G
Proximity Sensor Modules
The core of the counter stock is a working range of inductive and capacitive proximity modules in M12, M18 and M30 housings, offered in shielded and unshielded bodies, with PNP or NPN outputs and normally open or normally closed switching. Shielded bodies suit flush mounting into a steel plate where the sensing face has to sit level with the surface. Unshielded bodies give more sensing distance for the same housing diameter, which matters when a bracket cannot be brought close to the target. Both are held in quantities that reflect real site orders rather than single-unit retail sales.
Every module that leaves the counter has been checked on a reference target at the bench. The check is simple and it is not a laboratory calibration, but it catches the cases that waste a technician morning: a dead output, a body that was dropped on the tray floor, a cable tail with a conductor pulled back inside the gland. The result is recorded against the counter reference, so a module that later fails can be traced to the check it passed or failed on arrival.
Buyers who need a specific connector moulding, a longer lead or a particular switching frequency should send the requirement with the part list. Some of those variants are held in stock and some are assembled to order; the counter will say which is which in the reply rather than after the purchase order is placed.
W
Ribbon Cable Bundles
Flat ribbon cable is cut at the counter to the lengths a site actually uses, then terminated where a connector specification has been supplied. Standard coils are held at one metre, two metres and five metres with common conductor counts, and longer runs are assembled when a trunking route requires them. Cut runs are inspected for conductor nicks, and a bundle that fails the inspection is discarded rather than returned to the coil.
The value of this service is in the coiling. A ribbon that has been wound in the wrong direction will try to spiral when it is pulled through a channel, and a technician will fight it for ten minutes before giving up and cutting it loose. Counter staff coil each bundle in the direction that suits the routing described on the order, and each coil carries a paper tag with its length, conductor count and counter reference. The tag is printed on card stock and folded over the coil end so that it survives a van ride and a site trolley.
Where a buyer supplies a connector part number and a pinout, the counter crimps and tests the termination before the bundle is coiled. Where the pinout is uncertain, the bundle ships unterminated and the buyer terminates on site. That split is stated on the quote so that nobody discovers it at the last minute.
T
Starter Kit Boxes
A starter kit box is the unit that a technician carries to a single mounting job. It contains one proximity module, one matching cable run, a mounting bracket set and a folded reference card that shows the wiring colours, the sensing face orientation and the tightening torque. Boxes are assembled at the counter, sealed with a paper band and labelled by kit type and batch, so that a storekeeper handing out twelve boxes in a morning can confirm that every technician received the same kit.
Kits exist because a single missing bracket can cost a day on a commissioning schedule. When a technician arrives at a door frame with a module but no bracket, the delay is not the cost of the bracket; it is the cost of the second trip and the knock-on effect on the afternoon. Packing the small parts together removes that failure mode at very little cost to the buyer.
Kit composition can be adjusted within a reasonable range. A buyer who needs a longer cable run or a different bracket style can request a variant, and the counter will price and label the variant separately rather than quietly substituting parts. The printed label always matches the contents, because a kit that lies about its contents is worse than no kit at all.
S
Bulk Order Desks
Larger orders are handled by a dedicated desk contact who owns the purchase order from confirmation to the final carton. This is not a separate department; it is the same counter staff working to a different rhythm. The desk agrees delivery windows in advance, reserves stock against those windows, and splits a single order into several shipments when a site needs parts in stages. Each partial shipment is logged against the same reference so that the paper trail remains readable at the end of the programme.
Reservation is the part that matters. Without it, a bulk order is only a promise that stock will still be there when the buyer calls, and stock has a way of moving when other desks are selling from the same trays. With it, the buyer knows that a scheduled truck will not arrive to find an empty shelf. Where a reservation cannot be met in full, the desk says so at the quote stage and offers a staged alternative rather than letting the problem surface at dispatch.
Bulk orders also receive a single point of contact for changes. A revision to quantities, a change of delivery address or a request to hold a carton for inspection is handled by the same person who quoted the order. That continuity is worth more than it sounds when a programme runs across several months and several site teams.
I
Sample Pair Shipments
A sample pair shipment is two units, one of each variant under comparison, sent ahead of a design freeze or a purchase decision. Design teams use it to mount both candidates on a test rig, log the switching behaviour against a real target, and return a decision without committing to a full tray. Sample pairs are drawn from production stock rather than from a display set, because a display unit that has been handled for a year tells the buyer nothing about the unit that will arrive on a pallet.
The shipment is packed in a small protective sleeve with a printed note of the variant codes and the counter reference. That note matters when the test results are written up: a comparison table that cannot be matched back to specific variant codes is not much use to a review meeting. The counter keeps the same reference on file, so a follow-on bulk order can be traced to the pair that was tested.
Sample pairs are normally dispatched within the same working day where stock allows, and the buyer is told in advance if a variant has to be assembled first. There is no charge for the sample service beyond the cost of the units and carriage, and the units carry the same warranty terms as any other counter sale.
N
Warranty Swap Counter
The swap counter is where failed or damaged modules come back. A unit is checked against its counter reference, examined for the failure mode described by the buyer, and either swapped for a matching unit from stock or held for a written assessment. The preference is always to swap, because a commissioning schedule rarely survives a week of waiting on an inspection, and a sensor is rarely worth the cost of an argument. Swaps are recorded against the original reference so that the replacement carries the remainder of the original warranty period.
Units that are held for assessment receive a written note describing what was found. That note goes to the buyer even when the outcome is a refusal, because a refusal without an explanation is the kind of answer that ends a counter relationship. Physical damage caused outside normal service, such as a crushed housing or a cable severed by a door edge, is described plainly and the buyer is given the option to purchase a replacement at counter price.
The swap counter also handles the small cases that fall between categories: a module that works intermittently, a cable that passes a continuity test but fails when flexed, a bracket that does not match the drawing. None of these are dramatic failures, and all of them stop a job. Bringing them to one desk means the buyer does not have to work out which internal team owns the problem.