If there’s one constant in modern manufacturing, it’s change — be it new technologies or processes, or amendments to a number of industry regulations or compliance guidelines. And in the case of power distribution systems, it’s actually a combination of both that’s fueling manufacturers to move away from legacy control panel wiring and embrace busbar power distribution panels.
Automotive manufacturing has changed dramatically over the past several years, driven largely by the shift in production from gasoline to electric-powered vehicles. In 2021, almost 80 million motor vehicles were produced worldwide, which is an increase of around 3 percent, compared with the previous year. Globally, China, Japan and Germany were the largest producers of cars and commercial vehicles in 2020. In the US, the automotive industry is one of the cornerstones of the manufacturing sector, employing just under 10 million people in 2022.
The curtain is being lifted at the Hannover Messe: get a first glimpse of the upcoming EPLAN Platform 2024, revealing new mathematical calculation functions, greater ease-of-use for terminal management, and unprecedented possibilities for navigating through the 3D model of a control cabinet. It also facilitates creating the digital twin in EPLAN Pro Panel. Another improvement can be found when dealing with machine cabling in conjunction with EPLAN Harness proD, whereby spare cables can be connected in no time at all moving forward, with just a simple click of the mouse.
The term MTBF appears in the data sheets of various technical system components and often causes confusion. This is mainly due to the different calculation methods and the risk of confusion with the service lifetime of a device. At PULS, many R&D specialists deal with both parameters on a daily basis. With this knowledge, PULS brings a little light into the darkness in this blog article.
One of the biggest topics of conversation at the most recent International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) was the challenges manufacturers face in executing enclosure and mounting panel modifications in the event of labor shortages and supply chain bottlenecks. Rittal’s Perforex MT automates panel modification tasks to increase the speed, precision, and visibility of each job without the need for additional software.
Seeq Corporation kicks off Conneqt 2023, the company’s global industry conference, in San Diego on this day. Themed “Catalyze,” Conneqt 2023 will bring together Seeq customers, partners, and experts for interactive sessions examining how process organizations can accelerate their digital transformation initiatives and achieve faster business outcomes with advanced analytics.
The industrial network infrastructure is a valuable business asset. Investments in legacy industrial networks require a clear migration path to optimize return on assets while taking advantage of performance enhancements from new technologies. A robust, well-executed physical layer is foundational to this asset continuing to deliver value. The acceleration of digitization on plant floors is evident all around us. According to Gartner Research, 80% of CEOs in the manufacturing industry are growing digital technology investments to counter economic pressures.
Exhibitors at HANNOVER MESSE, along with the event organizers at Deutsche Messe, have reached a strongly positive conclusion about this year’s event, saying that the world’s leading industrial trade fair demonstrated that the technologies for competitive and, at the same time, climate-neutral industrial production are already available. The next step, they said, involved the need to make consistent use of all the available solutions.
Keeping employees safe at work has to be responsibility number one for a company. What is the rationale for being profitable if unsafe, or delivering product quickly to the customer if the workplace is unsafe and so everyone agrees that workplace safety is a priority but then we need to ask why are the incident rates of electrical injuries and in some case fatalities not reducing year over year, if keeping employees safe is a priority?
Keep your employees safe – verify the de-energization of equipment! Keeping employees safe at work has to be responsibility number one for any company and yet electrical incidents continue to occur yearly despite awareness campaigns and best efforts. A number of these incidents occur due to unintended contact with energized conductors and one root cause could be the standard Test Before Touch approach that relies on using a meter and opening the electrical cabinet door. With changes to NFPA70E and CSAZ462 introducing a new product designation – absence of voltage tester – I-Gard has developed a product that is in full compliance with all requirements and whose application could reduce electrical injuries.
The EPLAN Platform is an expert engineering system with its support of worldwide norms, standards and working methods across a wide variety of industries and sectors. Even though the requirements for using the software are appropriately extensive, working with the software is made easy for users despite the complexity. The EPLAN Engineering Standard comes with templates and best-practice examples that support users from the get-go. The downloads come with much more than just actual project templates, as many examples are illustrated with videos. There’s also a brand-new building automation project being presented at the Hannover Messe, which expands on existing industry examples in machine building and the energy sector.
Diecast aluminium enclosures are much better at dealing with radio frequency interference (RFI) and electromagnetic interference (EMI) than their plastic counterparts. Aluminium enclosures can provide some degree of inherent RFI/EMI shielding due to the conductive properties of the metal. But RFI/EMI can still affect the equipment. The shielding effectiveness of a metal enclosure depends on various factors.
Panel building on machine tools is no longer as simple as wiring a few components and calling it a day. Now, there are more deadlines, cost pressures, standards, new directives, plus an increasing pressure to innovate. Besides commonly encountered problems related to time, cost, compliance and quality, there is also an increased degree of automation in the pre-fabrication of cables and the automated production of sheet metal parts. In addition to the mechanical design and development of the automation concept, planning of the electrical power supply and distribution is the third engineering discipline involved in the production of a new machine.
At Pilz, the company celebrating its 75th anniversary, the focus at HANNOVER MESSE 2023 will be on high technologies and innovative solutions to meet global and industrial challenges under the central theme of “Industrial Transformation – Making the Difference”. Pilz will be demonstrating at HANNOVER MESSE 2023 how reliable safety and security can help industry meet its global challenges. The Swabians will be presenting their control systems as the key to individually adaptable processes and solutions.
UL Solutions recently announced its Medium Voltage Cable Field Testing Program to help wire and cable manufacturers meet global market requirements and advance cable system safety. The Medium Voltage Cable Field Testing Program helps cable manufacturers and owners proactively address potential issues by evaluating the performance of cable systems and identifying installation or service aging defects. The program includes condition assessments and commissioning tests, such as withstand and monitored withstand tests, partial discharge diagnosis, dielectric loss measurement and neutral corrosion evaluation.
A century full of passion for technology and innovation: In the past 100 years, the family-run company Phoenix Contact has evolved from a commercial agency for industrial products, founded in Essen, Germany, into a global manufacturing company. With products and solutions for the electrification, networking, and automation of all sectors of the economy and infrastructure – and with a passion for innovation and technology. Phoenix Contact continues to drive all of this forward – together with a commitment to the sustainable development of habitats and economic spaces on the planet.
