Eaton’s Electrical Sector, a leading manufacturer of components and systems in electrical engineering and automation technology, presented two new SmartWire-DT business partners at SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2011 in Nuremberg last week.

Hilscher, a system automation company in Hattersheim and a leader in industrial communications systems, and Wöhner, a specialist in bus bar system technology, both signed cooperation agreements at the trade event and declared their intention to integrate Eaton’s SmartWire-DT interconnection and communication system in their products.  

With the philosophy of “From Lean Connectivity to Lean Automation”, Eaton is pursuing the objective of both streamlining control cabinets, reducing wiring and interfaces to a minimum, and increasing machine and system transparency. A “lean automation” solution comprising SmartWire-DT and HMI/PLC technology reduces the work involved in project planning and start-up, boosts performance, cuts costs and ultimately means fewer sources of error and greater flexibility on modular machine concepts. Eaton is cooperating with a range of SmartWire-DT partners on its vision of “From Lean Connectivity to Lean Automation”, providing their products with both a SmartWire-DT master and a slave connection.

Craig McDonnell, head of the Eaton Automation Business Unit (IAB) in Eaton’s Electrical Sector, said, “We are very pleased to have gained two new, leading technology partners in Hilscher and Wöhner. It shows that Eaton’s SmartWire-DT technology has established itself in the market and that customers will enjoy even greater benefit from our technology.”Richard Boulter, Senior Vice President Industrial Control Division, Eaton Industries, commented on the cooperations: “The expansion of the SmartWire-DT product range with our business partners makes our strategy ‘From Lean Connectivity to Lean Automation’ even more attractive for our customers”.

Hans-Jürgen Hilscher,  Managing Director of Hilscher GmbH, said, “Our netX technology enables connection of the SmartWire-DT wiring and communication level to traditional field buses and real-time Ethernet systems in a simple manner. This opens the door to the rapid spread of SmartWire-DT in automation technology.”  

“Using SmartWire-DT, our bus bar system technology can communicate globally!” says Frank Wöhner, Managing Partner at Wöhner, pinpointing the benefits of this cooperation. “Our intention was always to tread new paths in the development of ‘our’ bus bar system technology. With an ear for the needs of the customer and a view to the requirements of the future, we want to lastingly ensure our edge in bus bar system technology with this new cooperation.”

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