Dr. Dörbaum, one of the demonstrators at the Hannover Messe is called the 'Wago Cabinet Assembly Robot' - what's behind it?

We are working intensively on the requirements of control cabinet manufacturers, and their major issues include the shortage of skilled workers and digitalization. With our 'Cabinet Offerings' - products and solutions for all work steps in the enclosure assembly process - we are already offering concrete solutions to alleviate the shortage of skilled workers and enable digitalization. Our 'Cabinet Assembly Robot' is a concrete vision of the future for the automated assembly of enclosure components: The WCAR flexibly and collaboratively assembles terminals from various manufacturers in our pilot application 'small building distribution boards'.

What are its special features?

Our WCAR is a so-called cobot - a robot that enables simple integration without protective equipment in the existing workshop environment. In addition, the WCAR is basically manufacturer-independent, which means that the relevant data must be provided and the products taught and tested. With this cobot, we increase process efficiency directly at the control cabinet instead of on the mounting rail. Additional assembly steps, which are necessary with similar commercially available solutions, are no longer necessary. We are also already showing the first milestones on the way to digital consistency.

Dr. Michael Dörbaum is Head of PM Cabinet Components & Offerings at Wago.

© Wago

Is it an in-house development by Wago or are partners involved?

Thanks to our complex manufacturing processes, we already have a lot of expertise - including in robotics. In the early development phase, we carried out initial research projects together with the Fraunhofer IPA. We then used the collected results to further develop the solution together with our partner Pro-F Automatisierung to its current state.

Who is the solution suitable for? What do users get out of it?

This solution is not yet available on the market, and we are not planning general availability for 2024. We will first set up individual systems at pilot customers with whom we work closely in order to gain further insights.
The initial focus is on building installation distributors. However, we are working on bringing the topic to other sectors and making the technology ready for industrial series production. Basically, the solution is of interest to every machine and plant manufacturer, because dealing with this topic helps them to check their own readiness for working with robots and to prepare for the future.

Hall 11, Stand C72