Customised enclosures speed panel production

Customised sheet-steel enclosures from Sarel have made it possible for one of the UK's most experienced panel builders, to manufacture 500 control panels in just eight weeks.

Customised sheet-steel enclosures from Sarel, a brand of Schneider Electric, have made it possible for Don Controls, one of the UK's most experienced panel builders, to manufacture 500 control panels in just eight weeks, for use as part of a major infrastructure project in Nigeria.

Each control panel comprises a single-bay floor-standing enclosure, fitted with up to nine door-mounted instruments, and containing control components which are mounted on a removable plate.

Don Controls has its own in-house enclosure modification facilities, but the company's production team realised that it would be virtually impossible for them to keep up with the amount of work involved in producing 60 panels per week, every week for eight weeks.

The company decided, therefore, to look for a supplier that could provide customised enclosures which would be ready, as delivered, to have components installed and wired.

"After evaluating a large number of options, we decided that Sarel was the company best able to meet our requirements", said Norman Wheat, managing director of Don Controls.

"We liked the design, quality and competitive pricing of the Sarel products.

In addition, the company has a production facility in France, which is specifically geared to producing customised enclosures quickly, accurately and economically.

Add to this the full support we were promised from the Sarel team, and the decision was made".

The enclosures supplied by Sarel are based on the popular and well proven Spacial 6000 design, but are manufactured in a non-standard size and with a special paint finish to match the specifications for this project.

Additional customisation performed by Sarel includes making all cutouts, with a high-precision computer-controlled laser cutter, prior to painting.

This ensures that the edges of the cutouts are fully protected by the paint finish, providing a valuable safeguard against corrosion.

Mounting studs for internal equipment are also welded into place during enclosure manufacture, and the front door is modified so that it can be bolted shut from the inside after panel wiring is complete.

The panels are supplied with totally sealed bottom gland plates and, as an aid to easy handling within Don Controls' factory, each enclosure is delivered bolted to a wooden pallet.

Thanks to careful planning by Don Controls, excellent quality control by Sarel, and the transmission of the design drawing from the company direct to Sarel's manufacturing plant by e-mail, so as to eliminate the risk of errors, all of the enclosures for the project have met the requirements of the specification exactly.

In order to mesh with Don Controls' production needs, Sarel organised a strict delivery schedule, which saw a container-load of enclosures delivered on the same day each week.

Getting this right was essential, as delivering too soon would have meant Don Controls running out of space to accommodate the enclosures in its factory, while delivering too late would have disrupted the production schedule.

"It's no exaggeration to say that Sarel enclosures have been the key to our success on this project", said Wheat.

"Their competitive pricing enabled us to put in an attractive bid, and accurate customisation reduced our shop-floor workload so that we could keep up with the ambitious requirement to despatch 60 finished panels per week.

After the company's performance on this project, you can be sure we will soon be working with Sarel again".

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