49 percent of the total working time in control cabinet construction goes into wiring. Anyone who automates this process gains not only time – they change the way their operation works.
Imagine an employee loading the project data for a new control cabinet in the morning – and shortly afterwards removing a fully assembled, labelled, and sorted wire set, ready for direct installation. No manual measuring. No recutting. No searching for the right wire. What sounds like a vision of the future is already common practice today – and CETEC Systems will accompany you on the path to getting there.
The Core Problem: Wiring Consumes Time
In traditional control cabinet construction, wires are needed in often hundreds of variants: different cross-sections, lengths, colours, labels, and end treatments. In manual production, this means step by step: cutting to length, stripping, crimping wire-end ferrules, labelling, sorting – and that for every single wire.
Each of these steps is error-prone. A wire-end ferrule crimped incorrectly, an illegibly printed label, a wire two centimetres too short – such minor issues cost valuable assembly time and can, in the worst case, lead to customer complaints. The solution lies in automating these steps – bundled into a single, continuous system.
The Metzner Triathlon Series: Fully Automatic from CAD to Installation-Ready Wire Set
With the Triathlon series, Metzner Maschinenbau – one of our long-standing manufacturing partners – offers one of the most mature system solutions for control cabinet construction on the market. What makes this system special: it thinks in projects, not in individual parts.
From Data Set to Finished Wire Set – Automatically
The foundation is the Triathlon Soft® software. After importing the project data from your CAE system – whether wiring list, assembly bill of materials, or terminal strip list – the software automatically generates a production-oriented control cabinet layout including length calculation for all wires, cable ducts, and DIN rails.
This data is transferred directly to the Triathlon machine. The machine then takes over without further intervention:
- Cutting wires to length – wire cross-section 0.5 mm² to 6 mm²
- Single-sided or double-sided stripping at precisely defined positions
- Crimping wire-end ferrules up to 6 mm² cross-section
- Inline printing via inkjet printer – single colour, multi-colour, or white background with black text
- Pre-sorting of wires by assembly group and wiring sequence
The result: the technician removes wire by wire in the correct sequence, directly from the magazine. Consulting the wiring diagram becomes unnecessary in many cases. Errors due to incorrect assignment or mix-ups are structurally eliminated.
Triathlon S and Triathlon L: The Right Solution for Every Operation Size
The Triathlon series is not a one-size-fits-all product. Metzner offers two model lines that differ in performance and capacity – and thus serve different operation sizes and requirement profiles.
Triathlon S – Entry into Full Automation
The Triathlon S is the ideal solution for operations with small and medium production runs. With an automatic 12-way wire changeover and up to 5 magazines, it delivers up to 450 wires per hour – fully automatically, without manual changeover between wire variants. This makes it economically viable even for operations that have previously relied on manual wire assembly.
Triathlon L – For Maximum Productivity
The Triathlon L is aimed at operations with high volumes and maximum demands on machine availability. The automatic 36-way wire changeover, up to 10 magazines, and the ability to integrate up to 3 storage units simultaneously make it the highest-performance solution in the series. Both models output the finished assembled wires as chain bundles or via wire magazines.
RFID-Controlled Wire Changeover: Changeover Time Reduced to 30 Seconds
A particular highlight of the entire Triathlon series is the RFID-controlled automatic wire changeover. Each wire cassette carries an RFID tag that allows the machine to identify the wire type automatically – manual entry is eliminated.
- Tool-free changeover in approximately 30 seconds
- Automatic wire identification via RFID – no errors from incorrect assignment
- Optional wire storage system with up to 12 coils or drums, automatically identified and kept ready
- Triathlon L: up to 3 storage units simultaneously in operation
The result is minimised changeover times with maximum machine availability – a decisive factor when projects with many different wire variants follow one another.
Automation Pays Off – Even Without High-Volume Production
ROI example: With at least 100 control cabinets per year, each containing 500 or more wires, the Triathlon investment pays for itself in approximately 2 years.
A common misconception is that automation only pays off at high volumes. Practice shows the opposite. Operations with single-unit and small-batch production benefit particularly – because manual errors are especially costly here, and repeatability is especially valuable.
Specifically, automated wire assembly with Triathlon means:
- Less rework due to wiring errors – the error rate approaches zero
- Shorter lead times per control cabinet
- Time savings in cable assembly and labelling of up to 70%
- Relieving skilled workers from repetitive tasks – freeing them for more demanding work
Anyone who saves 2 hours of assembly time per day gains more than 500 working hours back over a year.
How CETEC Systems Supports You
As an Austrian specialist in cable preparation and automation technologies, we support you from the first question through to ongoing operation. As an authorised distribution partner of Metzner Maschinenbau, we know the Triathlon series from daily practical use.
- Independent consultation: We analyse your production workflow and recommend the Triathlon variant that fits your operation size and requirements.
- Demonstration: See the machine in action before you decide.
- Installation and commissioning by our experienced technicians.
- Calibration, staff training, and long-term support – because good machines only reach their full potential with good service.
Talk to us. Together, we will analyse where the greatest automation potential lies in your control cabinet construction – and which investment delivers the fastest return for you.
