Off to a flying start

02Mar

Meurer-etechnik is looking to the new AX compact enclosure from Rittal to improve its production efficiency. How does the new model differ from its predecessor, the AE? A day spent with enclosure production staff reveals all.

A new working day dawns at Meurer-etechnik in Germany’s Westerwald region. In the incoming goods section, a young man, wearing a black T-shirt with the company logo on the front and the sleeve, is taking delivery of a pallet with eight AX compact enclosures from Rittal. Production Manager Steven Lauer is already waiting for their arrival. In just a week’s time, the UL-compliant enclosures are set to be delivered to a special-purpose machinery manufacturer, based in the Cologne area. Lauer can’t wait to see how the new AX enclosures differ from the predecessor model, the AE.

“Let’s get started,” he says. Lauer has assigned the task of fitting out the AX enclosures to three of the plant electricians. One of them is already clamping the first enclosure door into the Perforex CNC machining centre. The mounting plates are next. Progress is rapid because the doors and mounting plates are simply added to the delivery package and staff don’t have the hassle of first detaching them from the enclosure, as is normally the case. Using the digital twin’s manufacturing data from Eplan Pro Panel, the machine cuts all the necessary holes in double-quick time. “That part is the most fun,” says Lauer, who is standing casually at the machine’s operator terminal.

“There are hardly any questions to deal with and you can see the results straight away,” he adds. It’s now time for pre-assembly, configuration and wiring..."

Read the full article in PBSI's March issue