• • • ENCLOSURES • • •


Enclosures - thinking inside the box


Andy Fitzer of Hitaltech explains why investing development time in your enclosures creates components that function more effectively, can be installed more easily, and deliver better returns


isn’t it? I have had that happen to me a few times and always wondered why stores don’t consider what a customer will do with their larger purchases, or even why when buying several small items, you are given an over-sized bag. It seems quite simple really that these things be considered in advance. That goes for a lot of things in life, and in my field, I know the frustration of a customer who cannot find an enclosure to fit their requirements. This is why we encourage communication from the beginning of the design process.


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Enclosures come in all shapes and sizes which is handy because so do PCB boards, terminal blocks and connectors. And just as your supermarket packing has a certain order (eggs and bread on top) so the components in your enclosures need careful arrangement if they’re to do the job you need of them, once they reach the client.


A component in its own right A well-designed enclosure is far more than a box of parts. It could be a protective shell, product enabler, assembly support and wiring instructions all rolled into one if you spend as much time up front with the enclosure as you do with everything else.


electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk


magine asking a shop assistant for a bag that adequately holds your new purchase and being told that they don’t have one that fits. Annoying


There is a tendency to think of the enclosure as the equivalent of the plastic bag, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a component in its own right, deserving, in my view, of the same innovation and design approach.


Design synergy


The requirement to think again about enclosures is clearest when your product already involves customised connectors and terminal blocks. We can spend months, or even a year or two designing, refining and miniaturising connectors and terminal blocks that will satisfy the needs of a particular product. By their very nature, new connectors in new products are unlikely to be a natural fit for standard enclosures. Miniaturised components may result in the need for a smaller enclosure. You may need more or different openings. The connectors may vary, so there’s a real synergy between component design and the design of the enclosure.


Brainstorming the box It doesn’t stop there. By colour-coding connectors, printing design artwork and adding wiring legends to the enclosure facia, you create a product that actively aids assembly. It makes wiring foolproof, speeds up production times and reduces the risk of product failure. Full colour digital tampon and laser printing enables you to add logos and branding too, turning


a humble enclosure into a brand advocate. Of course, it doesn’t happen by accident. The latest bespoke enclosure, we’ve been involved with, has taken a year to reach production stage but that’s because every connection, terminal block and wire has been considered and accommodated in a way that results in a better performing product that is easier to assemble. That’s investment that results in money saved.


Do you need to go to such lengths? Of course not, standard enclosures for standard components will always have their place. But when you want to create something new, you’re not reaching a product’s full potential by using an off the shelf enclosure.


About Hitaltech Founded in 1986, Hitaltech is an ISO 9001:2008 registered company specialising in connecting technologies and enclosures suitable for electronic and electrical applications. With its headquarters in Brussels, and UK HQ in


Poulton le Fylde, Lancashire, Hitaltech is a multinational company with further subsidiaries in Germany, Italy and Japan.


Hitaltech owns the Conex-it range of interconnect products as well as offering a large range of plastic enclosures manufactured in Italy, and flexible interconnect solutions from its manufacturing partner in Germany.


ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • JULY/AUGUST 2024 39


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