Control Panels

From the founding of our company in 1977 until today, our control panel design and fabrication team has been a very large part of our success as a control systems integrator. In the early days i.e. before industrial computers were prevalent, the industry needs were based on large discrete component control panels. These varied from single to multi section relay control panels to "bench board" consoles each requiring much custom design and fabrication time. Our design team generated hand drawn blueprints that were used in the fabrication process. Design changes that created fabrication corrections were laborious requiring many tedious hours to successfully complete a control panel.

As computers were introduced into the industrial workplace, the marketplace demand shifted from discrete component based control panels to PLC/computer based control panels. This shift required our design and fabrication teams to make adjustments that allowed for continuation of providing quality control panels for our clients. Our design team switched from hand drawn blueprints to computer generated drawings (AutoCad). This allows for greater efficiency and accuracy of initial panel designs. Design changes are handled through the computerized drawing system to allow for quick turn-a-round for customer review and approval. This quick approval allows our fabrication team to construct the control panel(s) with minimal loss of time spent making corrections. The industry shift to PLC/HMI panels has streamlined the fabrication process.

Most current control systems consist of 1) a main control panel that houses the main PLC processor, communication equipment, local I/O, supporting power supplies and interposing relays, fusing and field termination blocks and 2) remote control panel(s) as needed which house additional I/O, communication equipment, supporting power supplies and interposing relays, fusing and field termination blocks. An HMI is usually required and is typically located on the control panel door or remotely located in a control room. These current systems require our design team to layout the overall network, provide detail control panel design with attention to space constraints, environmental concerns and customer component requirements.

Our fabrication team then implements the design that is ultimately tested and approved by our client. Custom Control continues to strive for excellence in all areas of customer satisfaction. We feel that first impressions are most important, and our belief is that the first impression is visual. This means that a control system must be of the highest quality before it must perform as specified. You can count on the design and fabrication team at Custom Control to continue to provide quality designed and fabricated control panels to meet your specific requirements.