Rittal is setting the standard for gantry cranes

The container gantry cranes on Burchardkai are up to 80 metres high. Like huge steel bridges on rails, they roll along the tracks, they lift and stack containers one on top of the other precisely, efficiently and automatically. Attached to one of the crane’s huge legs is the control cabinet, a 20 ft casing that houses the crane’s electrical system including all the control equipment and mechanisms, which are supplied by Elektrotechnik Janssen (ETJ). When it came to building a further dozen cranes in addition to other existing orders, ETJ reached its capacity. A solution had to be found. Operations Manager Christian Diekmann considered whether investing in automated wire processing could provide the solution.

Wiring consumes so much of the time

Many small tasks, such as attaching an endless number of plastic sliding sleeves with labels to each cable, slow down the fitters during wire assembly. A common rule of thumb says that in switchgear manufacturing, around 50 percent of the processing time is spent on wiring and associated preparation. Operations manager Christian Diekmann therefore saw the greatest potential for efficiency in automated wire processing. Diekmann set his sights on Rittal’s fully automatic wire assembly machine, the WT C Wire Terminal, which automatically cuts wires to length, strips them, attaches ferrules, and can even apply the troublesome sliding sleeves. The machine processes up to 36 different wires in widths ranging from 0.5 mm² to 6 mm² – ideal for ETJ’s switchgear. Another factor in favour of investing in this particular machine was that the design already included compatible interconnection with other Rittal machines, meaning that the specifications from the planning department did not even have to be run through additional conversion. Diekmann was certain that automated wire processing would enable ETJ to accept the order from its long-standing business partner ABB despite staff shortages.

The workforce is onside with this move

Management did the sums whilst designers looked at various samples, prototypes and videos, and weighed up the pros and cons. Despite being the optimum solution, this was a big step for a medium-sized company like ETJ with just under 50 employees. Everything needed to be carefully considered and taken into account. Many technical details had to be clarified in advance, plus ongoing operations could not be allowed to come to a standstill. And last but not least, automating a specific area of operation meant a change that all employees must accept and be on board with. 

Diekmann was able to convince his fitter colleagues. One of his arguments was particularly convincing: the wiring of the components remained their overall responsibility and in their control but – the tedious and monotonous work would be done by a machine. The management decided to invest, and Rittal won ETJ as one of the first customers for the WT C Wire Terminal, which was first unveiled at SPS in 2022. The designers developed an adaptable format for data. The processes between design and production were defined down to the smallest detail by colleagues from production and development working together. This also went without a hitch.

Time savings: 30 to 70 percent

Rittal supplied the wire terminal. A service engineer from Rittal trained the employees and the machine was immediately put into operation and had the desired result: “Depending on the project, we save between 30 and 70 percent of the time previously required for wire processing,” says Diekmann. Shortly after commissioning the WT C, ETJ employees were confident that they could complete their work even when there were shortages of skilled labour.