Often overlooked as a power distribution option in industrial control panels, busbars offer an impressive combination of cost-effectiveness, safety, space savings and adaptability.
By Josiah Haas, President, Bud Industries – When electronic equipment fails unexpectedly in industrial facilities, the culprit is often invisible: heat. The traditional rule of thumb states that for every 10 degrees Celsius increase in temperature, the life of electrical equipment is cut in half—a sobering reminder that enclosure thermal management directly relates to a company’s survival. This thermal reality hits hardest in manufacturing facilities, where hundreds of thousands of dollars in high-performance drives and electronics keep production running. Without proper thermal management plans, these critical assets face premature aging and catastrophic failures.
One of the biggest benefits with modular enclosures is how they simplify and accelerate configuration and installation in service of helping companies reduce lead times and navigate labor shortages. Plus, the modular design of such enclosures helps reduce your bill of materials (BOM) and makes it easier to maintain enclosures in the field. However, it can be a challenge finding a modular enclosure that marries this level of flexibility with the required durability and rigidity necessary for deployment in more intense or extreme industrial applications. This kind of enhanced protection was usually reserved for unibody enclosures, but Rittal’s new VX Hybrid Double Door enclosure changes the game, providing exceptional durability and rigidity without complicating the configuration and installation process.
By Moises Abreu, Business Development Manager, Rittal – 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.
Rockwell Automation, Inc. kicked off the 34th annual Automation Fair on November 17 in the Windy City. More than 15,000 engineers, makers and industry providers have come together to explore the technologies and solutions driving the future of industrial operations. This year’s theme, Create What’s Next, highlights the power of turning bold ideas into real-world impact as companies build more resilient systems, embrace sustainability and simplify operations on the plant floor.
Industry moves fast. Outpace obsolescence with OMRON’s Sysmac Studio. Designed to empower operations from the edge to the cloud, it unifies automation by prioritizing safety and security. Built for today, ready for the future. Today, the factory floor faces pressure from suppliers, consumers, competition, and emerging technologies. Operation teams are looking to remain competitive while making resilience standard procedure. At the crux of resilience and a sustainable competitive advantage is confident decisions driven by data-based insight.
By Josiah Haas, President, Bud Industries – Sensitive electronic equipment is vulnerable to relentless attacks from the elements when deployed outdoors. Rain penetrates vulnerable circuits, dust clogs vents, UV radiation degrades plastic components, and temperature fluctuations stress delicate connections. Without adequate protection, expensive electronics that are designed to operate for years can fail within months, resulting in costly replacements, emergency repairs, and critical system downtime. This is where weatherproof enclosures become indispensable.
Cable management planning can be a time-consuming process that requires considerable skill. Engineers need to choose the right type, length, and part number of the cables between the machines and the control cabinet and place them correctly. When Machine Builders use standard products, they select the cable lengths to order from lists of off-the-shelf cables. Unfortunately, purchasing the wrong cable length is common and remains a significant cost driver in machine building. It also extends lead times and increases waste, because of this cable management planning is usually undertaken by skilled and experienced electrical engineers, making it an expensive and resource-intensive process.
By Davide Perina, Product Manager at Cosmotec How to cool an electrical panel The electrical components within an automation panel have undergone a progressive process of miniaturization and an increasing degree of complexity, increasing their presence and performance. These components must be protected from high temperatures and external agents, which increase their wear and tear and…
OMRON has been manufacturing industrial control panel products for more than 80 years. Their entire portfolio is designed to help panel builders, machine builders, and end users reduce costs while saving time and space. This blog discusses how OMRON’s industrial control panel products support scalable, modular machines with a smaller footprint, and highlights some of their electromechanical and solid-state relays that are prime examples of products that give builders more value.
Infinity Panel Solutions’ Project on a PalletTM is a new approach to delivering fully integrated UL508A control panel assemblies directly to a job site designed with contractors engineers and facility owners in mind project on a palette streamlines the entire installation process saving time reducing risk and ensuring quality. Benefits How it Works Applications More…
The first iteration of Smart Production Solutions (SPS) hosted Stateside (Atlanta GA) was not too busy, making maneuvering thru isles of Show Hall C in the Georgia World Congress Center quite easy. However, many of the manufacturers we spoke to were more focused on the quality of conversations and leads from day 1 versus the…
Rockwell Automation, Inc. has recently announced the results of the 10th annual State of Smart Manufacturing Report: Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Edition. The findings highlight how manufacturers are placing greater importance on innovation, workforce development, and long-term growth strategies. The CPG industry is facing pressure on multiple fronts, from the growth of store brands to the demand for faster innovation and more sustainable products.
Tourism has long been a key economic driver for Philadelphia—which is the 6th largest city in the U.S. and designated as a UNESCO World Heritage City. The Pennsylvania Convention Center (hereinafter Center), located in the heart of the Center City Philadelphia, serves as one of the City’s pillars in supporting the conventions and meetings industry. With typical visitor traffic welcoming over 1 million guests a year, the 2 million square foot Center helps drive $600 million worth of meeting and convention activity in Philadelphia.
Ecolab has announced a new technology within an advanced portfolio of solutions to drive high-performance data center cooling. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has created exponential growth for data centers, with U.S. data center energy demand expected to grow from 25 GW in 2024 to more than 80 GW by 2030. By enabling reliable…
Rockwell Automation, Inc. has recently released the cybersecurity findings from its 10th annual “State of Smart Manufacturing Report.” Drawing insights from more than 1,500 manufacturing leaders across 17 of the top manufacturing countries, the report reflects how cybersecurity is becoming a central business issue. One third of respondents have direct information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) cybersecurity responsibilities.