Control Design – May 2019

ControlDesign.com / May 2019 / 25

uncontrolled environment. They’re going to want to swap equip-

ment, put new software in, scale it. The enclosure has to be able

to evolve, and I think that’s where Rittal has a unique position.

Looking into the future, how will technology

change your company over the next five years?

Holger Zeltwanger, managing director at CAN in Automation (www.

can-cia.org), CAN XL, the next generation CAN technol-

ogy with bit rates above 10 Mbit/s and payloads up to

2048 byte will address new applications. The still-increasing

demand on standardization of profiles for different industries

will enable real interoperability of products.

Kevin Zak, vice president and general manager at Phoenix Contact

USA (www.phoenixcontact.com), In every facet of our lives,

technology is reshaping our perspectives at an

increasing rate. Often, we first look at how new thinking can be

applied to our industries and then subsequently how we incorpo-

rate it into products and services, whether it is practical or not.

To me, just as fascinating is how technology will enable us to

practice business. AI and advanced analytics will increase the

speed and quality of decision-making and create a higher level of

overall customer experience. Information transfer will continue

to migrate toward digital channels versus traditional methods.

Counter-intuitively, the integration of digital communications

will strengthen the value of the personal connections we create

with our coworkers and customers, as we move away from our

keyboards and back to eye-to-eye contact and conversation.

Enhanced communication tools will make video conversations

commonplace, replacing the one-dimensional phone call or text.

Robert S. Grzib, marketing manager at CDM Electronics (www.

cdmelectronics.com), I’m sure there will be new invento-

ry-control technology adopted during that window,

and our ECAS customers will have ever-more complex and

downsized requirements that we’ll be adjusting to manufac-

ture. I’m also certain new and upcoming technologies will

reshape our interconnect product mix by requiring a greater

proportion of smaller formats providing higher-frequency/

higher-capacity performance than standard or current

versions. From a business standpoint, communications

technologies and capabilities will increasingly blur the line

between the B2C and B2B customer experience. This will force

B2B companies like us to adopt new customer ordering and

payment options patterned after the B2C experience.

Mike Freund, managing director at Rittal North America (www.

rittal.us), I’m really excited about the future of Rittal

because we invest in making sure we’re looking at

advanced technologies around the factory floor, edge control,

data center or manufacturing facility. There are a lot of

advancements in automation that are not here yet, but we

definitely strive to stay abreast of all of the technological

changes. Looking at some of the talent that is now available,

they are learning things at a much faster pace, being able to use

software, being able to use technology that is going to be able

to help us leapfrog what we’ve done in the past. I think it’s a

really exciting time to be in this industry.

Fran Bridges, vice president of engineering at Magline (www.

magliner.com), We will continue to develop systems that

will marry technology with traditional functionality

to deliver seamless solutions in all industries that we serve.

Kevin Barker, president at Beckhoff Automation (www.beckhoff.

com), New technology drives everything we do—from

R&D to new category-defining product introductions

and market share gains. In the near term, Beckhoff is investing

heavily in the addition of new sales and engineering personnel

across the United States. We are also seriously expanding

infrastructure by adding new offices in Philadelphia, Boston,

Denver, Houston and a location to be determined in Florida. I

have to make decisions about which things to prioritize, but

adding local offices with a primary focus on large training

spaces and application engineering labs will continue to be

important for us and our customers.

Globally, you can expect significant new technology intro-

ductions that not only expand the Beckhoff product portfolio

in existing categories, but also break into new industrial device

segments and, in some cases, create new ones. These excit-

ing developments become reliable competitive advantages

for our customers. The only way we can be successful is if our

customers are successful, and I will continue to drive dynamic

partnerships with them.

We will continue to develop systems that

will marry technology with traditional

functionality to deliver seamless solutions

in all industries that we serve.

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