Phoenix Contact

Phoenix Contact
Founded Essen, Germany (1923 (1923))
Founder Hugo Knümann
Headquarters Blomberg, Germany
Number of employees
 12,900
Website www.phoenixcontact.com

Phoenix Contact manufactures industrial automation, interconnection, and interface solutions. Founded in 1923 in Essen, Germany, Phoenix Contact developed the first modular terminal block. Phoenix Contact offers products including: terminal blocks, relays, connectors, signal conditioners, power supplies, controllers & PLCs, I/O systems, Industrial Ethernet, controller system cabling, PCB terminal blocks & connectors, and surge suppression.[1]

Company overview

The global headquarters of Phoenix Contact is located in Blomberg, Ostwestfalen-Lippe, Germany. The company was founded in 1923 in Essen, Germany and in 2014, accounted for annual sales in excess of 1.77 billion Euro (approximately $2 billion USD). Phoenix Contact manufactures in over 10 nations: Germany, USA, China, India, Poland, Greece, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden and Argentina and employs 12,900 employees in 50 international subsidiaries. In 1987, Phoenix Contact introduced the fieldbus system INTERBUS. In addition, Phoenix Contact manufactures products for use with Modbus, DeviceNet, EtherNet/IP, CANopen, PROFIBUS and PROFINET networks.

Worldwide locations

US headquarters:

Production sites:

Company history

1923: In Essen, Germany, Hugo Knümann founds a commercial agency for electrical products and sells contact wire terminals for electric trams. Two floors of a rented building in Essen serve as the company headquarters: offices are on the first floor; the second story is used for assembly. Soon after, the young company becomes Phönix Elektrizitätsgesellschaft (Phoenix Electricity Company).

1928: Working together with Rhine-Westphalia Electricity Works (RWE), Hugo Knümann develops the first modular terminal block.

1937: Ursula Lampmann, later to become one of the partners, joins the company as the first commercial member of staff. For almost six decades, she continues to play an active role in the company.

1943: On March 13, the company offices near the Essen train station are destroyed in an air raid. The company headquarters move to the "Bürgerheim" restaurant in Blomberg. It is not until 1948 that part of the 30-strong company moves back to Essen.

1949: Hugo Knümann enlists Josef Eisert, who owned numerous terminal block patents, as technical director for his company. Eisert revises the entire product range.

1953: Following the death of Hugo Knümann, Josef Eisert and Ursula Lampmann take over the management of Phönix Klemmen. Through a merger, sister company Phoenix Feinbau is created in Lüdenscheid – this marks the birth of the future Phoenix Contact Group.

1957: The first two production facilities are opened at the Flachsmarkt site in Blomberg. Phönix Klemmen welcomes its first apprentice, Helmut Conrad.

1961: Klaus Eisert, son of Josef Eisert, joins the company as a managing partner. He remains in this role to this day. His brothers Jörg and Gerd join the company in the following year.

1966: Use of the premises in Essen ceases. Over 300 employees now work at the company's headquarters in Blomberg – on an ever-expanding range of products.

1981: In the early 1980s, Phönix Klemmen starts establishing subsidiaries in foreign markets. The subsidiary in Switzerland marks the first in 1981. Sweden and the USA follow in the mid-1980s. Today Phoenix Contact is represented in over 50 countries.

1982: Phönix Klemmen becomes Phoenix Contact. The new company name is itself an indication of how electronic functions are becoming increasingly integrated in terminal technology.

1983: Sensitive device and systems electronics are now protected against surge voltages. Phoenix Contact special terminal blocks, Interface, and TRABTECH represent further innovations from the 1980s.

1987: The Phoenix Contact INTERBUS fieldbus system revolutionizes automation: it offers cross-system openness from the sensor to the controller.

1994: The independent Phoenix Testlab testing institute in Blomberg begins its work as Phoenix EMV-Test. The company continues to be successful internationally – now also with a subsidiary in China.

1996: High-tech electronics manufactured in-house: a key site is founded in Bad Pyrmont in the form of Phoenix Contact Electronics. From the outset the company is on course for strong growth.

2001: Just four to five years after being opened, the plant in Bad Pyrmont is expanded to around 10,000 square meters.

2005/2007: The specialist in electronic components continues to grow: a plant covering 12,000 square meters is opened on Thaler Landstraße in 2005. Just two years later, the "Innovation Center Electronics" follows. The five-story building offering 15,000 square meters of space houses the Development, Marketing, and Sales departments. Around €1.072 billion turnover worldwide: Phoenix Contact has established itself as market leader in electrical engineering and automation. The number of employees is now also approaching the formidable 10,000 mark.

2009: Phoenix Contact continues investing even during the global economic crisis: a production hall is built in Blomberg covering over 20,000 square meters, representing the company's largest building.

2010: Marks the founding of PHOENIX CONTACT Deutschland GmbH. The Phoenix Contact Germany sales subsidiary is established, and over 300 employees work in the field and in the sales offices, personally taking care of customer requests and queries.

2012: Various customers and their special requirements can be serviced on a more individual basis. The focus is on sales, organized into three segments: Device and PCB connection technology, Industrial components for electrical engineering and electronics, Industry-specific automation solutions.[2]

Products

Some examples of Phoenix Contact's industrial offerings are:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "PHOENIX CONTACT - Products". Phoenixcontact.com. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "PHOENIX CONTACT - Our History". Phoenixcontact.com. Retrieved 12 October 2014.

External links

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