Knowledge - Digital Nameplate 4.0

Digital Nameplate 4.0: Small, but packed with information

Many manufacturers of components such as terminal blocks, circuit breakers, or industrial switching devices and sensors are faced with the problem of devices becoming smaller and smaller while mandatory identification requirements are increasing. Often, the required information no longer fits on the rating plate or the rating plate itself no longer fits on the device.

Product information via QR code

The solution? A combination of standardization and digitalization in the form of the digital nameplate (DNP). It contains a lot of information without taking up much space. This is because it is equipped with a data matrix or QR code. The user scans this code with a mobile end device and is taken directly to the manufacturer’s cloud via an identification link. There, they will find all the product-specific information, such as the technical data, serial number, production date, and even additional information such as the Product Carbon Footprint.

EU initiatives and digital nameplates

In its Sustainable Products Initiative (SPI), the EU requires that products are durable, reusable, upgradeable, and repairable. This also needs to be documented, and the digital nameplate is the ideal way to record this data and link it directly to the digital product passport.

An important component of the digital twin

For the members of the SEAP initiative, the digital nameplate is a valuable and easy-to-use component of the digital twin. It serves as a gateway not only to the digital product passport, but also to fully digitalized documentation. The experts from Eplan, Phoenix Contact, and Rittal are working intensively on this topic and will be happy to talk to you.