In Brief

Knowledge sharing is power

A centre for further education and training and for research and knowledge networking has been opened by Weidmüller in Shanghai. At the "Weidmüller Academy Asia",trainees will be taught, employees coached, and technology research conducted, in cooperation with universities, institutions and experts.

The Academy at Weidmüller’s headquarters in Detmold was founded in 2003 and is a fixed size. The Asian offshoot has been built based on this successful model. "Academy Asia is the centre of training and encompasses knowledge networks with which we plan to build our expertise in China," said Weidmüller's CEO, Dr. Peter Köhler. "The new competence and knowledge centre in Eastern Asia brings us closer to the local market – and to the people with the potential and motivation." One of the targets in China, in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce and other German companies, is to further strengthen the dual vocational training.

"Academy Asia is a further milestone in our East Asian activities," said Volpert Briel, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer. Weidmüller has been present in China since 1994. Initially the sales structures were established and located in Shanghai. Then, in 2003, the production facility in Suzhou was opened. Since then two Chinese research and development centres have been developing new technologies for electrical connection technology and electronics. "Many companies still have concerns about the loss of know-how. Our experience shows that strengthening partnerships and relationships as well as placing manufacturing facilities and research centres locally in Asia has strengthened our group," Köhler explained.

A new subsidiary company in Russia after eight years of successful business

Although Weidmüller has already been successfully operating in the Russian market for eight years, it has had a subsidiary company – OOO Weidmüller– registered in Russia since 1 April 2011 and fully capable of acting. Weidmüller first established a presence in Moscow in December 2002, later in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Nowosibirsk, Rostovna-Dony, Samara and Khabarovsk. These offer Weidmüller's distributor customers advice about the newest technological solutions, although up until now the products could only be sold through Weidmüller's German sales department. This now changes with the new group company. Our colleagues can now complete the whole sales and logistics process directly on the spot. The team, which has been under the long-time direction of Natalia Mitrofanova, is now able to offer customers a complete and comprehensive service with immediate effect.

Now available for download: the Weidmüller App

The new Weidmüller App makes it possible to access information and news about Weidmüller – around the world and on the go! The main part of the App consists of our fully illustrated product catalogue, currently in seven languages. Users can find their way around easily since the App catalogue design is organised like our standard catalogue.

Like the online catalogue, a graphics-based navigation function helps the user find the right product category. From the category level, the App allows users to move deeper to the product details. A separate search function also permits a direct search for one particular product.

Products relevant for the user can then be saved in a custom wish list. When it contains all project-relevant products, the complete list can then be sent for a quote to Weidmüller with a simple click.

In addition to this catalogue feature, you can also use the App to access product news and company info.  The latest update to the App allows you to access all product innovations from the current Weidmüller new product catalogue.

Laden Sie sich die Weidmüller App für iPod Touch, iPhone und iPad kostenlos im App Store herunter: App Store

High-current version is standard, at no extra cost

Until now, there have been standard plug connectors on the market with typical rating currents of 12 to 15 A (in pitch 5.08 mm). Special high current connectors up to 16 A were often designed using complex contact elements and have therefore been relatively expensive. Weidmüller has now used targeted optimisation to find a way of giving more performance but with the compact design remaining unchanged.

The OMNIMATE Signal connectors with PUSH IN wire connection have been upgraded by using high-performance metals and "hybrid" contact technology. They now come as standard at no extra cost in combination with the SL 5.08 or SL-SMT 5.08 male headers, with approval up to 24.4 A (pole count: 2; wire cross-section: 2.5 mm²; ambient temperature: 20 °C). This means almost twice the current can flow in the 5.08 mm plug-in connector design. Users make gains in terms of flexibility and safety, as they can use the compact high-power plug-in connectors even in more demanding applications.

Award-winning: the multi-function tool HTX-IE-POF

With Weidmüller's tools, everything you want is obtained from a single source. The multi-function tool HTX-IE-POF does the cutting, stripping and crimping of polymer optic fibres (POF), which means that you can rapidly and reproducibly assemble SC-RJ plug-in connectors. Our users are not the only ones impressed by the tool.. The editors at SPS magazine selected the HTX-IE-POF as the Trend100 product of the year for 2010/2011. With this award, the trade magazine found the product was particularly innovative and user friendly, was following a new trend or perhaps, even starting one! All Trend100 products are published in the Automation ATLAS 2011, which will be available soon.