Author Archives: Sandy Beggs

10.02.19
Sandy Beggs by

Panduit Accepts Three 2019 Innovators Awards

Innovation is one of those words that gets tossed around a lot. A. LOT. In fact, an expert just recently included it on a list of words that should never be used to describe yourself. However, for companies like Panduit, where our first focus is on scientific research and the development of new products to solve problems, that word – innovation – is a perfect fit.

Yesterday, Cabling Installation & Maintenance announced the honorees in the 2019 edition of their Cabling Innovators Awards. For five years now, CI&M has been recognizing innovators in the structured cabling space. And, for five years now, we’ve been proud to bring some of those awards home to our trophy case.

Without further ado, presenting Panduit’s 2019 Cabling Innovators Awards:

PoE Extenders – Platinum honoree

PoE Extenders are a new offering from Panduit that extend Power over Ethernet (and data) beyond the 100-meter channel. If you’re looking for a way to connect and power a remote security camera or access gate in a parking lot, or perhaps a suite of devices within a building entrance, this is the solution you’re looking for. PoE Extenders will extend the reach up to 610 meters. This solution solves huge connectivity issues for our customers while being simple and inexpensive to install.

Panduit and Atlona representatives accepted Cabling Innovators Awards during a reception in Las Vegas Tuesday night. Shaun Burnette (left), regional sales manager for Atlona, accepted the Gold award for Lucas Oil Stadium; Panduit Product Line Manager Frank Straka (second from left) accepted the Platinum award for PoE Extenders; and Andres Vicente (right), business development partner with Unitedtec IoT, accepted the Gold award for Codisa Data Center’s intelligent lighting solution by Panduit and Igor. Patrick McLaughlin (second from right), chief editor of Cabling Installation & Maintenance, presented the awards.

Lucas Oil Stadium – Gold honoree

Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts, upgraded their digital signage recently with a solution from Atlona, a Panduit company. OmniStream™, Atlona’s AV over IP solution, is the foundation of that installation. OmniStream delivers the performance and dependability of traditional AV distribution, plus the unrestricted scalability and cost-efficiency of integrating over data networks. The upgrade project is highlighted in the Lucas Oil Plaza, a public congregation area for events and concessions. OmniStream, paired with Velocity™ control, now delivers content to 13 single displays and a 16-screen video wall within the plaza.

Codisa Data Center – Gold honoree

Located in Costa Rica, Codisa is a highly-regarded technology partner throughout Latin America. Last year, Codisa began development of their latest data center, in San Jose, Costa Rica. One of their key drivers was to build an environmentally-friendly and sustainable building. So, Codisa partnered with Igor to introduce a PoE lighting solution throughout the Network Operations Center and office space. Igor’s flagship product, Nexos, is a PoE Internet of Things smart building platform that incorporates hardware, software, and cloud analytics to form a digital building backbone. This system was layered onto Panduit physical infrastructure.

Both of these case study honorees exemplify the great work that our customers and partners do in this space. When Cabling Installation & Maintenance first introduced the Cabling Innovators Awards in 2015, Panduit jumped at the chance to submit stellar projects that we were part of, to shine a spotlight on the great, innovative work that our partners and customers are doing. Since that first round in 2015, we’ve continued down that path, choosing – more often than not – to highlight our partners and customers for their projects.

We know that we can’t do this alone. When we combine our innovative products with the ideas and expertise of others – like Igor – the sum is always greater than working alone.

We’re proud to be called innovators by CI&M. And, we’re not done innovating yet. Some of the industry’s best and most curious minds are already hard at work developing innovative solutions to tomorrow’s problems!

09.26.19
Sandy Beggs by

BICSI Fall 2019: What You’ll See from Panduit and General Cable

BICSI’s annual Fall Conference and Exhibition is less than a week away and we’re packing our bags, double-checking our travel plans and brushing up on our card and dice skills. We have a lot in store for Las Vegas, and have many, many reasons for you to stop by the PanGen booth to see us!

Get to Know PanGen

As always, Panduit and General Cable will be sharing a booth and sharing our expertise on all things copper related. The PanGen partnership is 15 years in the making, providing contractors and end users with an end-to-end cabling and connectivity solution, featuring the industry’s smallest Category 6A copper cable (0.250” diameter). That cable is recognized in the industry as having the best thermal properties to manage the heat rise from Power over Ethernet. Devices like security cameras and wireless access points are already on the network, so using PoE to power them via the same copper cable just makes sense. One of our most popular demonstrations at every BICSI shows the temperature rise that occurs in cable that is running PoE, and how this cable manages temperature rise.

From the Panduit side of the partnership, look for a myriad of connectivity choices on display. Everything from standard, shuttered, and angled jacks to the ever-popular Field Term Plug, along with patching solutions will be on display.

Going the Distance

Among the newer products that Panduit will be demonstrating is the PoE Extender, which delivers data and PoE beyond the 100-meter channel. This innovative solution extends PoE up to 600 meters! This solution is ideal for applications like remote security cameras or building entrances that are more than 100 meters from the nearest TR. Check it out first hand in the booth.

A New Fix for CyberSecurity

Panduit will also be introducing SmartKeeper, a simple solution to a big problem. SmartKeeper block-out devices block open USB and RJ45 ports to prevent unauthorized access. A single tool is used with all devices, making it easier for the right personnel to have access to the tool when it’s needed. Stop by the booth for a demo.

