Product identification equipment manufacturer Cab Technology South Africa has completed the installation of a Xeno 1 laser marking system at cable and connector solutions supplier Hiconnex Industrial’s new facility, in Centurion, in Gauteng, says Cab Technology South Africa technical sales consultant Rudie Buys.

Cab Technology South Africa is a subsidiary of Cab Produkttechnik. The Xeno 1 was added to Cab Produkttechnik’s product portfolio last year, and released in January this year. The unit installed at Hiconnex Industrial is the first Xeno 1 in South Africa.

“The Xeno 1 was bought to mark the connectors that Hiconnex Industrial will produce for a new fleet of 600 modern commuter trains being built for South Africa’s metro railway network,” he notes.

The Xeno 1 is a desktop system that meets all the requirements for a cyber-physical system, which involves the interlinking of mechanical or electronic components with advanced information communications technology and communicating, for example, through the Internet, Buys explains.

The desktop system is delivered ready to operate with the marking software cabLase. Connection is established either through Ethernet on a local personal computer or the network.

Buys highlights that the Xeno 1 can accommodate remote control and monitoring in networks that include machine-to-machine or human-machine interaction.

The Xeno 1 is used with 20 W or 30 W pulsed ytterbium-doped fibre-laser sources that enable the laser to mark in a field from 112 mm × 112 mm to 180 mm × 180 mm.

Hiconnex Industrial has been authorised by data, signals and power connectivity solutions supplier Harting Technology Group to produce the connectors. Harting South Africa – a subsidiary of Harting Technology Group, which signed off the installation of the Xeno 1 in July – has secured a supply agreement with train manufacturer Gibela, which, in turn, has a contract to supply the trains to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa.

The system is easy to use and it complies with high industrial standards. The laser source and control unit are integrated in one common laser safety housing unit, according to laser protection Class 1. A Class 1 laser is safe under all conditions of normal use.