"Fascinating Future" is the name of the innovation and development platform from Rittal. In 2008, the international leading solutions supplier for housings and enclosure technology, system climate control and IT solutions is focusing on customer benefit and environmental friendliness.

In the development of the Rittal BioRack, the company is experimenting with new materials such as biological polymers and biological fillers such as wood fibre, flax, hemp and sisal.

At the 2008 "Fascinating Future" special show, Rittal is presenting numerous concepts focusing on customer benefit. These include augmented reality visualisations on the human/machine interface and innovative operating concepts for machines. A second focus is on the so-called "Green Island" products, which protect the environment and save resources.

In the future, customer advice will involve digital technology. At the Hanover fair, Rittal is presenting an augmented reality solution, which makes it easier for customers to select the appropriate human/machine interface for their machines. The customer's machine, which can now be combined with various human/machine interfaces, is shown in three dimensions on a comfort panel. In addition, a live camera makes it possible to superimpose the machine operator in the image. As such, the customer gains a true-to-life 3D visualisation, which should serve as the basis for decision-making in the selection of the appropriate man-machine interface.
In future, there will be innovations in the operation of machine controls or measuring devices. Thus, with the iPoint-Explorer, Rittal is working on a concept for movement controlled and therefore contact-free, intuitive machine operation.

"At the 2008 Hanover fair, the "Fascinating Future" special show gives visitors an insight into our development workshop. This year, the focus is on customer benefit: in the future, innovative services will make the selection, configuration, development and ultimately maintenance considerably easier. And, naturally, the customer also benefits from using the environmentally friendly technology from Rittal to do this," explains Uwe Scharf, Vice President Strategic Business Development at Rittal.

Sustainable and environmentally friendly

The so-called "Green Island" products from Rittal are embedded in the cycle of nature and stand out for their sustainability. They protect man and nature in the broadest sense.

With BioRack, for example, the focus is on environmental conservation aspects. Here, Rittal has pledged its commitment to the development of sustainable, environmentally friendly and easily degradable materials in enclosure and housing technology. The company is experimenting with new materials such as biological polymers - harvested from proteins, oils and starches - and biological fillers such as wood fibre, flax, hemp and sisal. Stability, conductivity and fire resistance are achieved by the addition of so-called additives, which control these material properties. With increasing raw material prices and costs of disposal, the environmentally friendly materials will represent a cost-effective alternative in the future.

Renewable raw materials are also used in the bionic shock-absorbing pallet. This is also intended to provide safe transport for enclosures in which highly sensitive electronics have already been installed. Here too, nature has been the godfather of design: ideas for damping the pallet have been supplied namely by the bionics experts of the university of Freiburg. They are based on natural damping systems, as found in porcupines, which are protected from fall-related injuries by their spines.

The RiCell solution, a modular fuel cell system that is scalable in 300 W stages up to 1.2 kW, also has great potential for the future. The advantages of the systems, which Rittal wants to build using its own production, are primarily in environmental friendliness and flexible modularity. They will be used in transportation and environmental technology, in tunnels and mines, and in the ICT sector.

Furthermore, Rittal will be showing solutions for reducing the noise emissions of network and server solutions, a radio-based wireless service concept for the remote maintenance of air conditioning equipment, and an innovative augmented reality concept for the simplified maintenance of computing centres.

With the "Fascinating Future" innovation and development platform, Rittal is also setting benchmarks in 2008. The special exhibition, started in 2004, has become established as a unique forum for developing ideas for new solutions in contact with customers and suppliers and for the relevance of these in practice.

About Rittal
Since its foundation in the year 1961, Rittal GmbH & Co. KG, based in Herborn/Germany, has become a worldwide player. Today, Rittal is one of the world's leading system suppliers for enclosure and housing technology, with over 10,000 standard products available for immediate delivery, and a sought-after solution provider in all areas of industry and mechanical engineering, as well as a trendsetter for all segments of the IT market. Rittal stands for future-oriented and comprehensive solutions, service and consulting competence. The Rittal product spectrum covers the fields of industrial enclosures, electronic packaging, system climate control, power distribution, IT solutions and communication systems.

Under the heading "Rittal together - Complete IT Competence" Rittal (modular, scalable and comprehensive IT infrastructures) in alliance with its subsidiaries Lampertz (physical IT security and IT solutions) and Litcos (consulting and planning partner for efficient data centre structures, as well as extensive business continuity management) offer a coordinated range of products, solutions and services for efficient, safe and ecological data centres. The group also includes Eplan (Europe's Number One for software solutions for mechanical engineering, plant construction and industry in general).

In order to serve the world's market places optimally, 19 high-tech production locations supply 60 subsidiaries, 150 sales and logistics centres and more than 70 agencies around the globe. In Germany, 22 Rittal sales and logistics centres covering the whole country are catering for the customers' every need. With over 10,500 employees worldwide, Rittal International is the largest company of the Friedhelm Loh Group, based in Haiger, Germany. The group employs more than 11,600 people.

Courtesy of Rittal