Photo: Harting. 
Photo: Harting.
Harting Technology Group’s digital press conference, had Philip Harting, CEO, along with the management team, present the current business developments and the latest Harting products and solutions.
The focus of the event was on Connectivity+ and solutions for energy infrastructure, industrial transformation and e-mobility.
“At Harting, we are designing the powerful connectivity of the future and we call it Connectivity+,” said Harting.
He expressed his satisfaction with the course of the 2020/21 business year to date.
“Sentiment in the global economy worldwide is gradually brightening,” said Harting. “Many countries have made significant progress in combating the Corona pandemic. In this respect, we are also experiencing a slight upturn in business across sectors, markets and products. We are now expecting sales growth in excess of five per cent.”
Kurt D. Bettenhausen, director of new technologies and development, spoke about social and technological trends “shaping the future core business.”
According to Bettenhausen, the technology group is focusing on answers to the three global societal megatrends of sustainability, demographic change and (de-) globalisation. These societal megatrends are intertwined with the technological megatrends of autonomy, the digital twin and modularisation.
“These trends are going hand in hand with new, comprehensive requirements for the connectivity of the future,” said Bettenhausen. “Under the term of Connectivity+, we are grouping forward-looking topics such as DC power supply in industry, electromobility and new industrial ecosystems such as Single Pair Ethernet (SPE). With these and other topics, we will be playing a trend-setting role in shaping a powerful infrastructure for the digitalisation of industry.”
Norbert Gemmeke, managing director, Harting Electric, spoke about Harting’s plans for sustainability and energy efficiency.
“Sustainability and energy efficiency are topics for the future that Harting is addressing, and on the basis of which we are deriving our solution requirements,” said Gemmeke.
In addition to environmentally friendly e-mobility, Gemmeke cited renewable energies and the topic of DC power supply in this context. Many areas relevant for renewable energies and storage technology are DC-based.
According to Gemmeke, with a focus on sustainability and climate protection, DC technology is important in today’s industry, because it is needed when regenerative energies are increasingly deployed and energy recovery from the plant is to lead to greater energy efficiency. As DC technology enables consistent load management, peak loads are avoided and a balance is created between generation, storage and consumption. Consequently, he said that Harting is participating in the DC-INDUSTRIE cooperative project, which consists of 40 industry partners.
“By developing the appropriate connectivity, we will enable users to save energy and thereby directly reduce energy costs,” said Gemmeke.
Other topics covered included the importance of energy storage market, which can reduce power demand peaks, and in turn reduces costs. In parts of the world where grid outages are more frequent, a DC infrastructure with energy storage systems would enable bridging of outages. “The sustainable use of renewable energies can only be achieved through energy storage systems, as they enable the time-delayed, demand-oriented use of electricity generated from renewable energies.”
“Industrial transformation needs digitalisation,” said Ralf Klein, Managing Director, Harting Electronics.
According to Klein, Ethernet is the predominant communication medium in industrial automation and will penetrate into the last areas of the automation pyramid in the future. Harting is creating infrastructure for these developments. “The aim is to be able to offer customers a reliable, miniaturised and resource-saving infrastructure from the cloud down to every individual sensor.”
Keil spoke about how Harting is supporting industry’s path to the IIoT, and how innovative answers in terms of size, modularity and standardisation of components alone will not be enough, which is why the company, since 2017, has been focusing on the development of the entire single pair Ethernet ecosystem in the development, standardisation and portfolio structure of the T1 industrial interface in accordance with IEC 63171-6. “Only with all the necessary components and partners accompanying the new physical layer SPE will it be possible to realize the technological basis in the form of single-pair copper cabling extending to the field level.”
In the meantime, as part of the SPE Industrial Partner Network e.V., Harting is driving this complete ecosystem forward with 47 other market leaders.
“Setting standards together with partners is an important point for the sustainability and success of a solution. The SPE network is the leading global network,” said Klein.
