Pfannenberg Top-Mounted Cooling Units meet the need of OEM Milling Component Manufacturer

Customer Requirement

An OEM Milling component manufacturer which develops processing centers for the precision boring and milling high-precision components needed critical thermal management for their machine’s control electronics. The systems are designed using relatively tall electrical enclosures to minimize that installation space. This compact design fosters the development of heat pockets.

 

The customer needed a space-saving thermal management solution to keep the manufacturing footprint compact. To minimize the formation of heat pockets, the solution needed to promote very efficient air circulation. Another requirement was absolute protection against condensate and assurance of top-level machine availability – even under difficult environmental conditions.  Thermal management with compact cooling units proved to be unreliable so far because of the problems with condensate.

The Pfannenberg Solution

Our revolutionary DTT series top-mounted cooling units met the requirement for maximum reliability, space savings design and 100% protection against condensate.

The DTT top-mounted cooling units provide unique, four-fold condensate protection:

  • Zero sweat guarantee
  • No overflow of condensate into the electrical enclosure
  • Managed water droplet control
  • No air hoses, which are otherwise at risk of condensation

Further benefits:

  • High-volume air delivery via the integrated nozzles to accelerate cold air movement right down to the bottom of the cabinet
  • Filter media for any area (contaminated ambient air)
  • Controller with energy-saving mode to maximize energy-efficiency (optional feature)

Customer Benefits

Switching to the DTT series top-mounted cooling units successfully allowed the OEM to provide a competitive design to their customers. The units are compatible with all makes of electrical enclosures and are available in 3 sizes and 6 performance levels. Because of its cUR approval and versions with 230V and 400V voltages, the milling processing centers can be used worldwide.


Have a question regarding which equipment is best for your application? Contact our engineering team for more information!


Pfannenberg, Inc. is a global manufacturer of Thermal Management, Liquid Cooling Solutions and Signaling Technologies.

Pfannenberg is proud to provide solutions as a single source to its customers. Our business philosophy – Protection for man, machine and the environment.

Topics: Cooling UnitsThermal Management

Need help sizing Chillers? Pfannenberg is here for you!

Do you have a need for liquid cooling? Do you have an old chiller that needs to be replaced? Are you unsure of your liquid cooling options? We are here to help!

Correctly sizing a chiller is crucial on many points. An undersized chiller will never be able to properly cool your application while an oversize chiller will be inefficient due to excessive power consumption.

To find the best product for your application you can start by referencing our Chiller Sizing Guide, but if this is not enough to help you choose the best option for your application, you can use our new Chiller Quote Request Form. We’ve created this new web form to allow you to easily enter detailed information about your project, connecting you directly with one of our chiller experts.

CLICK HERE TO REQUEST A CHILLER QUOTE


Pfannenberg is your expert source for liquid cooling products and helping you choose the correct chiller. We offer packaged chillers from fractional tonnage to over 30 ton. Need more capacity? We can talk about a modular design using multiple chillers. We can also offer installation and commissioning of your new Pfannenberg Chiller.

>> Click here for more information about Liquid Cooling Solutions!

Pfannenberg’s Vision of Industry 4.0 and How to Implement it Successfully

“Invest in talent – like they do in the Sporting Industry”

Digitization offers new opportunities in almost all business areas and companies have to use this advantage to enable transformation – digital transformation. To do so, It is sometimes necessary to restructure the business models.

Andreas Pfannenberg who was named Hamburg’s family entrepreneur of the year in 2015 for its consistent focus on the continuous development of its company through innovative solutions, was interviewed by T-Systems MMS to explain Pfannenberg’s vision of digital transformation and how it is implemented in the company.

Interview by André Weiss. T-Systems Multimedia Solutions GMBH


Mr. Pfannenberg, there are cars that drive themselves and robots set to remove any form of human intervention from production lines – industrial digitalization is driving every sector forward at the moment. For example, it will be the prominent theme at Hannover Messe, the world’s most popular trade fair for manufacturing. However, there is a feeling that SMEs are still in hibernation where this subject is concerned – or is that the wrong impression?

