Digitalization and automation generate enormous efficiency increase in cabinet building

Cabinet building operates in an area of extremely conflicting priorities: Practically endless technical possibilities with rapid customer requirements, high cost and price pressure with tight deadline specifications, demanding delivery dates, shortage of skilled workers, increased requirements regarding quality and documentation and the desire and pressure to achieve a quicker, more flexible and more economical production. The challenges can only be mastered if the opportunities of automation and digitalization lead to a perfect interplay of product, process and means of production and the individual aspects of the value creation process are viewed holistically.

To increase efficiency, it is essential to use the optimization potential in the interfaces between the individual process steps and to exploit them with solutions already available today. This is exactly the approach adopted by the Smart Cabinet Building Initiative: Via state-of-the-art automation and digitalization technologies, it optimizes every aspect of cabinet building production and networks technology and expertise across all process steps. From the component selection and pre-production of wire sets, equipment and housings, through to assisted final assembly and inspection before commissioning. The basis for this is digital development data that is supplied and used for automated processing and enable a seamless data flow from design through to production.

The advantages for customers are considerable: The fully automated pre-production of wire sets speeds up the wiring process by up to 80 percent and drastically reduces the throughput times. Through optimized resource assignment and reduced material wear, it minimizes costs and guarantees a constant high quality, even during production of batch size 1. It also simplifies complex tasks, improves flexibility and enable quick adaptation to changing requirements. Cornel Durrer, Head Center of Competence Wire Manufacturing Services, explains at the WirePro Expo in Luzern what modern cabinet production looks like, the progress achieved in this area in 2024 and what Komax Group customers can look forward to in the future.