017

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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.