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Hardik Thakkar - Siemens Product Specialist
Siemens Product Specialist • Southern California

Do You Still Like the Old School Function Keys on your HMI?

Published on May 5, 2026
EandM is an authorized Siemens industrial automation distributor serving manufacturers, system integrators, and industrial facilities across the West Coast—California, Oregon, and Washington—including full support for SIMATIC HMI panels and TIA Portal software.
Siemens SIMATIC Key Panel KP8 PN LX Lifecycle Installation

Touchscreens are great for complex diagnostic menus and trend charts, but when it comes to high-frequency, repetitive machine cycles, operators still crave tactile feedback.

The SIMATIC Key Panel KP8 PN LX perfectly bridges that gap—providing a hardened mechanical interface that coordinates directly with your on-screen graphics via PROFINET. No layout wiring, no label strips, and no special mounting cuts required.

Core Product Features

Tactile Key Icon

8 Programmable Tactile Keys

19 × 19 mm industrial short-stroke keys that give distinct mechanical feedback. Fully configurable as direct Digital Inputs (DI) or Digital Outputs (DO).

Screen Labeling Icon

Dynamic On-Screen Labeling

Key labels render dynamically on the adjacent WinCC HMI software screen. Eliminates the hassle of sliding custom paper label strips into the keys.

IP64 Rating Icon

IP64 Front Panel Protection

Rugged industrial rating ideal for manufacturing floors. Front-panel dust and fluid protection is secured via the included captive mounting clips.

LED Color Icon

5 LED Backlight Key Colors

Assign red, green, blue, yellow, or white illumination based on machine states. Features fully adjustable software brightness levels.

TIA Portal Icon

Native TIA Portal Integration

Menu-dependent button behavior maps smoothly inside your PLC logic tree. The keys instantly update behavior according to the open screen menu.

Dimensions Icon

Slim-Line Form Factor

Ultra-slender chassis profile (40.7 × 252.4 mm). Fits seamlessly to the left, right, or directly underneath any standard touchscreen display frame.

Technical Dimension Layouts & Pinouts

SIMATIC KP8 Dimension Form Layout
SIMATIC KP8 Electrical Interface Pinouts

Target Industrial Applications

Packaging & Fast Sort Lines Provides instantaneous, tactile physical stop/start buttons next to conveyors, ensuring workers can hit cycles blindly without diverting sight from the line.
Automotive Powertrain Cells Enables deep, screen-driven menu manipulation. The key panel illumination colors update in real time to match contextual PLC logic transitions.
Phased Panel Upgrades Acts as a standalone PROFINET node. Can be commissioned entirely without a touch screen display to modernize legacy physical button banks.
SIMATIC KP8 Field Installation Environment

Siemens SIMATIC Logistics Registry

Factory Order Number: 6AV2127-1AB00-0LX1

Interested in auditing your current panels to confirm how the KP8 PN LX integrates into your retrofitting footprints?

Contact EandM Specialist Today

Partner with a Siemens Platinum Distribution Team

EandM is an authorized Siemens industrial automation distributor—and a certified Platinum Partner, representing the highest commercial and engineering tier in Siemens' channel program.

We staff a full bench of dedicated Siemens application specialists who work hands-on with these hardware modules daily. We provide certified TIA Portal technical training workshops, drive sizing assistance, and no-cost regional troubleshooting phone lines across your West Coast facilities.

Siemens