Overview
- As panel shops move from traditional cabling to busbar, they are faced with an important decision: manual busbar modification or automated busbar modification?
- Panel shops that choose automated busbar modification are faced with an additional decision: outsourced or in-house?
- Automated busbar modification is faster, less error-prone, more precise, less wasteful, and offers a variety of other benefits.
- Rittal Automation Systems machinery for busbar modification is helping panel shops to bring automated modification in-house so they can reap these benefits.
The move away from traditional cabling and toward busbar continues, and many panel shops I’ve talked to lately are facing challenges with keeping up with demand. Their customers increasingly want copper busbar, and it’s no surprise. For high-amperage systems, such as those above 1000A, they can’t use cables because they’ll melt. Copper is a great conductor of electricity that handles heat well and helps suppliers in fields like energy & power meet safety standards like UL 891.
In addition to greater demand for busbar from the energy & power sector, panel shops are seeing increasing demand from data centers, where busbar is prized because of its space-saving efficiency, flexibility, and reliability. IT applications are only expected to grow with the advancement of AI, with its massive computing and data storage needs.
Rittal is helping panel shops all over the U.S. make the transition to busbar and capitalize on this demand. From mom-and-pop shops to huge operations, I work with Rittal customers to provide a range of busbar solutions. Sometimes this involves completing busbar modification jobs for customers at the Rittal Application Center (RAC) in Houston, Texas. Lately, though, I’ve had several customers invest in automated busbar modification machinery of their own. Here’s why.
Manual vs. automated busbar modification options
The panel shops I work with are usually producing modified busbar in one of two ways: they are manually modifying it themselves using hand tools or they are outsourcing modification to a facility like the RAC.
Shops are incentivized to move from manual modification to automated modification when they realize that automated modification is:
- Faster: What might take an operator 15 minutes takes machinery 30 seconds.
- Less error-prone: Humans make mistakes, but mistakes with busbar are expensive because the price of copper is very high.
- More precise: Machinery can more easily achieve the strict tolerances required for busbar modification.
- Less wasteful: Because they are more precise and make fewer mistakes, machines produce less scrap — again important due to the high price of copper.
- Less reliant on individual operators’ expertise: Manual modification means shops come to depend on specific operators, and operator departures can create problematic knowledge gaps. In a world where shops are competing for skilled labor, automation can help create a centralized knowledge base.
Automated modification is the obvious winner, but outsourcing busbar modification has its pros and cons. The RAC does a fantastic job producing custom modified busbar in as little as a few days, and Rittal provides a turnkey solution that allows customers to buy cabinets and busbar together. There are cases, however, where it is more cost-efficient for growing panel shops or those with very large orders to invest in in-house automation equipment. Plus, with their own machines, shops are able to better control busbar modification lead times — a big pro for many of the shops I work with.
Rittal Automation Systems machinery for busbar
Rittal Automation Systems (RAS) is a complete range of machinery including milling centers and laser centers for the machining of enclosures, wire processing machinery, and more. The RAS line also includes machinery for busbar modification. The same exact equipment we use in the RAC can be purchased by Rittal customers to help expand their in-house capabilities and increase efficiency. These machines include:
- The FlexPunch: The FlexPunch features three CNC-controlled axes and 10 tool stations and can be fitted with up to 27 punches as well as a separating punch.
- The EB40: The EB40 can accomplish a variety of busbar bends, including offset bending, flat bending, edge bending, torsion bending (twists), closed shapes, and U-bends, and it does it all with an outstanding bending accuracy of 0.2°.
Between these two machines, Rittal customers can accomplish busbar punching, countersinking, marking, thread forming/tapping, notching, cutting, edge rounding, engraving, and bending in any configuration.
Each machine comes with PowerCut software, but both also work with Eplan so that everything from panel design to enclosure and busbar modification can be done in one system, with digital twins for everything.
Investing in busbar machining capabilities
For many panel shops that invest in Rittal automation equipment, the journey begins at the RAC in Houston. Here, customers can see machinery like the FlexPunch and the EB40 — along with other Rittal Automation Systems machines — in action.
Once a customer decides to invest in machinery, we want to set them up for success while getting them up and running as quickly as possible. In some cases, this may mean setting up the RAC to process their jobs for a period of time so that we can train their managers as well as operators. This allows our customer to already benefit from an efficient busbar production meanwhile the machines are on the way to their factory. We also provide a full analysis of their factory to define the optimum material flow as well as streamline processes to ensure an efficient busbar production.
In my experience, once a shop is set up with busbar modification machinery, they will instantly begin to reap the benefit of raw material savings as well as fast busbar production. I have even had customers that order additional machines within the first year so they can scale up even more.
How Rittal helps customers adapt to automated processes
My job as a Business Development Manager is not to sell products; I work with Rittal customers on complete solutions. I help with everything from setup through providing ongoing support and am happy to facilitate use of the RAC during the setup and training process.
Is your shop looking to take the step from manual busbar machining to either outsourced or in-house automated modification? Learn more about Rittal’s busbar machining products and services and contact Rittal today to learn how we can help.
Moises Abreu is a Business Development Manager at Rittal North America. Driven by curiosity and unintimidated by complex challenges, he enjoys working with Rittal customers to design and deploy Rittal Automation Systems solutions.