Canadian Panel Shop Sees Cost & Time Saving with Rittal’s Perforex
March 16, 2026
Rittal’s Perforex LC 3030: Effective Enhancement of Operational Performance, Accuracy & Repeatability
By: Owen Hurst
In a world where vertical market trends can shift quickly it is essential for panel shops to ensure they have adaptability and a partner that can support and enhance their operations as previous markets shrink and new opportunities open up. A Canadian panel shop working primarily in the industrial manufacturing sector recently received the benefits of their partnership with Rittal, and in particular the advantages gained from Rittal’s Perforex laser milling machine.
The Panel Shop had several concurrent orders, time sensitive of course, and a substantial bottle neck was occurring at the panel modification stage.
Rittal was contacted and their engineers went on-site to learn about the current process and assess what solutions could be presented to remove the bottleneck and enhance the process. Several solutions throughout the process were identified, however, the Perforex LC 3030 offered the best plan to eliminate the current bottleneck, while also improving their business, accuracy and repeatability moving forward.
The panel shop was very impressed, but Rittal took things further, identifying previous clients they had helped in a similar way and taking the client to meet them, see the repeatability options and how other shops had advanced their offerings through use of the Perforex.
The second stage was to discuss the value and potential savings that would be delivered from implementing the Perforex as they were seeking an in-house option. Though it should be noted that Rittal also offers the potential at their Application Centre. However, in this instance the focus was on advancing their in-house capabilities.
To anticipate the return Rittal implemented their ROI Calculator that assessed their operating costs, number of enclosures they use each and the time it takes them to machine and modify their enclosures. Using this data and previously known data points about the Perforex and Rittal was able to provide potential cost saving analysis for not just existing jobs but on an annual basis.
After implementation of the Perforex the shops panel builders noted number of advancements including a lot less time on cutting manually, the noise pollution within the shop was cut down dramatically (an unexpected health benefit), and most notably “the consistency of work has gone up massively, you know it is correct once it is drawn up and the repeatability has substantially increased our capabilities, particularly when filling orders where we have 10, 20 or more of the same panel to modify.”
Speaking with the panel shop manager he noted that they have a repeat customer that was ordering 20 or more of the same enclosure every month. And though it was just a small enclosure it had a large number of cutouts. He notes that “Our team had become very efficient in reproducing these panels, with manual modification for each taking about 4-5 hours. Using the Perforex that time dropped to between 15 and 20 minutes.”
Speaking with the team, the health and safety factors were identified as a large advantage. Not did the Perforex offer less noise pollution in the shop, but it ensured that cutting and other materials were kept within the machine locations not tracked throughout the shop. Further the team noted that the system was generally safer as “we are using far less hand tools (drills, tap & die, hand grinders) that reduced the risk of injury to the team but also eliminated a substantial amount of tool breakage that was occurring.” The Perforex breaks almost no tools and has cut down substantially on the cost of tools and accessories such as bit and grinding wheels.
While discussing these advantages with upper management they were very happy to discuss not only the advantages that were brought to their current operations and the benefits to their team, but also how the Perforex changed their business in unexpected ways. “The Perforex allowed us to focus part of the business on new directions including subcontracting, that was previously an area we had not considered and has provided growth and options to pursue in the future that we are looking to pursue alongside Rittal solutions such as handling, cutting machines or even the potential for a second Perforex machine. So. not only has the machine improved our in-house processes but has opened revenue streams that were previously not considered.”
Speaking after 12 months of implementing the Perforex in their shop, the team has noted that they have over doubled the number of panels they modify annually. Additionally, the initial investment calculator estimated an ROI of roughly 18 months, nonetheless, the efficiency, repeatability and unanticipated revenue growth in new areas lowered that ROI to just 12 months.
As a final note the Panel Shop manager noted, with a smile, that beyond all the advantages listed it has also given them a substantial leg up over many of their competitors.
Learn more about the Perforex and the advantages offered HERE
For more information on Rittal Canada solutions HERE
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