Industrial Control Panel Design & Fabrication
Control panel design is a blend of knowledge, experience and talent. The knowledge is required to adhere to the local electrical code (NEC & CSA) and other applicable codes such as UL508. Experience is needed to layout a panel which not only satisfies design requirements but also excel troubleshooting, maintenance and durability. There are different ways for designing a panel with exactly the same functionality. It is critical to consider the foot print, environment and layout of the panel. It is important to have all the components accessible and have minimum footprint and internal wiring. This is the reason that at Planet Engineering we look at panel design as a mixture of art and engineering. It is crucial to meet technical requirements but you want to design an admirable masterpiece. Our panel designs are based on engineering calculation, codes and hands-on experience.
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The control panel is part of your investment that a lot of time may get required attention. You are protecting your valuable control system in the control panel and expectation is to have it for at least 10 years. Therefore, a well designed control panel with future expansion consideration is crucial. A lot of field troubleshooting boils down to faulty components or a loose wire inside the control panel. The fix is relatively easy, but the time and cost could be avoided with proper panel design.
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There are some industry standard CAD tools for designing the control panel. At Planet Engineering we offer control panel design using AutoCAD Electrical, ePLAN and SolidWork Electrical. We are not dedicated to one platform for our design and this is one of our strong points. It is critical to have good drawings and maintain them properly. Lack of proper control panel documentation can be a big obstacle for troubleshooting and possible upgrades.
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The design of the control panel is crucial, but what if the fabrication does not reflect the same quality ? This is a typical problem that we encounter in the field. Good drawing and poor fabrication; or vice versa. We have established a good relationship with several UL508 panel shops. They know our design and we know their capabilities and quality of work. Moreover, if you have a tight schedule for your panel fabrication, we can work with different panel shops simultaneously to expedite the delivery time.
We have our own internal standard design specifications which were developed by combining our experience in oil & gas, water treatment , packaging, material handling and pharmaceutical industries. However, our engineering team is well capable of reviewing your design specifications and designing the panel adhering to your requirements.
The goal is to deliver a professionally designed and fabricated control panel to you. Your satisfaction with the quality of our work is our prize.