Topic: Today, increasing efficiency in control cabinet construction is only possible with the help of consistent data structures. They accelerate planning and engineering, facilitate wiring, simplify marking and enable complete documentation. With the Weidmüller Configurator (WMC), we provide users with an engineering tool that perfectly supports all these processes. Via the WMC, users can work with digital twins of our products and use complete data for engineering. Configuration and ordering of the products are possible directly via the distributor shops due to the intelligent ELBRIDGE interface. A forward-looking solution which benefits users and sales partners equally.
Reading time: 3 minutes
Dr. Ingo Kaiser
Head of Cross Divisional Digitalization
Our customers in control cabinet construction are confronted with many different challenges.
Products often have to be completed and delivered in the shortest possible time under high cost pressure. The situation is worsen by the increasing complexity of the products and the frequent changes in project requirements. Standardisation, automation and cross-process solutions can contribute to significant optimisations here – especially in the time-consuming manual activities.
At Weidmüller, we worked intensively on these topics. We developed solutions for every work step in order to accelerate and standardise processes and increase efficiency. Today, this is only possible using consistent data structures. They are the basis for time-saving planning and engineering, for error-free wiring, simple marking and consistent documentation. In order for all process steps to mesh perfectly, however, a common database must be available at all process levels.
An optimal data basis is achieved with digital twins. These are exact representations of materials or objects in the virtual world. Digital twins describe the type of a product based on its technical properties and thus enable a comprehensive exchange of data. It is irrelevant whether the counterpart already exists in the real world or will only exist in the future.
At Weidmüller, digital twins are already created during product development. In the production-relevant 3D drawing, all functional points of the engineering and planning processes are marked which are important for the user. These are supplemented with technical data such as dimensions and electrical key figures. In this way, the digital twin maps the entire product creation process at all levels. Weidmüller relies on future-proof standards here. For example, all product data follows the industry standard ECLASS, whose uniform semantics are necessary for Industry 4.0 applications.
Consistent engineering will determine the control cabinet construction of the future.
To achieve this, the engineering tools must be able to work together via common interfaces, data formats and sources. In recent years, Weidmüller has optimised the entire data value chain and made it accessible to users. In the Weidmüller Configurator (WMC), all data is digitally recorded from the initial planning phase and made available in the cloud for further project steps. In this way, the WMC builds a bridge from planning to ongoing operation and turns the entire electrical cabinet construction process into a transparent, seamless process.
What parts of the process chain can look like is demonstrated by Weidmüller with ELBRIDGE.
The interface standard enables a connection of manufacturer product configurators to distributor shops. This offers many advantages for our distribution partners. There is a direct link to the Weidmüller Configurator in the shop systems of our partners. Customers can use it to configure their desired products without any special product knowledge. Afterwards, the configuration results are anonymously transferred to ELBRIDGE as the central interface. From here, the configuration results are transferred to the distributor shop and the order can be processed further. All this happens "seamlessly" for the user, because during the whole process he moves in the shop system of the sales partner. In this way, the customer benefits from the continuous configuration process – without any product knowledge. Our distribution partners also benefit from the standardised data beyond the ordering process, as Weidmüller provides electronic catalogues in BMEcat format for wholesalers, for example. The advantages of consistent data structures for distributors and users are therefore obvious.
Find out more about the Weidmüller Configurator and test the possibilities here.