German cable manufacturer establishes itself in Asia

Helukabel is a manufacturer and supplier of cables, wires and accessories with operations all over the world. Founded in Germany in 1978, its product portfolio of over 33 000 in-stock line items, along with custom cable solutions, allows it to supply connectivity systems for industrial, infrastructure and office applications.

With Asian markets becoming more and more important, Helukabel set-up an operation in Taicang, near Shanghai, one of China’s key industrial centres.

“We were well aware the importance of CC-Link IE and CC-Link in the Asian market for industrial control,” said Jürgen Berger, Helukabel’s Senior Manager for Data, Network and Bus technologies. “So in 2013 we approached the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) to see if they could offer assistance or insight into the region.”

CC-Link IE and CC-Link form a open network architecture that allows devices from many different manufacturers to communicate. It reaches from enterprise IT connectivity to simple digital I/O on the shop floor. Both were originally developed in Japan and quickly became established there. Its developers released the technical specification into the public domain, via the CLPA, so that any company can manufacture compatible products and potential users have access to information.

Today these networks are in effect the de facto standard for open networks and the technology of choice for nearly all control engineers in China, Japan and other countries of Asia. It is available in several different formats, including the gigabit industrial Ethernet version, CC-Link IE, which is well suited for Industry 4.0 and other advanced applications.

Berger also claimed that joining the CLPA has helped develop Helukabel’s business in Asia and that having a connection CC-Link is important in the region. He discussed his views and experiences in a video presentation - viewable below.