RS Makes Automation Accessible to All
January 6, 2025
RS makes automation accessible to all with its extensive line of affordable, industrial-grade RS PRO products.
RS PRO products, the own brand of RS, are engineered to help customers overcome common challenges in every industrial market segment and meticulously designed to deliver an attractive combination of quality, choice, and value. They’re also backed by the RS PRO Seal of Approval — which is only awarded after a rigorous testing, inspection, and auditing process based on demanding international standards — and most are covered by a standard three-year warranty.
The RS PRO portfolio features more than 80,000 products across 1,500 technologies to satisfy the needs of virtually every industrial application and working environment and provide competitive savings compared to branded alternatives without compromising performance, allowing customers of all sizes to work confidently. It also offers more than 15,000 in-stock and ready-to-ship solutions and a growing selection of sustainable solutions. These field-proven, industrial-grade products can also be combined into integrated solutions to further simplify customers’ sourcing and purchasing processes and save even more time and money.
The ever-growing range of RS PRO automation products is optimized to help customers in the discrete and process manufacturing, energy and utilities, and facilities and intralogistics industries maximize output, reliability, and efficiency while minimizing energy consumption and operating costs. These solutions include more than:
- 2,900 enclosures designed to protect electrical equipment from environmental hazards, including dust, weather, washdowns, chemicals, and electromagnetic and radio frequency interference.
- 2,080 hook-up wires used to connect components in low-current and low-voltage electrical and electronic devices and control panels.
- 1,630 temperature sensors that detect changes in environmental and substance temperatures and convert those measurements into electrical signals that can be monitored and analyzed by control systems.
- 1,400 network and Ethernet cables designed to connect various network nodes, including computers and IIoT devices.
- 1,020 pushbutton switches used to turn electrical circuits on and off.
- 940 rectangular connectors that connect multiple wires or circuits together to facilitate the transmission of power, signals, and data between devices.
- 810 multiconductor cables designed to simultaneously transmit power and signal in applications that require multiple connections, including machine tools and factory automation, process automation, and control systems.
- 700 industrial cable assemblies used to transmit electrical power and signals between the various components of industrial systems and machinery.
- 540 relays and relay sockets that help protect electrical systems and connected equipment from over-current and -voltage conditions.
- 410 audibles, including alarms, buzzers, bells, sirens, and horns, used to alert people to machine and process errors, hazards, and status changes.
- 300 photoelectric sensors designed to detect the presence, absence, or distance of an object using a light transmitter and photoelectric receiver.
- 300 proximity sensors that detect the presence of objects from both long and short distances much more quickly than contact sensors can using capacitive, inductive, magnetic, or ultrasonic technologies.
- 290 bootlace ferrules used to create secure electrical connections between stripped wires and terminals or clamps by encapsulating the individual strands of wire to prevent fraying.
- 230 beacons designed to visually communicate security alerts, potential hazards, and machinery status changes.
- 200 pressure sensors that measure the amount of force exerted over an area and convert that information into electrical signals that can be read and interpreted by control systems.
- 190 axial fans used to cool electronic equipment.
- 190 contactors used to switch circuits on and off.
- 180 automation signaling solutions, like light towers, that use visual and audible signals to communicate information about the status of machines, processes, or systems in automated environments.
- 150 current transformers designed to measure large currents in power systems by transforming high primary currents into smaller, proportional secondary currents.
- 110 float switches used to detect the liquid levels in tanks and control external devices, like pumps, valves, and alarms.
- 100 temperature controllers that compare actual system temperatures to the designed setpoint and adjust the heating or cooling system to maintain the desired temperature.
RS PRO also offers a variety of limit, disconnect, and Ethernet switches, DIN rail power supplies, counters, digital timers and hour meters, HMI displays, emergency stop pushbutton switches, and smart relays ideal for use in industrial automation applications.
All of these products are widely used in industrial automation applications in the discrete and process manufacturing, energy and utilities, and facilities and intralogistics industries, including:
- Automotive manufacturing, original equipment manufacturing (OEM), machine building, and control panel building
- Food and beverage, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, and steel manufacturing
- Power generation and distribution, water and wastewater, renewable energy, oil and gas, and telecommunications infrastructure
- Industrial facilities, logistics operations, retail and wholesale outlets, universities, and ports
“Automation doesn’t have to be expensive,” said Jody Kemp, RS Vice President of Supplier and Sales Engagement – Americas. “While there are certainly classes of industrial applications that require complex and costly automation capabilities, there are just as many — if not more — that don’t have any need for pricey extras, applications that instead need sensors that reliably detect, switches that faithfully flip, and alarms that dutifully count. RS PRO automation products reliably fulfill these needs in even the most modern industrial environments while simplifying sourcing and giving you the best value for your money, which makes integrating automation solutions accessible to industrial operations of all sizes.”
