SUCCESS STORIES - Rittal
Comprehensive load tests by Rittal at Mosca's TechCenter
High g-forces are not only exerted on astronauts during rocket launches or on dummies during crash tests. Packaged goods are also subject to enormous acceleration and deceleration, for example during transportation or safety tests. But nobody has to take them to Cape Canaveral or the ADAC: Mosca GmbH tests the loading safety of strapped or wrapped packaging at its own TechCenter . Rittal also took advantage of the comprehensive range of tests in Waldbrunn - paving the way for even more securely packaged switchgear and server enclosures.
Rittal is a leading global provider of enclosure systems, automation and infrastructure in the fields of Industry, IT, Energy & Power, Cooling and Service. Rittal products and solutions are used in over 90 percent of industries worldwide. In addition to manufacturing, for example in Rittershausen, Rittal relies on a sophisticated distribution and manufacturing network to bring its enclosures and server enclosures to customers all over the world - ready for delivery quickly and available from stock.
A question of safety
Rittal relies on two tried-and-tested methods for transporting the goods: pallets and robust strapping material, which can be used to securely fasten up to four enclosures on the flat transport aids, depending on the size of the enclosure. Until recently, Rittal used a combination of horizontal and vertical strapping for this purpose, with which strapping machines in Ritterhausen secured the pallets. The tricky thing about this was that despite double securing, it was often not possible to connect the product and pallet optimally. As a result, there was a risk that the switch cabinets could move around on the pallets. "It was clear to us that we had to minimize this risk in order to be able to transport our enclosures as safely as possible - even over long and very challenging distances," reports Philipp Grahn, Head of Global Distribution Center in Rittershausen. "So we looked for sustainable ways to further improve the quality of our load units."
Transparency through tests
"We wanted to understand more precisely what forces act on the load units during the journeys. This required extended testing options - and an appropriately equipped partner who could objectively assess what was happening," emphasizes Grahn. Together with his team, he set out on a search and found what he was looking for at Mosca GmbH . Rittal was already using the company's strapping machines at the Rittal in Herborn. "Mosca is very familiar with strapping and stretch wrapping machines. Because we use strapping to secure the enclosures, we wanted Mosca to assess this type of fastening in more detail," Grahn continues.
Since mid-2023, Mosca has been operating its own "TechCenter" in Waldbrunn , where it carries out corresponding tests: Mosca can realistically simulate vibrations, impacts from potholes or jerky braking and acceleration thanks to appropriate test stations. " Mosca 's offer came at just the right time to carry out a detailed analysis with minimal effort - and to obtain the perspective of proven experts," recalls Grahn. After initial discussions in September 2023, it was clear that Rittal would carry out tests with different pallet configurations at Mosca 's TechCenter . The focus was on pallets with two and four products, as the defects identified occurred particularly frequently here.
g-forces at a glance
A special journey awaited the strapped cabinets: Mosca determined how the palletized and strapped products behaved not in a truck, but on a so-called acceleration sled - and not just once. "If you want to understand how packaged products react, you not only have to test them in different configurations, but also under different transport conditions," explains Johannes Wieder, Sales Manager Logistics at Mosca. Specifically, this meant that Mosca accelerated the trolley to different degrees so that different g-forces acted on the cabinets and pallets. In physics, this measured variable describes the load that a human body or a vehicle, for example, experiences when its speed changes. The higher this is, the higher the g-forces and thus the physical stress to which the objects are subjected. At 0.3 g, 0.5 g and 0.8 g, Mosca had the packaged products accelerate and decelerate.
After Mosca had tested various pallet configurations and repeatedly repositioned the enclosures, a clear trend emerged: "Strapping with a second vertical Strap requires just as much material as the previous strapping pattern. Without tests, we would probably have used two vertical straps and one horizontal strap in future - and would have needed 30 percent more material," emphasizes Grahn, who is very satisfied with the tests.
Satisfied customer
With comprehensive load tests at Mosca 's TechCenter , Rittal GmbH & Co. KG determines optimum transport packaging for switchgear and server enclosures
After Mosca had tested various pallet configurations and repeatedly repositioned the enclosures, a clear trend emerged: "Strapping with a second vertical Strap requires just as much material as the previous strapping pattern. Without tests, we would probably have used two vertical straps and one horizontal strap in future - and would have needed 30 percent more material," emphasizes Grahn, who is very satisfied with the tests.
Seeing how physics works and knowing where the problem lies has brought us a great deal closer to a new packaging standard