It goes without saying that any company manufacturing the majority of its products on an in-house basis is interested in further expanding its own production. At its headquarters and production site in Weng, in the north of Austria, Hargassner has therefore been investing in automation for some time – from the use of robots for sheet metal working to the introduction of driverless transport systems in its assembly department. The user-friendly operating software for its heating systems is also largely developed on site.

WANTED: MORE SOFTWARE

However, Hargassner was also looking to invest in enclosure manufacturing. The aim was to achieve greater independence and higher quality by increasing its proportion of in-house production. The company had long confined in-house manufacturing of the electrical part of its heating systems to smaller systems and had outsourced the production of enclosures for larger systems. The decision was therefore taken to automate its electrical plant engineering operations. “We knew we needed to upgrade our software for that, because the only option for automating production to the extent we were envisaging was to use a digital twin,” explains Robert Burger. An in-depth market analysis produced a conclusive result. “The only way to meet our requirements was to combine solutions from Eplan and Rittal,” continues Burger, who is in charge of the electrical workshop at Hargassner.

• Over 28,000 systems per year

  Biomass is playing a key role in the energy transition, especially in Austria. Almost half of this country is forested, and it is also home to one of the biggest names in the production of sustainable heating systems. Hargassner, headquartered in the Austrian municipality of Weng, has around 1,100 employees and each year supplies customers worldwide with over 28,000 biomass heating systems – for wood chips, pellets and logs, individually and in combination.

   

STARTING POINT: THE DIGITAL TWIN

A wiring plan was clearly inadequate to create the digital twin of switchgear. In addition to the Eplan Electric P8 planning tool, Eplan Pro Panel was therefore also required for the 3D enclosure design. The design engineers at Hargassner now use the 3D models of the installed components for the digital twin. Many of these are available in the manufacturer-independent Eplan Data Portal, as are all Rittal products. Using Eplan Pro Panel, it is now possible to obtain all data – production data, for instance – based on the arrangement of the components and their connections. This includes deriving the programs for CNC milling centres, and for cutting top hat rails and cable ducts to the correct length. Cable and wire processing information is also covered.

DATA CONTROLS MACHINES

For example, the Perforex MT S CNC drilling and milling centre from Rittal utilises relevant production data from Eplan Pro Panel to drill holes, tap threads and make cut-outs in mounting plates, enclosure parts and doors in a fully automatic process. The system can also use the RiPanel Processing Center software from Rittal to compare orders and material consumption.

The Secarex AC 18 cutting centre, too, utilises data from Eplan Pro Panel. Wiring ducts and their covers, support rails and busbars (NLS-CU 3/10) are cut to the correct length with speed and precision, while an integrated label printer takes care of labelling. The Secarex AC 18 can also take over data directly from Eplan Pro Panel. What’s more, the system optimises waste across projects.

KEY CHALLENGE: WIRE PROCESSING

When it comes to automating switchgear, wire processing is the key challenge. “Being able to obtain wires of the correct length with the right wire end preparation and labelling and then only needing to install them saves time and eliminates sources of error,” insists Burger.

Hargassner achieves this using the fully automated Wire Terminal WT from Rittal – a multifunctional machining unit that carries out all wire processing steps, from the reel to the ready-to-install article. “Output in the form of chain bundles is ideal for delivery to our external production sites. This fact and the decision taken by Rittal to involve us in the later stages of development as a beta tester led to a quicker decision to invest on our part,” continues Burger.

A FULLY DIGITAL PROCESS

By combining hardware and software from Eplan and Rittal, the Austrian company succeeded in creating an entirely digital process. The data from Eplan Electric P8 is used for the design stage in Eplan Pro Panel. It is here that the digital twin of the switchgear is created, and the data from this digital twin controls all subsequent steps. The Perforex MT S thus produces the machined metal parts, the Secarex AC 18 cutting centre the support rails, busbars and wiring ducts, cut to length and labelled, and the Wire Terminal WT C the ready-to-install assembled wires – all in a largely automated operation.

However, the switchgear manufacturing process is still not complete. Eplan Smart Mounting software helps the fitters at Hargassner fit support rails, busbars and wiring ducts by providing precise, fully graphical visualisations of the relevant steps. The same applies to the wiring process, which is carried out using Eplan Smart Wiring software.

ENHANCED QUALITY AND FLEXIBILITY

“Insourcing with a high level of automation gives us better control over availability and quality, but that’s not all. The Eplan Smart Mounting and Eplan Smart Wiring software tools also enable us to use staff who aren’t trained electricians in production during peak periods,” explains Burger, who is clearly impressed. Managing Partner Anton Hargassner has also been won over by the new fully comprehensive solution. “The end-to-end solutions with software from Eplan and equipment from Rittal based on a digital twin enable switchgear manufacturing with a level of automation that matches other areas of our production operation. The decision to use a solution of this type and quality is boosting our global competitiveness,” he confirms.