AirSTREAM on the Test Bench

A comfortable climate inside the control cabinet is the most frequently cited advantage of the AirSTREAM wiring system. Another compelling benefit has convinced the Swiss company Nencki AG, a manufacturer of highly specialized machinery and equipment.

What do the legendary reliable Swiss railways have in common with high-speed trains in Asia? And what do locomotive manufacturers and railway operators' workshops in 100 countries rely on?

Nencki AG's testing benches are encountered everywhere: for bogies, shock absorbers, springs, and more. The company, based in Langenthal, Switzerland, does not limit its work to railroads alone. It can also be found on the roads in the form of hooklift and roll-off trucks. Another area of expertise is plant engineering: Nencki carries out tailor-made projects across Europe, including those related to disposal, recycling, or waste incineration.

As a Swiss company, Nencki places a strong emphasis on quality. With a history spanning over 75 years and a track record of innovative products, the company constantly seeks ways to improve.

An illustrative example of this continuous improvement can be seen in the control cabinets. "In the past, when a new control cabinet arrived, the mounting plate would first go for laser processing to create holes. When it finally returned, we had to cut the cable channels and C-profiles, and then screw or rivet them on. Sometimes, an entire day was lost before we could start working on the components," says Stephan Gudde, Operations Manager and Head of the electromechanical workshop.

That was until one of the sales engineers from LÜTZE paid a visit. They had a long-standing good business relationship in the cable and connector sector, and now, the topic of control cabinets was on the table. It was convincingly resolved with the channel-free AirSTREAM wiring frame.

Now, the electrical workshop receives customized frames directly from LÜTZE, which are secured in the control cabinet with four screws. "And then we can immediately start with the components." Gudde sees a "huge advantage" in being able to start work precisely.

For a company that builds testing benches, attention to detail is paramount. Therefore, Nencki scrutinized the cost situation and found that the advantageous AirSTREAM system could actually be cost-neutral compared to the laborious process of mounting plates.

Users of this wiring frame also benefit from space efficiency: No channels mean around 30 percent more space compared to a traditional mounting panel. However, Gudde points out that they do not face space constraints with standard cabinets; the fill levels are not so high.

The situation is different in Nencki's plant engineering division. These individual machines often come with compact control cabinets where space is at a premium. "But the material has to fit in there," says the Operations Manager. Where they might have had to squeeze things in using a mounting plate, the solution from LÜTZE now provides pleasantly large reserves. "A huge advantage is that the cable channel is eliminated, and the cable routing is at the rear. The space we used to need on the sides is now at the back."

,In the past, according to the Operations Manager, "our control cabinets with components on a mounting plate, looked like what you'd expect in old-fashioned cabinets." The new arrangement also has a visual impact.  "After all, the appearance is important too." He recalls the reactions when customers received the first machines with the new control cabinet design: "Thumbs up because it just looks beautiful. The neatly bundled wires and the fine combs alone are great to look at," he enthuses.

When asked about the climatic benefits of AirSTREAM, with its highly standardized heat distribution inside the control cabinet, he says, "We haven't explicitly tested it, but one can easily imagine that air circulation is much better." An embedded channel obviously hinders airflow due to the density of components. Thanks to the quasi rear-mounted wiring level of the AirSTREAM frame, a PLC, for example, always remains in the airflow and is less concealed. Or in the case of multiple frequency converters, which are "really hot items," he notes, "the airflow is entirely different from that with a mounting plate. I clearly see this as an advantage, especially regarding hotspots," concludes Stephan Gudde.

If we extend the climate theme, the next consideration is cooling. Cooling is an unenviable task; it's annoying, and no one really wants to deal with it. Therefore, oversized air conditioning units are often mounted on the cabinet and run continuously. This consumes energy and requires maintenance, resulting in unnecessary costs. AirSTREAM offers significant savings here, while also ensuring a more efficient, secure environment with an excellent climate inside the control cabinet.