Planning and work preparation – simple solutions for complex requirements

For Steffen Schrödel, Matthias Falke, Markus Kastner and Rainer Pfaller, the big challenge is developing simple and efficient solutions from complex requirements. From the customer's wishes and specifications through to the work preparation documents for in-house production, they create a plan from a 3D cast. A cable tie is not just a cable tie: data sheets, certificates and specification documents – all of this has to match in order to plan even just the right cable ties, and of course these should only be tightened with a tested and approved cable tie tool. These and 1,000 other details need to be taken into account when planning the electrical fittings for a manufacturer. The MB 2.0 cable fastening system, developed in-house, is another example of this. Alongside the conventional points such as statics, stability and durability, important parameters such as the friction coefficient, thermal expansion, bending radius, short circuit response, reaction to fire, pressure point load and much more must be taken into account. Thanks to the comprehensive preparation, we have been able to convince our customer Siemens on our own systems right from the start. During planning, the employees always have to keep in-house production and assembly on the construction site in mind. The focus here is on optimisation of the work processes and safety. To this end, they generate detailed work preparation documents all the way up to three-dimensional illustrations.

Production – 100 percent accuracy guaranteed

For Valentino Ciray, Thomas Schubert, Albert Pamler and Andreas Staudigl, organising and structuring work processes correctly is the key to a cost-effective and successful product in mass production. Thanks to optimal working conditions in Hall 17 and the best possible work preparation, it has been possible to almost double the in-house efficiency in the last year and a half. The team ensures that no errors are made and no defective components are delivered to the construction site thanks to a computer-assisted final inspection process, developed in-house, during which all pre-assembled assemblies are extensively tested after production. In this manner, around 400,000 metres of cabling, 3,200 lights, 240,000 cable ties, 4,800 plugs and much more was processed with no errors in a year.

Special projects – the goal is always the very best

Breaking new ground, developing new solutions: during the modernisation of the plant network, it is Michael Biller's task to record and visualise all sections of the medium voltage plant network. 30,000 metres of medium voltage cabling, 24 medium voltage stations, more than 100 medium voltage bays, 30 MV protection systems and thousands of signals and data have to be analysed and represented by means of "max control". The aim is to build a modern electrical infrastructure with the best possible availability. Automated programming routines monitor and control 15,000 kilowatts' worth of renewable energy producers which are connected to the in-house plant network. In comparison with this, there is reference power of currently around 5,600 kilowatts at the headquarters in Sengenthal. Through the visualisation of all energy flows and operating states, errors can be detected immediately and remedied. The redundant communication and server architecture ensures that the data is available to contingency staff via smartphones even in the event of a complete failure. Quick and targeted troubleshooting and error correction is thus ensured.

Electrical engineering project development – interface between producers and network operators

No wind farm connection to the public electricity grid is like any other. Each project has its own challenges. Whether it's connecting an individual wind turbine to an inefficient local network or connecting a large wind farm to a high voltage network with its own substation – all of the necessary steps are planned, organised, coordinated and implemented by Andreas Hirscheider and Henning Elsbernd. In order to unite the often very different wishes and requirements of the wind energy producers and the network operators, you need to be at home in both worlds and understand and translate both parties' motivations. Huge efforts are often required in order to make the most economical and technically practical solution for all sides possible. Thanks to their experience in the fields of energy, protection and communications technology as well as in project development, Andreas Hirscheider and Henning Elsbernd connect wind turbines to the grid on time and in budget for the customers of the Max Bögl Group. And not only that. The assessment and processing of wind turbine faults as well as their monitoring are also on the daily schedule. The pair have to know the systems inside out for this.

Technical operations management – 7 days a week, 24 hours a day

Stefan Würth's and Roland Fürst's claim is the best possible maintenance for the systems which are entrusted to them. To this end, a piece of software was developed at Elektrotechnik Wind which fulfils all of the many requirements of technical operations management. Flexible, manufacturer-independent data collection and visualisation for each individual system forms the basis for the monitoring. A wind turbine is a complex power plant with high technical and safety requirements. There is no room for information gaps here. For this reason, there is an incidents and ticket system integrated into the system. All operations processes are stored in the electronic maintenance history files for the respective wind turbines. This ensures a complete record of all processes and activities throughout the service life of the wind turbine. A document management system, autonomous monitoring routines and an automated system report round the system out. The pair therefore ensure 100 percent transparency and traceability in all processes. Stefan Würth and Roland Fürst are currently monitoring wind turbines with an output of more than 67 megawatts and photovoltaic systems with an output of 3.7 megawatts with their system. Together, these systems generate around 200 million kilowatt hours of electricity every year. Roughly 50,000 four-person households per year can be supplied as a result.