18 / May 2019 / ControlDesign.comIn his new role at CDM, Grzib is tasked to further develop
and implement a corporate strategy for branding, advertis-
ing and corporate outreach, as well as to broaden an array of
marketing communications functions which promote products,
value-added services and cable-assembly solutions.
CDM supplies OEMs with full lines of standard and specialty
connectors, including circular, Mil-Spec, DIN, power, Profibus,
rectangular and RF devices. The company employs docu-
mented and controlled systems in its value-added division,
which specializes in mission-critical cable assembly, including
custom cable assembly, military cable assembly, power cable
assembly and box builds.What are three key things that a machine builder,
system integrator or manufacturer should know
about your company?
Fran Bridges, vice president of engineering at Magline (www.
magliner.com), We customize our solutions to meet the
needs and solve the problems our customer has. Our
products are designed for industrial and commercial use,
made out of high-quality materials and modular to allow for
replacement or upgrading of parts. As part of the manufactur-
ing process, we are committed to creating innovative
solutions that help to transport materials more safely and
efficiently (Figure 1 ).Holger Zeltwanger, managing director at CAN in Automation
(www.can-cia.org), CiA is an independent organization
not controlled by one leading member. CiA has
developed more than 2 0,000 pages of device and application
profile specification. CiA provides consultancy services for
OEMs and system designers.Mike Freund, managing director at Rittal North America (www.
rittal.us), Rittal has a global footprint and presence
with many different types of end users, OEMs and
control panel builders. When it comes to meeting the applica-
tion needs of the control builder, they can feel sure that Rittal
has the experience and the people that can help them meet
those needs. Rittal and ePlan offer them more capability to
design and modify system components than any of our
competitors. From a modularity and flexibility standpoint,
Rittal enclosures can fit a variety of design configurations
without sacrificing delivery time.Kevin Barker, president at Beckhoff Automation (www.
beckhoff.com), First, Beckhoff is more than a technol-
ogy provider. We have the dedicated focus and
technical expertise to help customers apply those products
and solve their unique challenges. Yes, Beckhoff invented
and continues to supply a wide range of innovative automa-
tion products. Perhaps more importantly, our application and
sales engineers are excited to become a part of the engineer-
ing process. Whether our customers build machines for
semiconductors or snack foods, packaging or petrochemi-
cals, we assist with every aspect of a project from architec-
ture and design to implementation and commissioning.
About one-half of all Beckhoff USA employees work in an
engineering capacity. This includes everything from
telephone technical support, field service, application
engineering, training and sales consulting. We work to
enhance our customers’ application know-how and empower
them to move to a more competitive position.
Next, Beckhoff is a champion of open, interoperable solu-
tions and has always been at the forefront of this issue. From
the first PC-based machine controller that Hans Beckhoff cre-
ated in the 1 980s to the release of the EtherCAT open industri-
al Ethernet system in 2003 and beyond, leveraging open tech-
nology to create robust industrial applications is core to our
philosophy. Our belief in the value of open systems extends
beyond our products into our advocacy for open communica-
tion protocols, such as MQTT and OPC UA. This matters to ourmachine input
Transportation hub
Figure 1: Magline is committed to creating innovative solutions that help to
transport materials more safely and efficientlyCD1905_16_25_MachineInput.indd 18 4/29/19 1:27 PM