Introducing Swivellink's PLx

Today in the Swivellink studios we have Jonathan, the mastermind behind the new product called the PLx.  So, John just some questions I want to go through here for the viewers.  Just to give a better feel for what the PLx is all about, so we’ll just start off with what is the PLx?

The PLx is a handheld device used for safety professionals to help validate the safety equipment on industrial machinery. 

How does the PLx differ from other ways of testing?

Prior to the invention of the PLx, a lot of safety professionals would actually have to go into a live cabinet pull individual wires, short wires together to validate the safety system. 

It doesn't sound very safe.

No, it's not.

Be careful if you're doing it that way, and if you are doing it that way, then you need the PLx.

Who's this device for and where is it commonly used?

Pretty much any safety professional or anybody working on industrial equipment that wants to test validate, we're going to help diagnose their safety systems whether it be light curtains, E-stops, gate switches, you name it. That's who could use the PLx.

So, a lot of opportunities out there.  And then how do I know that my safety devices are compatible for use with the PLx?

The PLx is designed around m12 eight pin connection, so if you have particular devices that already have an m12 built in, you're pretty safe that is compatible.  Now we've designed it around to where the safety signals are on pins five and six, so if you have a device that has the safety signals on let's say pins 2 and 7 you would need a set of converter cables or adapter cables or, like I say, if you just use some straight through cables if your devices are automatically configured at pins 5 & 6.

Gotcha. So as far as ISOs concerned, can you just tell us how ISO and the PLx, I guess, come into play? Does it meet the ISO requirements while you're using the PLx?  Just hit on that a little bit.

So, ISO 13 849 is the primary safety standard is what everybody should be using to help design the control system level of reliability.  So, part one kind of tells you how to design it.  Part two actually says you need to go ahead and validate your safety system, and part of the way of validating is actually inducing faults into that safety system, and that's what the PLx does.  Just by simply flipping a switch you could induce three or four different faults in the system, versus the old-school method of going into a cabinet pulling wires, shorting wires together.

So, much safer, quicker, easier, as far as ISO requirements go.  I mean this is just a good option.

Absolutely.  Then a lot of machine integrators we work with have actually started standardizing around the m12 connections verses previously they may have just ran wires back into a cabinet and the terminal box.

Gotcha.  And this is something that you guys have been using for a while internally for all your testing to validate the safety equipment.

Correct, and it literally cuts our time in about half to validate all the safety systems just by simply inserting it in series with the device and flipping the switches versus like I said going in.

That's a lot of that time savings not only just one job but over the year multiple jobs that really adds.

Especially those really big jobs that take up the entire plant floor and here you have to test every single safety device, so if you have 12 E-stops, you have to test all 12 E-stops.

Wow!  So, all right.  Well, I definitely appreciate your time John.  You guys stay tuned as we dive deeper into the PLx and its capabilities, and we do some testing.  Thank you for your time.  Much appreciated.

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