Check out the AV Solutions

Taking center stage in the booth will be Panduit’s new end-to-end AV solution, featuring active devices from Atlona, a Panduit company, built on a Panduit infrastructure. We’ll be ready to demo and answer questions about the Atlona OmniStream AV over IP system, Velocity Control, and Atlona’s SW-510W, a BYOD switcher that allows wireless connection from any presentation device, including phones, tablets, and laptops, with no dongles, apps, or connectors needed! Infrastructure components like cabling, wall-mount cabinets, Above Floor Raceway, table boxes and wall boxes round out the AV demo.

Cable Management Dreams

If you haven’t seen Panduit’s newest vertical cable managers, you will want to stop by the booth just to see them! We’ll be showing both our standard and enhanced PatchRunner Vertical Managers, which both feature integrated push-to-close doors, optimized manager fingers, and more space. Lightweight and easy to install, the doors are quickly gaining popularity in the market. The enhanced version features options that allow for zero RU patching to be mounted within the cable manager, for the ultimate in space optimization within the telecom room. These cable managers will transform your TR nightmares!

A Powerful Power Solution

We will also be demonstrating our expanding line of Power Distribution Units and accessories. The SmartZone PDUs have features that go beyond power distribution, to provide local and remote monitoring of aggregate power and environmental and physical access data.

The Full Network Infrastructure Suite

Rounding out the display will be components for connecting the factory floor and data center solutions, showcasing the portfolio breadth that makes Panduit the partner of choice for so many contractors and end users.

Beyond what you want to see from us, we want to see YOU! Conversations with so many of you give us insight into what types of issues you face on a daily basis and helps stoke the innovation fires, to figure out new solutions. We love hearing first-hand about what people are struggling with, the successes they’ve had, and the ways they’re using our products.

Learning Opportunities

If you’re still trying to decide what presentations to attend during your time at BICSI, we have a couple of recommendations. On Wednesday, October 2, Panduit Product Line Manager Frank Straka will be participating in two presentations:

  • 9-10 a.m. – An Illuminating Discussion on Digital Lighting Design & Cabling Challenges, presented by Frank Straka and Harry Aller of Innovative Lighting
  • 10:30-11:30 a.m. – IoT Takes a Village: Building the Single-Pair Ethernet Ecosystem, where Frank will be part of a panel looking at Single-Pair Ethernet
04.22.19
Sandy Beggs by

Earth Day 2019: Your Infrastructure can Help your Building Reduce its Environmental Impact

On Earth Day, environmental sustainability becomes a hot topic. But, the environmental impact of a building is around every day, and there are things you can do to lessen that environmental impact 24/7/365.

At Panduit, we do more than just talk about sustainability. Our world headquarters, which will celebrate its tenth birthday next year, is a LEED Gold Certified building and is just one example of our commitment to healthy, energy efficient, and sustainable business environments.

We can help you achieve that LEED certification as well. Panduit copper cable and jacks hold Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and Health Product Declarations (HPDs), which contribute points towards your building’s LEED certification.

A couple of years ago the US Green Building Council adopted LEED version 4, which allows cabling systems to be counted toward LEED points. In response, Panduit was the first manufacturer to offer both EPDs and HPDs on copper cabling and connectors.

If you’re thinking about LEED certification, here’s what you need to know to make sure your cabling infrastructure can help:

EPD and HPD defined

  • EPD = Environmental Product Declaration
  • HPD = Health Product Declaration

EPDs and HPDs are both issued by a third party after they verify reports supplied by the manufacturer. EPDs disclose potential environmental impacts of a product, while HPDs disclose what a product contains and how it impacts human and ecological health.

What products carry EPDs and HPDs

A wide variety of materials used in the construction of buildings carry these declarations. Panduit has EPDs and HPDs on 18 types of RJ45 jacks and 22 different copper cables. This offering includes:

  • Unshielded and shielded applications
  • Category 5e, Category 6, and Category 6A
  • Riser and plenum flame ratings

How EPDs and HPDs equal LEED points

LEED requires the installation of at least 20 different products that have third-party certification to qualify for one LEED point. These products must be from at least five different manufacturers. So, when you install at least four different certified products from Panduit, that counts as one portion of one point for EPD and one portion of a second point for HPD. Different levels of LEED certification require different numbers of points to qualify. Our alliance partner, General Cable, also offers EPDs and HPDs on their cabling solutions, so if you use a PanGen solution, it equals a second manufacturer toward the requirement to have five different manufacturers.

Not all cabling and connectors are equal

Panduit is one of a handful of cabling manufacturers that have EPDs and HPDs on copper cabling and RJ45 jacks. So, if you’re looking for an end-to-end solution that can help you earn LEED certification, Panduit is a great choice!

We’d be happy to share more information on our EPDs and HPDs. You can find links to our EPD and HPD documents bundled with each product. For instance, here are the EPD and HPD for our Category 6A, unshielded Mini-Com® jacks. You’ll find similar documentation for other products in our online catalog at www.panduit.com. Or, reach out to your sales rep or customer service for more information.

We like to help companies do their part to help sustain the environment, and not just on Earth Day!