News

Leoni, a global provider of energy and data management solutions, is highly committed to developing and manufacturing systems that meet the highest quality standards. In line with this goal, their ever-growing offering of CC-Link IE and CC-Link compatible cables undergoes CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) conformance testing.

As one of the largest global providers of optical fibres, cables, assembled systems, intelligent products and smart services, Leoni offers state-of-the-art products and solutions to different sectors, including automotive, healthcare, transport, process industries and factory automation. Hartmut Fischer, Head of Sales, Automation and Drives at Leoni explains: “We produce more than 1.5 million assemblies per year for our top OEMs and we have helped many of them to increase their revenue and profits.”

Headquartered in Germany, Leoni serves key markets in Europe and around the world with a wide network of local points of contact. Peter Gerstenberger, VP Business Segment Factory Automation at Leoni, comments: “Leoni’s high level of engineering and logistic services support us in the development and manufacturing of both standardised and custom cable systems.” Hartmut Fischer adds: “We have an interconnected engineering and manufacturing system that enables us to offer a localised service, no matter where our customers are, and maintain consistent quality standards. This makes us the preferred supplier for many OEMs.”

As part of its policy to support its global customers with high-quality products and solutions that adhere to well-accepted network protocols, Leoni certifies all its CC-Link IE and CC-Link cables to CLPA specifications. “We provide certified cables for CC-Link fieldbus and CC-Link IE Field industrial Ethernet standards. We certify our cables to prove to our customers that our quality is in line with the network protocol standards specified by the CLPA,” says Fischer. “We are happy that the CLPA exists and offers high quality cable standards that are globally accepted.”

As the CLPA family of open industrial technologies is a de facto standard in Asia, ensuring conformance with it is extremely important for Leoni’s customers in the region as well as for any businesses that are connected to the Asian market. Furthermore, CC-Link IE and CC-Link are becoming increasingly popular in the Americas and Europe, as the number of installed devices globally is showing double digit annual growth.

Leoni highly values CC-Link IE for its gigabit bandwidth too. Hartmut Fischer comments: “Gigabit Ethernet is very important for Leoni, as in the automation world, the data volume is rapidly increasing, caused by vision systems, Industry 4.0 and TSN network protocols.”

Leoni has submitted two new cables for CC-Link IE Field conformance testing. These products, now certified by the CLPA, are fitted with four twisted pairs and a PVC outer jacket to offer flexibility and flame-resistance in compliance with IEC and UL standards.

Talking about the future, Leoni is already planning to extend the number of products compatible with CC-Link IE. “Leoni has many new cables being developed,” Fischer explains. “In the future, we would like to work with the CLPA to get our fireproof and explosionproof cables certified. These cables are rather unique, they can withstand fire for more than 3 hours and still provide compatibility with Cat 6A protocols.”

About The CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA)

The CLPA is an international organisation founded in 2000 dedicated to the technical development and promotion of the CC-Link family of open automation networks. The CLPA's key technology is CC-Link IE TSN, the world's first open industrial Ethernet to combine gigabit bandwidth with Time Sensitive Networking (TSN), making it the leading solution for Industry 4.0 applications. Currently the CLPA has over 3,800 member companies worldwide, and more than 2,000 compatible products available from over 300 manufacturers. Over 26 million devices using CLPA technology are in use worldwide.

Editorial contact:

DMA Europa Ltd: Chiara Civardi
Tel: +44 (0)1562 751436 Fax: +44 (0)1562 748315
Web: www.dmaeuropa.com Email: chiara@dmaeuropa.com

Company contact:

CLPA-Europe: John Browett
Tel: +44 (0) 7768 338708 Fax: +49 (0) 2102 532 9740
Web: eu.cc-link.org Email: john.browett@eu.cc-link.org