Series control panels for a machine builder
IEC 61439 control panels built in recurring batches for a German machine builder, tested one-to-one and delivered line-side to their assembly takt.
- Delivery geography
- Germany
- Annual volume
- ~420 panels/year
- Batch size
- 20–40 per call-off
- Variants in scope
- 11 panel variants
- Program duration
- Frame agreement, third year running
- Responsibility level
- Series
- Standards applied
- IEC 61439-1/-2 · IEC 60204-1 · Customer factory test procedure
What the delivered system actually does.
A machine builder ships machines, not panels — but every machine needs one, and building them in-house ties up the same electricians who should be commissioning. The panels here are the electrical heart of the customer machine: power distribution, drives, safety and the control platform, built to IEC 61439.
They are produced in recurring batches to a released design and tested one-to-one — every panel, not a sample — so what arrives at the customer has already been proven point to point and functionally against the schematic it was built from.
Delivery is line-side and to the customer assembly takt. That is the part that turns a panel supplier into a component of their production plan: the panels arrive when the machines they belong to reach the electrical station, in the sequence the assembly is working in.
The machine builder’s in-house panel shop had become the bottleneck: growing machine sales, scarce electricians, and panels arriving late to final assembly. They wanted to outsource the panels without loosening their documentation and test discipline.
STARTING CONDITIONA mature EPLAN documentation set per machine type existed, along with a defined factory test procedure the customer ran themselves.
- EPLAN projects and parts lists per panel variant
- Approved component and supplier list
- Factory test procedure and acceptance criteria
- Rolling twelve-month build forecast
- Industrialization review of the panel documentation with agreed change notes
- Batch production of panels to IEC 61439
- 100% wiring check and functional test per the customer procedure
- Test records archived per panel serial number
- Packaging and delivery synchronized to the customer’s assembly takt
What the program delivers.
- Recurring batches under a frame agreement with rolling call-offs
- Golden sample approved after joint review of the first article
- Serial-number traceability from parts lot to test record
- Customer panel shop refocused on prototypes and specials
