Automating electrical cabinet design

In the field of electrical engineering, panel builders, manufacturers of low and medium-voltage switchboards, control cabinets and enclosures, a significant transformation is taking place: The automation of cabinet layout design.

Drawing on component references from electrical diagrams or a simple list of multi-manufacturer components, the software application automatically generates cabinet drawings.

Traditionally, electrical cabinet design has involved a laborious, labor-intensive process, where the electrical design office has to manually select each component with no concrete link to the schematic, lay them out and make the manufacturing drawings. However, with the advent of 3-D computer-aided design (CAD) software, this tedious process is becoming obsolete.

FTZ highlights this new approach with a direct link between electrical schematics and 3D design: the schematic from SchemELECT electrical CAD software provides a bill of materials directly integrated into the 3D cabinet layout software, FTZ-Panel 3D. This link makes it possible to link the study to the cabinet layout, without any break in the information. This integration considerably reduces human error and speeds up the design process.

But that’s not all. Automation goes beyond component references from schematics. FTZ-Panel 3D can also automate cabinet layout using a customizable algorithm. Component layout and wire routing are then carried out automatically, guaranteeing an optimized design that complies with recommendations. It provides a complete digital twin of the cabinet, with data that can be used directly by the various purchasing, workshop and other departments.

The impact of this automation on the panel builder industry is significant. It reduces design times, improves the precision, consistency and quality of enclosures, and frees up the design office to concentrate on higher value-added tasks.

In conclusion, 3D cabinet automation marks a major breakthrough in the industry, revolutionizing the way electrical cabinets are designed.