After five years of development work, Rittal has unveiled its new VX25 large enclosure system at the 2018 Hanover Trade Fair for the very first time. It is the first enclosure system that has been fully developed to meet the requirements for increased productivity in control and switchgear manufacturing along the Industry 4.0 value chain.
With the slogan of “SYSTEM PERFECTION,” Rittal is promising a major innovative leap, which has been made possible by depth of experience and intensive customer dialogue. The VX25 offers the highest possible quality and consistency of data, reduced complexity and savings in time, as well as safe assembly. More than 25 registered property rights demonstrate the high level of innovation involved. How can the best be made even better? This is the question that Rittal asked itself as it began developing a new enclosure system.
“The market needs an enclosure that cuts throughput times in engineering and assembly, reduces complexity and that finds a place for itself as a full-grown module in the megatrend of digitisation,” said Dr Thomas Steffen, managing director of research and development at Rittal. He went on to say that “the new Rittal large enclosure has now become 100% Industry 4.0-capable. With the combination of a real enclosure and its digital twin, the new development will meet every future digitisation need – from online configuration and engineering to assembly, as well as automation, logistics and maintenance.”
Intensive dialogue with Rittal customers was crucial in developing the new large enclosure system. During a large-scale, scientifically based usability study, researchers used words, images and moving film to document the everyday working life of control and switchgear manufacturers, covering ten companies in Germany, eight in the USA and six in China, including small, medium-sized and large companies.
“This user analysis was an eye-opener. In some cases, we spotted problems that the customers themselves hadn’t yet identified,” said Dr Steffen. As a result, 150 systematically recorded and specific requirements for a new enclosure emerged, providing developers and product managers with a robust guide for the actual development work.
Rittal also used the findings of the customer advisory council, which was also involved, to complement this. Later, during the development phase, Rittal did not give up any single essential point. The result: Pure customer benefits. The development culminated in the new VX25 large enclosure system. VX25 stands for the versatility of options, the fulfilment of x customer requirements and for perfect symmetry through a consistent 25-mm pitch pattern.
“What is new is that no enclosure system has ever been previously developed so consistently and systematically to ensure maximum customer benefit. The VX25 matches the way the control and switchgear manufacturer thinks and works – both in functions and processes,” added Dr Steffen.
Benefits along the entire value chain of control and switchgear manufacturing can be summarised in three key points: maximum data quality and a constant supply of data, reduced complexity and savings in time, as well as safe assembly. The heart of this innovation is the newly developed frame section. It determines the installation space, the efficiency in engineering and assembly, the expansion options, the stability and thus the reliability and flexibility in the customer’s workshop.
With the new large enclosure system, it has been possible to maintain all the important and established product features of the existing, worldwide TS 8 large enclosure system and to expand them significantly with a multitude of new functions and customer benefits. More than 25 registered patent and trademark applications demonstrate the high level of innovation in the VX25.
For Rittal, SYSTEM PERFECTION also involves high-tech manufacturing. It has invested in new state-of-the-art production facilities in order to manufacture the new frame section of the VX25. New and fully automatic profiling systems and volume production lines with a total of 31 welding and handling robots are witness to maximum quality combined with precision and stability. The result is that the frame section of the VX25, which has a consistent 25-mm pitch pattern, is clearly more stable than its TS 8 predecessor, although the weight is the same.
