Mr. Kramer, the fully automatic 'Wire Terminal WT' is designed to make wiring more economical. What does that mean?

Tim Kramer : In many control and switchgear manufacturing workshops, wiring the fully assembled enclosure still involves a lot of manual work. The 'Wire Terminal' from Rittal performs many of the necessary work steps fully automatically: cutting to length, stripping, crimping and labeling are carried out without the need for an employee to intervene.

Is there no need for employees at all?

Tim Kramer: No, even with automated machines, there are still operating tasks to be carried out. For example, material has to be replenished, such as wires and ferrules. On the other hand, the pre-assembled wires have to be connected to the components in the control cabinet. Although we are already working on automated solutions here too, this step is currently still carried out manually. However, there is interaction with the 'Eplan Smart Wiring' software tool, so that the worker is guided and supported directly during wiring.

How are the prefabricated wires transferred to the downstream process steps?

Tim Kramer: The finished wires are stored in a controlled sorting system. This consists of a 13-fold storage system with wire rail magazines and can hold up to 1300 wires. This allows the wires to be sorted according to order, for example. With the labeling, which also takes place directly in the 'Wire Terminal', these can then be easily connected to the appropriate clamping point.

Data storage plays an important role in automated production processes. How do you ensure a seamless data flow?

Tim Kramer: The 'Wire Terminal' has all the necessary interfaces, because optimum efficiency can only be achieved if all steps from electrical planning to production work with the same data. If the electrical planning was created in 'Eplan Electric P8' and the layout planning with 'Eplan Pro Panel', all the data - i.e. terminal points, cable cross-section and so on - is available. The autorouting function then calculates the installation route and the wire length. The data automatically generated in this way can be processed directly by the 'Wire Terminal'. The data is also used after assembly: The 'Smart Wiring' tool can use it and support employees when connecting the cables in the control cabinet.