PANEL BUILDING
You will have a daily reminder of NorthWind’s dedication to quality when you walk by or open one of our control panels on your plant floor.
Our skilled craftsmen are well-trained, using modular layouts and common components that make it easy for you to maintain our control panels and implement upgrades well into the future. Because you care about safety in your business, safety is also a top priority at NorthWind. Every aspect of the control panel design and fabrication process, from component selection to sizing and installation, is done with safety in mind. We fabricate industrial control panels in our on-site U.L. Listed facility.
U.L. Certified Panel Shop
When a Control Panel comes from a UL Certified Panel Shop you can rest assured you’re getting a quality product. NorthWind is proud to be UL508A certified since 2005, and UL698A since December 2020. To become certified (and to maintain certification) we follow U.L. and National Electric Code (NEC) Standards as well as selecting reliable components, providing enclosure environmental ratings, wiring and motor protection, and safety markings.
NorthWind also provides cUL and CE certifications upon request.
Innovative Manufacturing
As a company who provides automation solutions for our customers, we can’t help but get excited about the potential to automate our own work processes. We have done just that in our Panel Shop with our Panel Cutting & Pre-Drilling Machine and our Wire Cutting & Labeling Machine. Both of these machines allow us to work quickly and efficiently to deliver your panels as fast as we can without compromising quality.
Tour Our Shop
Our Panel Shop has a dedicated testing area where Controls Programmers can checkout panels, run Factory Acceptance Tests, and upload programs. This area is also utilized to ensure every panel meets our stringent safety standards. Our Quality Assurance Technician tests every panel to ensure all standards are met before it leaves our shop.
In order to protect the Control Panels during transit they are crated using high quality materials and crates are not stacked in trucks. NorthWind works with your logistics department to schedule shipments using your trusted carrier.
Electrical Installation
With our Team’s experience installing industrial control panels and their intimate knowledge of our electrical designs, we’re the perfect pair. Learn more about our Installation Services!
You might be interested in learning about:
Advantages of Ethernet Devices in the Industrial World
The use of Ethernet technologies is penetrating almost every application in industrial automation. The generalized Ethernet communication connection allows the transfer of data through cables composed of multiple twisted wires, similar to a home network. EtherNet/IP is a communication protocol that uses the framework of standard Ethernet data transfer to communicate specific information for manufacturing applications.
Jobsite Safety: Working with Controls Panels
We are all aware of the dangers of electric shock, but few realize how little current and how small voltages can cause a fatal shock. Current as low as 30mA can be fatal. Since a standard toaster uses about 12500mA, you can see that the threat of electric shock is ever present. However, using the right tools and safety procedures can greatly reduce this risk.
24VDC vs 120VAC
In the process of designing and purchasing new equipment, the decision about what digital control voltage to choose for a facility to standardize on is often not clear cut. Manufacturers, control engineers, plant personnel and other decision makers can lean different directions with reasons ranging from specific design requirements to personal preference. There are a multitude of different options, but by and large the two most popular options are 24VDC (volts, direct current) and 120VAC (volts, alternating current). Both 24VDC and 120VAC powered devices are readily available and each have their advantages and drawbacks.