TE Connectivity (TE) has acquired the force-guided narrow safety relay (NSR) elementary relay technology from the Phoenix Contact Group as part of a long-term partnership agreement.

The acquisition adds a single-pole, force-guided offering to TE’s broad relay portfolio for the factory automation, elevator and rail markets. As a part of the agreement, TE will assume responsibility for manufacturing and marketing of the NSR element relays, supporting TE’s focus on bringing miniaturized solutions and advanced safety technology to market, particularly in robotic control, programmable logic control, elevator and servo drive applications.

“As the industry continues to shift toward more advanced automation technologies, operator safety has easily become one of the most critical issues facing our customers today,” said Vish Ananthan, senior vice president and general manager of TE’s Industrial business. “When humans are involved, equipment must work every time, without restrictions to functional safety. The addition of the NSR product line underscores our commitment to this vital need and to providing much needed space savings as our customers manage the dramatic increase of signal, power and data in the modern production environment.”

In 2015, Phoenix Contact set a new standard in the narrow safety relay market with its PSRmini product portfolio. For this purpose, the company had designed and manufactured the force-guided NSR elementary relay, one of the most compact relays of its kind in the market. To achieve this level of miniaturization in the NSR relay, they developed innovative methods and technologies in both product engineering and production processes. The high number of patents resulting from this innovation illustrates the significant leap in technology.

Ulrich Leidecker, member of the Phoenix Contact management board and president of the Industry Management and Automation (IMA) division, added, “We are confident that this partnership agreement with TE Connectivity will be the optimal basis for a successful global marketing of the NSR. With their expertise in engineering, manufacturing and distribution, we will bring the marketing of the NSR technology to a higher level and develop additional markets. We look forward to the expansion of this long-term partnership, which is an essential element of our safety relay strategy.”