At first glance it may appear remarkable: The choice of tools, cabinet infrastructure and marking systems has a direct influence on process times and quality levels, and therefore on a company's revenue. Panel builders can counteract time constraints and gain competitive advantages in a highly cost-driven industry.
The current boom in industry presents panel builders with new challenges. On the one hand; the order books are full, on the other; international competition is increasing. These factors lead to increased pressure on costs and the need to deliver faster than the competition. This issue is further exacerbated by a lack of skilled personnel. This dilemma cannot be resolved by a single action alone, but rather by the consistent optimisation of the entire panel building process.
Time savings from planning right through to commissioning
In many cases existing processes within the panel building industry are already perfectly organised. In order to achieve further increases in productivity, external factors need to be considered just as closely as the option of using new methods and materials. Weidmüller Interface GmbH & Co. KG from Detmold, Germany, has been intensively focused on exactly this issue. The experts in industrial connectivity have a complete solution for increasing productivity in the workplace. As the provider of complete workplace solutions, all the necessary tools, automatic machines, markers and cabinet infrastructure materials can be ordered from the online shop, speeding up the purchasing process and reducing lead times. An additional benefit arises through savings in the warehouse, where lower stock levels are required, while also avoiding standstill in the production due to a lack of materials.
"Our comprehensive approach covers each individual work step within the workplace. Thanks to the perfect interplay between the components, we help ensure process reliability for our customers. With the use of intelligent software, a one-stop-shop philosophy and a wide assortment of high-quality products, we can help our customers speed up their work processes in panel building by up to 80%"
, explains Sune Mellgren, Vice President Business Unit Marking & Tools at Weidmüller.
"If a customer switches to our MultiCard markers and our PrintJet ADVANCED printers, for example, this will significantly reduce the number of different marker types that need to be kept in stock".
The reason: The marker portfolio from Weidmüller features over 700 versions for the components, connectors and cables as well as the devices and systems of any manufacturer. Therefore, if a panel builder uses components from other suppliers in addition to the Weidmüller products, they will not need to buy the corresponding markers and printers from all of the various manufacturers. They can simply use the Weidmüller versions, that will still allow them to label their entire component portfolio. The Weidmüller developed labelling software M-Print® PRO drives Weidmüller printers and ensures that the right marker is printed for every component. This helps to prevent any errors when installing and commissioning the panels.
"Our labelling software can also be directly connected to the CAE system that is being used, which has the advantage of allowing for automated component marking. This saves processing time during the planning process, and again helps to prevent potential sources of error",
says Mellgren. The "Weidmüller Configurator (WMC)" makes for easier planning and configuration of assembled terminal rails and labelled terminal blocks: The user imports the data sets from his or her CAE system via an interface and transfers them back after the processing in WMC is complete. The various automatic machines from Weidmüller help to minimise the time required for recurring tasks such as the wire cutting, insulation removal and crimping of cables. Evaluations have shown that it is the mechanical processing and the assembly in particular that are the most time-intensive processes. Panel builders spend up to 70% of their working time on these two steps, so there is considerable potential here for significant increases in efficiency. Manual tools also make an important contribution to process reliability. The Weidmüller tool certification service, which includes regular service intervals, helps to ensure continuous operational readiness. Ergonomic excellence drives tool development, tools can even be adapted to the size of the operators hand to reduce the required effort and improve efficiency during daily business. In this way, the tools and automatic machines from Weidmüller, together with its digital engineering solutions, all help to increase a company's revenue: Orders can be processed within a short period of time and without any additional work, meaning that more orders can be produced within the same amount of time.