RS and Siemens are paving the way to Industry 5.0 with I/O

RS offers Siemens IP6X distributed I/O systems engineered to satisfy organizations' ever-increasing demand for actionable data, maximize uptime, boost performance, facilitate future-proof scalability, and enable hybrid I/O systems essential to the shift from automated to autonomous operation.

FORT WORTH, Texas, April 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- RS, a global product and service solutions provider for industrial customers, offers the complete line of IP6X distributed I/O systems from Siemens, a global leader in industrial automation technologies. Engineered for rugged reliability, broad application suitability, and superior scalability, Siemens IP6X distributed I/O systems help industrial organizations satisfy the ever-increasing demand for actionable sensor data, maximum uptime, and peak performance and — along with traditional in-cabinet I/O — enable hybrid I/O systems capable of paving the way to Industry 5.0.

I/O systems facilitate communication between computers, devices, users, and storage and are used in every industry and application that employs automation or uses signals for control, including manufacturing, infrastructure, water and wastewater, agriculture, oil and gas, and energy and utility industries. Global industries have relied on I/O systems for data exchange since their popularization in the 1960s and 70s, and these systems have continually matured to address evolving needs.

Today's I/O systems are increasingly engineered to help organizations overcome challenges related to prevailing digitalization, globalization, and workforce challenges by enabling them to leverage advanced technologies, like digital simulation and artificial intelligence (AI), and laying the groundwork for the impending shift from automated to autonomous operations. This shift from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 will require massive amounts of data and is already fueling tremendous demand for I/O and gradually increasing the size and complexity of I/O systems.

This complexity can be a burden to manage, slowing performance and leading to quality issues. Flexible, open-standard I/O systems, like the Siemens ET distributed I/O systems, are the solution. Engineered to maximize uptime, boost performance, and facilitate future-proof scalability, these machine-mounted I/O devices go right where your data is to reduce labor costs, shorten design time, and make it quicker and easier to access your data, run diagnostics, expand your systems, and add new functionality. Given their unique location, they're also ruggedized with features like IP6X sealing to protect against the ingress of dust, dirt, and liquids.

Siemens offers a comprehensive range of IP6X distributed I/O systems designed to satisfy the needs of a wide variety of industrial application environments and standardized to provide engineering and diagnostic consistency, regardless of the I/O modules, PLC, controller, and network you're using, which is a big benefit for machine builders. This unique-to-market capability — multi-fieldbus support — enables communication between the three primary industrial Ethernet fieldbuses that you'll encounter: Ethernet IP, PROFINET, and Modbus TCP. It also eases integration, allowing you to buy machines from different suppliers with no concern for communication compatibility and even to communicate with several different controllers or PLCs with different fieldbuses at the same time over the same cable — and it's available in every Siemens IP6X I/O product. Another advantage of the Siemens IP6X I/O line is that diagnostics are always handled exactly the same way and look the same way when they're reported back.

Siemens IP6X distributed I/O solutions available at RS include:

• The SIMATIC ET 200eco PN I/O system. This block I/O solution is ruggedized for on-machine deployment and outdoor environments, featuring a robust and relatively compact cast zinc housing that can be mounted horizontally or vertically for maximum flexibility and IP protection ratings spanning IP65 to IP69K. It's also resistant to high levels of shock and vibration and rated for operating temperatures extending from -40°C to +60°C. Two-port Ethernet switches integrated into each block enable flexible configuration for digital and analog inputs and outputs, mixed-configuration devices, and easy integration into line topologies, and M12 L-coded power connectors provide high current-carrying capabilities, so you can switch higher loads and run significantly greater cable lengths in the field. To support open and flexible communication, it's available with a variety of I/O-Link master devices designed to help you extract data from all the way down to your lowest field-level device, which makes it much easier to optimize overall system performance. Ideal applications extend from infrastructure and mining equipment to industrial manufacturing and material handling.
  