Sadly, no.

… and why is that?
As I see it, many companies are taking an approach that has become particularly well tried and tested in industry: “We have time, we’ll let the big boys tackle it first. They can develop a standard and then we’ll follow on it.” This approach has worked well with previous trends and flows, which makes their attitude slightly easier to understand.

It’s understandable but risky too, isn’t it?
Absolutely. The digital transformation of industry is very dynamic, no longer comparable to the industrial robots that we have seen in the past. So even SMEs should not delay and should start taking action. For example, we see in Hamburg our very active dialogue platform, Industry 4.0 (for which I am an ambassador) as a wake-up call. We want to shake people up and encourage them to think about new business models.

What else, apart from giving a wake-up call, can we say to these companies in terms of practical advice?
That along with the transformation, the moment has arrived in which to jettison other traditional processes. For example, if I decide to get a new digital business model ready for launching, then I should think about whether or not I want to put the effort in on my own. And if I don’t want to, I should not hold back from cooperating with other organizations. It might be possible to work with companies in other sectors, or even with partner companies in the same sector. In short: it’s time to put our cards on the table – some countries are already ahead of us in this respect.

And is it too difficult for many company managers to adopt this approach?
That is not the only problem. To be honest, I have to admit that this isn’t always easy in our industry sectors. When I do a B2C deal then I can quickly create and develop new business as I see fit. But B2B business is a much more complex issue. One of the challenges is to recognize the real drivers. That’s why input from start-ups and IT is significant as they provide many companies with valuable motivation for the future with their ability to think outside the box, to network and move away from the beaten track. Start-ups in particular often act as uncomfortable indicators of how we adhere to old patterns of thought.

So once this motivation is successfully taken on board, what happens next?
Let me give an answer to this in the form of a generally applicable formula – producing in a more technology-friendly way. When I present our digitalization initiative, I start by floating this proposition: “Progress is a good thing”. You have no idea how often I see doubtful looks or at least hear a murmur go around the room. That’s what I mean by beaten tracks. It is clear to me that we need to stop waiting and start doing. It’s all the more important since we are moving rapidly towards an aging society which, by its nature, lacks fresh incentive. So the need for us to become industrial companies which welcome progress and digitalization is more urgent than ever.

And what about you, how are you welcoming progress to Pfannenberg?
For example, by working in tandem with a university to automate our processes. We are analyzing our entire supply chain and talking to our customers, asking them what they will expect from us as their supplier in the future. On that basis we are developing case studies from their point of view – and their point of view only.

Any concrete results yet?
Absolutely. We make electronic technology for industries around the world; thermal management systems for electrical enclosures. As part of this, we have worked with Deutsche Telekom to develop a system which uses a GSM mobile communications interface to read operating data from climate control units and transfer the data to a secure cloud where the information can be analyzed. This allows us to track the status of climate control of the units anywhere in the world; which means, for example, that we can take early action if a unit looks like it is about to break down. Given the scenarios in which these units operate, this is a huge plus for the service we offer to our customers. It is also of benefit when used with preventative maintenance. Units can be serviced in advance if they need to be and not in a randomly fixed cycle which bears no relation to their real-time status. We would not have been able to get a massive project like that off the ground on our own – but it also has something to do with our corporate culture.

How so?
Clearly I need to set things in motion from the directors’ floor with top-down development of new business models. But the need for them comes mostly from production. For me, as the head of the company, it is very important to be aware of any suggestions and ideas provided by staff members and to take it seriously. It means breaking through barriers. The separation between IT and production is obsolete. It’s important that both departments pull together as one. IT is already much more closely involved now, than five or six years ago and that will increase in the Internet of Things (IoT) age. Furthermore, waiting is not an alternative; as an industrial company, we are in the same position as the sport or music industry…

Please explain this further?
Yes, we need to be brave enough to spend a lot of money when the occasion demands. Sport franchises and music publishing companies all invest in talented individuals even if they don’t know whether they will become stars. It is possible to recognize talent, but today many companies do not invest in young talented people. It is necessary to invest and to have long-term commitment and confidence.