Switchgear manufacturer AP Elektrotechnik GmbH (APEG) from Rechnitz in Burgenland (Austria) is facing up to the demands of Industry 4.0 (the Internet of Things). APEG has been manufacturing switchgear for the industrial sector since 2002, for use in sewage treatment plants, pumping stations or the steel industry, as well as in other applications. The company is currently working on a hydroelectric power plant for Vorarlberg, where it is supplying the en-tire process control technology. Thanks to automated enclosure machining with the Rittal Per-forex, the family-run company is ensuring the continuity of its processes, from engineering to production. There will be a total of 130 enclosures in the ultimate configuration; currently around 70 enclosures are filling the 600 m² workshop and these will soon be shipped.
The Perforex helps us a great deal because of the short time we have for the 130 en-closures. What used to mean many hours of work is now performed in mere seconds.
Perforex accelerates working processes
To optimise the production of the 130 enclosures for the Vorarlberg hydroelectric power plant, the company’s founders Burkhard Glatz and his son Christian decided to use the Rittal enclo-sure processing machine, since APEG only employs four to six people in its production facili-ty, which is insufficient for a volume of this size. Consequently, father and son chose a Per-forex BC 1001 HC from Rittal. It is not necessary to program the machining centre, since the data is taken directly from construction planning, which is performed using the Eplan software application.
The machining centre can be used to carry out all the machining tasks that arise when
assembling enclosures. For example, it can drill holes, cut threads and mill cut-outs in one single operation. The interaction between engineering and automatic enclosure machining promises to speed up processes by as much as 50 percent. This is because the average ma-chining time is between 15 and 20 minutes per component.
Saving time on follow-up orders
The APEG managing director estimates the machining centre will generate time savings of two-thirds for door cut-outs and mounting plates. It also opens up new fields of business, as a result of which APEG has already won two new customers. Even if, according to Rittal, the machine already pays off with batch sizes of one, Glatz senior and junior are putting their money on follow-up orders. In power plants, two identical machines are always present. Ac-cording to Christian Glatz, a lot of the work needed for the second machine has already been carried out. And with customers who order a certain number of identical enclosures over the course of the year, the electrical and construction planning, as well as the data transfer to the processing centre only has to be performed once.
Rittal automates enclosure manufacturing
The tasks in panel building and switchgear engineering can be spelled out quickly: Efficiency and innovation on the one hand and reduced costs on the other. Today, this is achieved main-ly by optimising the production processes. Rittal aims to support this development by auto-mated enclosure machining. By extending the product range by adding new manual tools, Rittal is expanding its Rittal Automation Systems business unit to make it a full range supplier for panel building and switchgear engineering. Through this new product, Rittal is supporting panel builders and switchgear manufacturers along the entire process chain – from engineer-ing right through to workshop and production.
Overview
- Project
- AP Elektrotechnik GmbH
- Location
- Rechnitz, Austria
- Branch
- Electrical-and-Automation
- Challenge
Machining 130 enclosures for a hydroelectric power plant project in a short time
Machining stainless steel surfaces involving a high level of tool wear
- Solution
Using EPLAN for construction planning
Accelerating the process by up to 50%, with an average machining time of
15-20 minutes per partOpening up new areas of business