100 years of passion for technology and innovation

Phoenix Contact’s mechatronics training program was the first of its kind to be certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the USA. Noah Greene began his training in 2016. Noah told Barry Carter, his classmate at the local college, about his experience as a trainee and Barry felt inspired to pursue a training program as well.

After Noah, Barry also completed his training, and both are working in different areas at Phoenix Contact. They agree that the combination of classroom and hands-on learning, as well as the mentoring they received from engineers and technicians, proved ideal for launching their technical careers.

Digitalization and Industry 4.0 provide the German control cabinet building industry with a large number of opportunities coupled with major challenges. To be able to drive these developments forward in a targeted manner, five companies have joined forces to form the SchaltschrankGESTALTER initiative: EPLAN, Phoenix Contact, Rittal, Siemens, and Wago. A knowledge network has been developed within a non-competitive and innovative environment that brings together expertise and people. The common goal of the SchaltschrankGESTALTER is to strengthen the industry and make it fit for the future.

The platform enables the exchange of knowledge and ideas, the networking of experts, and the promotion of innovations. In this initiative, manufacturers and control cabinet builders jointly address regulatory requirements, technological developments, and global trends and develop solutions together.

The planning and consulting company Drees & Sommer and Phoenix Contact have been working together successfully for several years on the future of constructing and operating buildings. Today, an integral approach is needed when new buildings are being planned or existing ones converted. In other words, all the players involved in construction must work together from an early stage. The aim is to increase energy efficiency while adopting approaches that ensure maximum flexibility when it comes to the use of the buildings.

The OWP12 Energy-Plus Office in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany, is a sustainable and digital blueprint for office buildings of the future. From the very beginning, the experts have been discussing together how the perfect interaction between people and buildings can be reached. Christof Göbel of Drees & Sommer, and Sebastian Palmer of Phoenix Contact, look with pride at the result of their forward-looking alliance: A building that is flexibly oriented to the needs of people and the environment.

Despite the growing popularity of Push-in technology, screw connection has long been the norm for power supplies in machine building. When it came to the further development of a power supply, Japanese product manager Toshihiro Kimoto supported his German colleague Alexander Haneke with important requirements for the Japanese market. This resulted in a smaller product design featuring Push-in Technology and an integrated fuse.

In order to launch a power supply tailored to the needs of machine building customers, the two colleagues cooperated to contribute their experience to the project.

The connection between Klaus Hengsbach, who organizes educational competitions such as the xplore competition, and Anton Schönenberg, who now develops software services for the Phoenix Contact Group, shows how young people can be inspired by technologies and technical interrelationships and how continuous educational work can contribute to this.

Driving ideas forward together with colleagues and customers, realizing them, and experiencing how technology is perceived. This is the driving and unifying force for Ralf Bungenstock, Julia Plöger, and Cedric Deppe. In this team, everyone brings their strengths to bear on their shared interest, and they are passionate about it: driving e-mobility forward.

Shareholder Klaus Eisert and CEO Frank Stührenberg pursue their common goal of preserving the values of the family-owned company and advancing technological solutions for a world worth living in. A connection that has laid the foundation for the sustainable development of Phoenix Contact.

Developing technical solutions and constantly improving them, and maintaining close relationships with our customers, these have always been the driving force for Klaus Eisert. While for Frank Stührenberg, it is tackling the major challenges of the future with technological expertise. Together, they have positioned Phoenix Contact globally for the future.

In order to jointly develop new, application-oriented software on the current technical level, Peter Issak contributed his global experience for software solutions and Sophia Hardeck shared her new ideas for a platform, through which all products for the control cabinet will now be brought together.

The model city of Lemgo shows the synergies that result from collaboration between industry and research. Jörg Nolte from Phoenix Contact and Dr. Jürgen Jasperneite from the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Automation have teamed up to create digital transparency in various urban living areas with solutions for heat supply, traffic routing, and street lighting.

The two experts are united by the common goals of improving the quality of life for people in cities and making resources sustainable. We can easily scall all of these applications and transfer them to large cities. The link between digitalization and reality – a fitting description of the connection between industry and research.