The magazine of Friedhelm Loh Group

The magazine of Friedhelm Loh Group

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Innovation – Industrial AI

AI  – Momentum for the future?

AI is everywhere. The opportunities are huge. Does that apply to industry, too? In Germany and Europe? Yes and yes! After all, this is the home of expertise on industrial data and processes – and the big AI and IT providers are desperate to get hold of it. Are Germany and Europe being left behind? Not at all! The disruptive power of Industrial AI is huge – both for industry itself and for the digital economy.

Experience – BORA

Sustainably cool

BORA, the innovative manufacturer of premium integrated kitchen appliances, needed a new data centre. It was looking for a sustainable, resource-friendly solution that naturally also combined excellent reliability and security with high availability and was expandable – all aesthetically incorporated into the Austrian company’s Niederndorf site. How did BORA square this circle? By turning to Rittal and its partners!

Experience – Hade Automation

Enclosures in high-wage countries

How can smaller plant engineering companies remain competitive in countries with high wages? Hade Automation is a good example. This company, which is based in the south-west of Germany and has 24 skilled employees, plans and builds switchgear for the building technology sector. It has found the key to greater competitiveness – end-to-end electrical planning based on Eplan, complete with automated data transfer to the production department.

Experience – Engineering Elektrotechnik Janssen

Setting the pace for stacking cranes

When it comes to fully automated container stacking cranes for port terminals all over the world, Elektrotechnik Janssen (ETJ) almost always has a part to play. That puts a great deal of pressure on this manufacturer of controls and switchgear, which has a lot of work to do, but too few people to do it. Operations Manager Christian Diekmann realised that the solution lay in automated wire processing. He drove the project forward, with support from Rittal – and this led to the company’s biggest ever investment.

Teamwork – “SchulePlus” dual work/study project

Student in the morning ... apprentice in the afternoon

What job would suit me? Many young people worry about this question. The “SchulePlus” dual work/study project, which is currently the only one of its kind anywhere in Germany, can help them find answers – and it offers solutions in the face of the skills shortage, too. This project, which is being driven forward by the Friedhelm Loh Group and the Johann-Textor school in Haiger, is winning over apprentices and students, the Minister of Culture for the Federal State of Hesse, and a national judging panel.

Experience – Automation in the USA

It's a Gamechanger

Three U.S. plant and equipment manufacturers provide insight into their success stories, revealing how their partnerships with Eplan and Rittal helped them make a breakthrough, leave the competition in their wake and get on the path to growth. One of these three game-changers is Brad Howell, owner of R&D Specialties in Odessa, Texas.

Innovation – ELE Verteilnetz GmbH (EVNG)

Powering on in a blackout

What happens if there’s a power cut and everything simply stops working – no emergency calls, no Internet and no shopping? What occurred in Spain in April 2025 couldn’t be repeated elsewhere, could it? Unfortunately, yes – and that includes Germany. In such a scenario, this country’s critical infrastructure companies (KRITIS) are actually supposed to be able to continue operating on a self-sufficient basis for up to 72 hours. Technically, being able to control power grids digitally makes this possible, but ELE Verteilnetz GmbH (EVNG) is the only company to date to have achieved it in practice – with the help of Rittal and Bechtle.

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Experience – Cideon Conify

The direct route to MCAD and ECAD data

Today’s solution of choice for staying competitive in a global market could be called “series-standard multivariant mechanical engineering”. Engineering automation is called for – from the product configurator to the order system, including the generation of CAD data. Lara Bemetz, Head of Portfolio Management at Cideon, and Achim Potthoff, Director Business Development at Eplan, explain how Cideon Conify software reduces the time it takes from the initial enquiry through to completion of the order.

Experience – Cideon

Straight into the cloud

Think of safe, dependable food packaging, and you immediately think of Tetra Pak. The company's Swiss subsidiary, eBeam Systems, is now breaking new technological ground by using an innovative connector from Cideon to network CAD data from SolidWorks PDM directly with the SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud. The result is greater efficiency and consistency.

Experience – Steel service

Laser cutting and supply chains

Automotive manufacturing is in the midst of a revolution. Electromobility, digitalisation and competition from the Far East are all posing challenges for the industry in Germany. Stahlo is right at the heart of things. As an independent steel service centre, the company acts as an interface between steel producers, automobile manufacturers, and their suppliers. As a result, Stahlo is familiar with the risks – and opportunities – in this vital sector.

– International projects

Worldwide

From manufacturing biogas plants to university laboratories – solutions developed by the Friedhelm Loh Group are used in all manner of environments where a reliable energy supply, weather resistance or a high-availability IT infrastructure is essential.

Cideon, SBF and LUNUX
Transportation technology

CAD in – lights on

Experience
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Stahlo Stahlservice

The best of both worlds

Experience – Building automation

Fast and precise planning

Teamwork – Automuseum

The classroom with wheels!

Experience – LKH and Poly-clip System

When sustainability is on a reel

Experience – International projects

Around the world

On the water, on land and in the air – Friedhelm Loh Group solutions are in use wherever having a reliable IT infrastructure, a secure energy supply or weather-resistant enclosures is a must.

Experience – Rittal ePocket at Huhtamaki

Be Sure what’s inside

Any transformation offers an opportunity to do things better – including at Huhtamaki Foodservice, which makes packaging for McDonald’s and Nestlé. The company is switching production at its German site from plastic thermoforming to pulp moulding. It is also rethinking system documentation, using Rittal ePocket to create transparency – and also to save paper.

Video

Interview with Brad Howell (owner of R&D Specialties)

Interview with Sean Rezin (Executive Vice President of Usemco)

Interview with John Miller (Vice President of Engineering Specialists)

Setting the pace for stacking cranes

Sustainably Cool - BORA Data Center

Rittal reportage naturenergie netze

How can we accelerate the transformation of our energy systems

DNV test in the Phoenix Testlab

I’m a fan of the TX! - Interview with Christoph Laves, Managing Director of IT-Budget GmbH.

Engineering in the cloud - Interview with Andree Rülander, Head of Electrical Design, Enercon

Keeping tunnels lit in an emergency - Interview with Robert Berndt, HERMOS Authorised Representative and Project Leader

Cool when the heat is on - Interview with Björn von Frieling

Automated driving - IT infrastructure for BMW vehicle tests

Innovation
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RiPower configurator

Digital powerhouse

Experience
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Zahnen Technik

Smart production, clean water

Innovation
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New RiTherm software

Climate control made intuitive

Innovation
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RiLineX ecosystem

AC? DC? Faster together

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