Platform on production and process automation
From April 17 to 21, Rittal and partner organizations Eplan, Cideon and German Edge Cloud will show visitors to the Hannover Messe trade fair how their expertise can be used to find solutions to current issues around energy, efficiency and sustainability within the manufacturing industry. Via a near real-time connection to Rittal's enclosure factory in Haiger, visitors will get an insight into the operation of energy monitoring via a digital twin. Furthermore, Rittal will present new best practices, platform updates and enclosures at the major trade fair.
As a global player in the field of enclosure technology and IT infrastructure, Rittal actively participates in the search for solutions to help companies in the digital transformation of their organization and processes with a broad perspective.
"The digital transformation of factories, long-term, secure and economically viable energy supply, and the measurement and reduction of CO2 emissions from industrial products are major challenges that cannot be solved in isolation," states Markus Asch, CEO of Rittal International and Rittal Software Systems: "We need to understand the different processes around our customers' value chains, consider new ecosystems and develop overarching solutions. We are convinced that this is only possible through standardization. That cross-industry dialogue is what we are entering into with Rittal at the Hannover trade fair."
Industrial companies are evolving toward smart production that requires highly automated and efficient processes. At the same time, this production must be managed in an energy-efficient manner and be adaptable to individual customer needs using flexible solutions. And all this while there is a shortage of skilled labor.
"Today, innovation includes making the customer's overall performance more efficient and successful," said Markus Asch. "That process optimization can only be realized by cleverly combining hardware and software."
As developers and pioneers of smart manufacturing processes, Rittal, Eplan, Cideon and German Edge Cloud will demonstrate at the trade fair how it will be possible in the future to connect the three ecosystems of automation design and engineering, product manufacturing and production processes through one digital twin. This will make smart manufacturing processes more transparent and efficient. Energy flows also become more transparent and can thus be optimized, which is a key success factor for industrial companies both today and in the future. Complete transparency across all customer value chains, from panel construction and switchgear manufacturing to the operator is a prerequisite for this.
To make this possible, Eplan and Rittal are working with control, switchgear and machine building companies to accelerate the development of the automation twin and make the data more usable during operation. Cideon improves data continuity and consistency in the digital product twin context with its expertise in CAD/CAM, PDM/PLM and product configuration. The ONCITE Digital Production System is the platform for the digital manufacturing twin and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)-based production management.
At the joint stand of Rittal and its partners, exhibition visitors can see how this digital twin works in practice, live and in quasi-real time. In Rittal's smart enclosure factory in Haiger, energy monitoring has in fact already been integrated into the ONCITE DPS digital production system. From the exchange, live explanations of the current energy data of ongoing production are provided via the cloud. The energy flows of the associated data center are also visible. The RiZone OTM Suite presented at the trade fair shows how the operating technology of data centers can be managed. Here, Rittal uses what its sister company German Edge Cloud has developed and offers to customers: the new Rittal software based on the flexible microservices architecture of ONCITE DPS.
It is not only the industry itself that is grappling with the challenge of controlling and managing energy differently in the future. The entire energy sector is also under tremendous pressure to take action and cut costs. The expansion of this infrastructure must accelerate to meet industry demands. One thing is clear to Eplan and Rittal: the decisive factor is the industrialization of the entire process chain, combining both software and hardware.
"Modularization, standardization and data consistency are our guiding principles," explains Markus Asch out: "Rittal and Eplan's experience with our customers from the control, switching and mechanical engineering sectors has shown that there is significant potential for optimizing and industrializing process chains. Moreover, end-to-end hardware and software solutions increase the pace of infrastructure expansion - from power generation and storage to grid expansion and sector interconnection to electric vehicle charging facilities. Efficiency gains lower costs, while elements such as the automation twin create new opportunities."
These evolutions require quick action and solutions. Eplan and Rittal are therefore unpacking the new "Base Solutions" at the Hanover trade fair. Thanks to the many successfully completed customer projects, the two companies have jointly created 'Best Practice Templates', for example for the planning and implementation of charging parks for electric vehicles. This accelerates the project through data-consistent standards and modules. The new Eplan Platform 2024 also further simplifies design and engineering. In addition, Rittal is presenting a new plastic AX enclosure, with EX approval, for potentially explosive parts of the infrastructure, for example around liquefied natural gas (LNG) or hydrogen.
