Making work easier – using automated processes

The Hamburg-based control cabinet manufacturer Moeller-Electro OHG uses an integrated and consistent data basis for designing and manufacturing control cabinets. This has been achieved by using the EPLAN Platform with the Pro Panel and Wiring modules. The company is now preparing itself to implement EPLAN Cogineer.

Moeller-Electro OHG is well established in the Hamburg area as a specialist for control cabinet manufacturing and systems wiring. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Hamburg-Altona. For many years the company generated up to 70% of its sales from a single customer who manufactured complex sensor technology systems. The owners then successfully pushed ahead with diversification. Today, Moeller-Electro works for customers in the automotive industry (plastic joining technology), in the confectionery and food industry (plant and special machinery), in coating technology (material on rolls such as paper, film and film) and logistics (control of complex logistics centres).

EPLAN Pro Panel – the basis for automated control cabinet manufacturing

Five years ago there was a generational change with management passing to Andreas Pröhl. The company then decided to focus more strongly on technical competence and automation along the entire process chain. This reorganisation included investment in EPLAN software for the two designers and in a system for the automated NC machining of control cabinets.

On the software side, EPLAN Pro Panel provides the conditions for automated control cabinet manufacturing. Oliver Sohst, Head of Design: “We process customer data in EPLAN Pro Panel. This saves us time and money because any errors are detected and rectified at an early stage. We can also send the data directly to the Steinhauer system, which then automatically makes the holes and cut-outs. This saves a lot of time in production”.

“We want to get the technology to work for us”

The company therefore follows a strategy which Andreas Pröhl reduces to a simple denominator: “We want to get the technology to work for us”. The goal is therefore to increase efficiency for the benefit of customers but also to deploy personnel as effectively as possible: “Workers need to be given as precise wiring specifications as possible so that we can use highly trained staff for more specialist tasks”. Such a division of labour works well in practice and also means that the control cabinets – which Moeller-Electro usually purchases from Rittal unless the customer specifies otherwise – are perfect down to the last detail. And, as an added bonus, the whole cabelling complete with wire labelling is manufactured by an external service provider. Oliver Sohst: “We send the wiring information with length specifications from EPLAN Pro Panel Wiring to the external service provider and receive back assembled and labelled cables”.

More agility and flexibility

Moeller-Electro believes that the use of EPLAN data for mechanical processing, creation of labelling files and cable assembly has significantly improved its agility and flexibility. Andreas Pröhl: “You have to trust the technology and prepare well. It took us two years to be able to make intensive use of all the opportunities that EPLAN offers in automating control cabinet manufacture. We are now reaping the benefits and continue to optimise our processes”. An ongoing step is linking the EPLAN Platform with a new ERP system: “We read in the EPLAN bill of materials and can order all purchased parts via ERP, reserve them and monitor material flows”.

Coming soon: Automated engineering

Oliver Sohst has started an even larger project by carrying out preparatory work to implement EPLAN Cogineer. With this tool, standard tasks can be automated and, for example, quotations can be created without having to directly log in to the actual EPLAN world or other ECAD systems. Oliver Sohst: “Our first goal in using EPLAN Cogineer is to be able to quickly send customers detailed and accurate offers. We select the functional units that we have stored as macro-typicals and then, for example, determine motor size and select options, such as thermal motor protection, via dropdown menus. Finally, we create an offer at the push of a button”.

This leads to significant time savings: “A more detailed offer, which we previously needed several days for, can now be completed in two to three hours”. The price is very accurate, the offer detailed. And when the customer places the order, designers continue working directly with the existing data. This saves time and is also a further step on the road to standardisation to which Moeller-Electro is committed. Andreas Pröhl: “Our goal is reproducible, reliable results at every stage of the process – right through to labelling of the terminal strips. We can achieve this goal by, among other things, a continuous stream of data and also with the 3D design from EPLAN Pro Panel which instantly detects any errors. This saves us time and money and makes our work easier”.

Using EPLAN Cogineer means also working towards this goal. Moeller-Electro is always looking for ways to provide customers with added services and technical expertise, e.g. by employing two software technicians to carry out on-site commissioning. Competing by price alone is not the way. Andreas Pröhl: “EPLAN's tools help us to set ourselves apart from the competition. We want to use them as extensively and comprehensively as possible – hence our early involvement with EPLAN Cogineer”.

Author: Gerald Scheffels, freelance specialist journalist, Wuppertal