  
• The SIMATIC ET 200pro distributed I/O system. Designed for near-universal use in harsh industrial automation environments, this modular, multifunctional, and machine-mounted IP65 or IP67 I/O system supports a wide variety of I/O modules with up to 16 channels each in a single I/O rack and reliably withstands high mechanical loads. It also supports digital, analog, fail-safe, and other inputs and outputs all in the same system and a corresponding IO-Link master that enables hot swapping to maximize availability, prevent expensive unplanned downtime, and simplify module configuration. It's available with a CPU option for applications that require distributed intelligence, integrated drives and motor starters for automotive and conveyor applications, and integrated safety features for especially high-risk environments.
  
  
• The SIMATIC ET 200AL distributed I/O system. Ideally suited for machine systems with a lot of metal infrastructure, moving equipment, and space constraints, like robotic arms and gantry systems, this extremely compact and lightweight modular block I/O system makes it easy to install individual modules in even the smallest spaces on your machine or assembly line. Its digital outputs can be safely shut down within a supply line, enabling the integration of safety applications, and it can be used as an expansion of the SIMATIC ET 200SP to facilitate seamless transitions between in-cabinet and machine-mounted I/O systems in increasingly popular and future-centric hybrid I/O system configurations.

Siemens is the world's largest single-source leader for industrial automation technology products, a leading supplier of I/O solutions, and a world-class developer of technologies that drive innovation and transform industries. RS offers an extensive selection of Siemens products, including its full line of Siemens IP6X distributed I/O systems, along with a wide variety of circuit protection, motors and motor controls, industrial controls, switches, power products, relays, PLCs and HMIs, industrial data communications devices, and more.  

To learn more about Siemens IP6X distributed I/O systems engineered to satisfy organizations' ever-increasing demand for actionable data, maximize uptime, boost performance, facilitate future-proof scalability, and pave the way to Industry 5.0, check out "Turbo-charge your industrial data collection with I/O system solutions," an RS Expert Advice interview with Garett Williams, the Factory Automation Portfolio Development Specialist at Siemens, and visit the links embedded here.

For assistance identifying, procuring, deploying, and maintaining Siemens I/O solutions sure to satisfy your unique application demands, please contact your local RS representative at 1.866.433.5722 or reach out to the RS technical support team.

About Siemens
Siemens Corporation is a U.S. subsidiary of Siemens AG, a leading technology company focused on industry, infrastructure, transport, and healthcare. By combining the real and the digital worlds, Siemens empowers customers to accelerate their digitalization and sustainability transformations, making factories more agile and productive, buildings more efficient, power systems more intelligent and transportation more sustainable. Siemens also owns a majority stake in the publicly listed company Siemens Healthineers, a leading global medical technology provider pioneering breakthroughs in healthcare. In addition, Siemens holds a minority stake in Siemens Energy, a global leader in the transmission and generation of electrical power. In fiscal year 2024, which ended on September 30, 2024, the Siemens Group USA generated revenue of $21.2 billion, with 24 manufacturing sites across the U.S. and more than 45,000 employees serving customers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

About RS 
RS is a global product and service solutions provider for industrial customers, enabling them to operate efficiently and sustainably. 

We operate in 36 markets, stock over 800,000 industrial and specialist products, and list an additional five million relevant for our industrial customers, sourced from over 2,500 suppliers. This extensive range supports our customers across the industrial lifecycle of designing, building, and maintaining equipment and operations. We enhance their experience through a tailored service model, leveraging our efficient physical, digital, and process infrastructure sustainably. We combine a technically led and digitally enabled approach with an exceptional team of experts; ultimately, it's our people that make the difference.

Our purpose, making amazing happen for a better world, reflects our focus on delivering results for people, planet, and profit. 

RS Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange with stock ticker RS1 and in the year ended 31 March 2024 reported revenue of £2,942 million.

For more information, please visit https://www.rsgroup.com/ or connect with us on LinkedIn or X (Twitter).

About RS in the Americas 
In the Americas region, RS stocks more than 250,000 industrial and electronic products from more than 700 trusted suppliers. These solutions cover categories extending from automation and control equipment to interconnect, passive, active, and electromechanical components and include more than 80,000 high-quality, competitively priced RS PRO products. For more information, please visit https://us.rs-online.com or connect with us via social media on Facebook, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube.

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