It was a head-to-head race for best solution in the automation category. In the end, however, there could only be one winner – and that was the ix Industrial®. For the third time, the trade magazine MM Maschinenmarkt has honoured outstanding innovations in industry with its Best of Industry Award. The best of the best were awarded on June 7th, in a gala event at the Würzburger Vogel Convention Center . Only companies that had previously received an Industry Award for their solution were on this nominee list. Last fall, the ix Industrial® secured the Design & Electronics Award "Innovator of the Year" in Munich, thereby ensuring a spot in the competition for the best in the industry.

The winners were chosen by an expert jury and 12,000 votes from MM Maschinenmarkt's readership. The jury consisted of experts from industry and research, as well as technical editors at the magazine. The criteria were the technical degree of innovation and the benefits for industry, environment and society. A total of nine categories were awarded at the evening event. Around 170 guests enjoyed the awards ceremony, an artistic program with live acts and a key note speech by Industry 4.0 expert Johann Hofmann, the founder and venture architect of Value Farming at Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen GmbH.

When considering shrinking devices and sensors, the size of the widely used RJ45 connector limits the miniaturisation potential of new industrial devices. Many customers and developers were looking for a connector that was smaller and more robust, but at the same time delivered Cat. 6a performance for 1/10 Gbit/s Ethernet at the control level. HARTING's ix Industrial® is a consistent system solution that meets these customer requirements.

This connectors has a 70% smaller socket size compared to the RJ45, so that it can be used by device manufacturers in much smaller devices. For integrating into devices, there is a small but robust socket with five THR shield contacts available which provides maximum stability on the printed circuit board. The ix connectors have a sturdy attachment that uses two metal hooks; these, together with the new socket, guarantee a completely secure and vibration-proof connection all the way from the cable to the printed circuit board. This connection is ensured for at least 5,000 mating cycles.

"We are very happy about this award – it is a clear confirmation of our work. This first place award for the ix Industrial® proves we are heading in the right direction towards Industry 4.0", explains Jonas Diekmann, the technical editor for HARTING Electronics GmbH.