One of the most important objectives for companies in the field of machine and plant engineering today is to realise all available optimisation potential. Lenze and Rittal have signed a technology partnership and will be working together to shape the future of power distribution and drive technology. The combination of RiLineX, as the new standard platform for busbar systems, and Lenze’s market-leading compact inverters provides the basis.
Machine engineering faces ever-growing demands. Complex drive solutions must be flexible, reliable and increasingly compact. Furthermore, skill shortages and cost pressures necessitate a new level of efficiency in planning and design, assembly and commissioning of equipment and systems. This is where Lenze and Rittal intend to bring joint leverage to bear as technology partners. “Lenze sets the pace in the field of automation. By integrating electromechanical, electronic and software expertise they demonstrate an understanding of the customer’s processes far beyond the functions of individual components. That aligns perfectly with Rittal’s approach and makes the company an excellent technology partner within the RiLineX ecosystem,” says Ulrich Engenhardt, Chief Business Units Officer at Rittal. “With the system platform RiLineX, Rittal is defining new standards for power distribution in the enclosure. Through the incorporation of Lenze inverters, we can now extend the benefits to drive technologies and create more compact solutions for our customers,” adds Dr. Marc Wucherer, CEO of Lenze SE.
Double savings of space and time
One practical example of the synergy effects for users is the i550 cabinet frequency converter from Lenze. This compact inverter can be operated across an unusually broad temperature range from -30 to +60°C and offers open interfaces to all common control systems, with scalable functionality for conveyor drives, traction drives, winding and hoist drives, extruders, packaging machines and industrial air-conditioning systems. “The Lenze i550 cabinet is the most compact frequency inverter in the world in its class. This key plus point is further enhanced in combination with RiLineX,” says Christian Eberhard, Senior Vice President Sales EMEA Central at Lenze. “The platform allows for even simpler, space-saving installation.”
What is the secret? The usual place of installation on the mounting plate is freed up for other components, because the inverter and its fusing are now mounted via a single adapter on the RiLineX board according to the “click-&-work” principle – at the same time guaranteeing the highest possible packing density. The slim design of the frequency inverter supports seamless inline mounting on the board, which itself allows unrestricted top mounting. Cable connections and the associated risk of mistakes are thus a thing of the past. For customers this means that after 30 per cent time savings in engineering and up to 75 per cent savings in assembly with RiLineX, inverter installation maintains the high speed and brings significant space benefits in the enclosure. The wi-fi data connection to the frequency converter also accelerates commissioning. “It’s not without reason that our configuration software RiPower first proposes components from our technology partner ecosystem. In this way, we offer our customers immediate access to tested components like the Lenze inverters, which are especially suitable for future-proof machine engineering and supply comprehensive data for engineering with Eplan,” says Raphael Görner, Executive Vice President Energy & Power Solutions at Rittal.
Data quality for faster processes
High data quality is a prerequisite for efficient planning and designing and configuration. Both partners have here adopted a similar approach. One of the strengths of Rittal RiPower is the close integration with Eplan software. As an Eplan Technology Partner, Lenze also makes use of the high-quality data for its customers. The Eplan Data Portal with its more than four million items of article data, for example, is similarly a data source for Lenze’s EASY Product Finder (EPF), an online tool to simplify the selection, configuration and ordering of Lenze products for the customer. In addition to the configured product, the system generates a complete set of Eplan data including wiring lists, enclosure add-ons and manufacturing documentation from Eplan Pro Panel. Lenze customers can download all manufacturing data in Eplan format at the press of a button.