Need for a new subforum?

I am a small system integrator from Greece. That's why I believed I hadn't any information about Clipsal's new products.

However after the surprise for the new B/W Touch Screen with Logic Engine, I did a search for Clipsal on the http://www.cepro.com and I found that"Schneider Electric Releases New Square D Clipsal Decorator Keypads and Wall Plates. Neo and Saturn conserve wall space and fit with existing wall boxes?. Up to four Decorator keypads can be mounted side-by-side, allowing 16 buttons in the space of a standard four-gang plate.

Since there is not any official Clipsal?s newsletter for system integrators (is there?), I really think that αnew category on the forum should be created by the name ?Fishing news about Clipsal on the net?.

 

As another very small System Integrator outside Australia, I understand your feeling . However, over the years I understand that guys here are trying to share their technical knowledge, but they have little information on how things are happening in the business side, or they don't have the power to release such information. So, like you, I simply try to search for information and also try to communicate with the main supplier locally. With the on-going changes in Clipsal, sometimes they don't know much either.

In my understanding, C-Bus is trading under the brand "Clispal" in Australia and Asia (and UK), maybe trading under the brand "Schneider" in Central Europe; and under the brand "Square D" in the USA. They are using the biggest name in the area because they are all in fact Schneider owned. But the SI will be handled by relative team accordingly.

So, the news of SquareD products (in fact some time ago) should be from US market, I believe. Also any new release of C-Bus products may not be avaliable to overseas markets soon because there are also price issues in different area. I remember it took nearly a year before I can order a Color C-Touch after it was launched in Australia. Normally there are some bug fix in early stages so it is better to wait because it takes a lot longer to get any help on new products overseas.

 

Another important factor to consider is standards. Just because a product is available in one country doesn't mean that it's legal to use that product in another country.

All countries have variations in the standards that the products must meet and that restricts which markets various products are sold in. If you choose to import a product from an overseas market it is possible that you'll be violating local laws, so you need to tread carefully.

The standards bodies in some countries can also be a real pain and this can delay the release of new products into some countries.

 

Newman and wanricky I really understand these problems.
However, this information is a marketing weapon that I don't have right now.
It would be nice to Know by a newsletter or by our forum that a new B/W screen is realized and in a year or so I can get them myself.
It is very useful to know when I am talking to a designer that new switches are on the way.
Since this information is on the net why Clipsal doesn?t share them at least with its system integrators worldwide?

 

Amateurs is the word you're looking for

Armature is the part of a relay that reacts to the coil energising and then pivots to shift the relay contacts.. or the revolving part of an electric motor.

Good quote though.. Most of the great engineering breakthroughs were made by people with little formal education!

 

On the other hand, if your going to be pointing out typos, perhaps pointing it out in the typo's original form would be more appropriate. He did after all type Amatures, not Armatures LOL

On Topic - Would be useful to get up to date info on region specific releases of hardware, I get nothing from Schneider and it would definitely be handy to have a timescale of hardware releases.

 

Probably time to step in here and give a clear picture.

When a product is released for sale, notification by means of an email with all relevant information is sent out to the various sales offices. This information is sent to the Australian sales offices (this includes System Integration representative managers) by the Australian Product Manager. At the same time, this product release notification is sent to the international offices (lets call these the regional offices) by the Product Manager responsible for those areas. It is then, up to the regional offices as to whether they choose to notify their customers of the release and in turn, when/if the product will be released for sale in that region. As has been previously outlined, there are a host of issues which need to be addressed by the regional offices before they release product for sale. Unfortunately, the distribution list for the regional offices sometimes doesn't have all of the required personnel (ie some move to different areas or change roles). This is what has happened in the case of Greece and this has now been addressed.

As I'm sure you can appreciate, it is important for the sales offices to be across the release of a product before their customer(s) so when the calls come in, they know about the product. If the notification were to me made to the end-users at the same time as the various regional offices by means of the forum or tech support, this will cause issues.

Therefore, can I ask that if you are an Systems Integrator/Installer/User of C-Bus product, you keep a close releationship with your supply office. If they are not receiving notification of product release, they should contact their relevant Product Manager at Clipsal Integrated Systems.

I hope this explanation is satisfactory

Cheers