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PHD
Empowering Automation Since 1957
PHD, Inc. offers precise, custom, and fast automation solutions to enhance your capabilities and competitiveness. PHD manufactures pneumatic and electric powered cylinders, escapements, linear slides, clamps, grippers, tri-axis tooling, electric actuators, and more expertly designed solutions for industrial automation.
Common Industries
PHD, Inc. specializes in a wide variety of industries including automotive, food and beverage, medical, packing, robotic, and more.
Automotive
PHD offers solutions for automotive manufacturing processes including assembly, forming, workholding, metal stamping, lifting and positioning, welding, and more.
Food & Beverage
PHD actuators for the food and beverage industry assists conveyors and packaging process in dairy, ice cream, meat, poultry, produce, and snack food processing.
Medical
FDA-approved custom and standard solutions with high precision and compact designs for manufacturing syringes, tubing, IV bags, lab testing, pharmaceuticals, and more.
Packaging
PHD manufactures a wide variety of slides, escapements, and cylinders, grippers, and more for high speed processing equipment, conveyors, and palletizing operations.
PHD Products
PHD products are preferred by equipment builders and end-users alike, when design and process quality matter most.
Pneumatic Cylinders
High Performance and Reliability
PHD cylinders are known for their durability and versatility when space requirements are a concern. Tie Rod, ISO, Compact, Round, and IP69K options are available.
Pneumatic Linear Slides
Thruster and Gantry Systems
PHD linear slides include thruster and rodless options. These linear slides are designed to easily handle applications where high levels of force, precision, and payloads are required.
Electric Actuators
Your Motor, Your Way
Driven by electric power, PHD electric grippers, cylinders, and slides feature a robust design and the freedom to operate these products using the motor and controls of your choice.
Tri-Axis Tooling
High Speed Transfer Press Tooling
With over 40 years of experience in the automotive stamping industry, PHD-acquired H.C. Automation specializes in versatile tooling systems for clamp, lift, and pitch processes in stamping.
Flexion Gripper
Inspired by the Human Hand
PHD Flexion is an innovative gripper that replicates the act of bending a finger - giving the gripper a vast range of adaptability for soft and sensitive product handling.
Parallel Grippers
High Rigidity and Precision Gripping
Ranging from high precision miniature sizes to heavy duty, high capacity models, PHD parallel grippers open directly apart to handle workpieces of all sizes and weights.
Angular Grippers
Angular Gripping for Unique Objects
PHD angular grippers open at an angle to hold a different variety of workpieces than parallel grippers, including large or oddly shaped objects and pick in tight spaces.
Clamps
Unsurpassed Ruggedness
PHD offers many different options for clamps including 2-jaw, toggle, swing, pin clamps, and die lifters for automated sheet metal stamping in transfer presses, welding, and more.
PHD FAQs
- What does PHD manufacture?
PHD, Inc. manufactures pneumatic and electric-powered automation components: cylinders, escapements, linear slides, clamps, grippers, tri-axis tooling, and electric actuators. Since 1957, they've been a go-to source for precise, custom, and fast automation solutions. - What PHD pneumatic cylinder styles are available?
Tie Rod, ISO, Compact, Round, and IP69K cylinders are all in the catalog. The IP69K option is rated for high-pressure washdown environments common in food, beverage, and pharma. Adams stocks and supports the full PHD line across Florida, Alabama, and the Caribbean. - When would I use PHD linear slides vs cylinders?
Linear slides (thruster and rodless variants) are the right choice for applications that require high force, precision, and payload capacity together — typically high-cycle indexing, transfer, or lift-and-shift moves. Standard cylinders are simpler and lower-cost when precision and side-load tolerance aren't critical. - What is PHD tri-axis tooling used for?
PHD tri-axis tooling is high-speed transfer-press tooling, originally developed by the H.C. Automation team PHD acquired. It's used in automotive stamping and similar high-volume metal forming where multi-axis part transfer is on the critical path. - Can PHD actuators be paired with electric drives?
Yes. PHD's electric line includes grippers, cylinders, and slides designed to be driven by motors and controls of your choice — giving you flexibility to use the drive technology already standardized in your plant.