TR Service - Future-proof low-voltage panel

TR-Service provides industrial maintenance using all disciplines, from electrical and mechanical to hydraulic and pneumatic. With support from Breemes, the company installed a large low-voltage panel. ‘After discussing my summary plan with them, I decided to just do it,’ says director-owner Raoul Tielens. At Breemes' suggestion, the panel was future-proofed by preparing it for power monitoring.

TR-Service in Diepenbeek (B) was founded thirty years ago by Tielens. ‘I started with service for small and medium-sized companies that did not employ their own maintenance people. We specialised in that and grew with them. Now we also work with large companies such as E-Max (extrusion of aluminium profiles, ed.), Jiffy (packaging products, ed.) and BRT (manufacturer of metal pipes, ed.).’

Long-term relationships

From the beginning, Breemes has supplied all electrical supplies, such as cables, relays, encoders and sensors. ‘This is for our own maintenance work but also for customers I visit. If they have no stock at all or a stock break (stock shortage, ed.), I call Breemes and they arrange it à la minute.’ But the supplier's service goes further, as illustrated by a recent TR-Service project for powder coating company V coat. ‘That was one of my first customers; I go for long-term relationships. Last year, they had bought a used plant in Holland. We were commissioned to dismantle it and put it back up at V coat's site in Bilzen. They also needed a low-voltage panel (-panel, ed.) for 300-400 A. This was about controlling that paint installation and the entire electrical installation in the factory hall because of a renovation.’

‘After consulting with Breemes, I felt I could do it’

For support, Tielens turned to Breemes, in the person of electrical consultant Gert Vanwezemael. Tielens: ‘I don't often do a big cabinet like this, so I could have outsourced it. But after discussing my summary plan with Gert, I decided to just do it. I felt I could do it.’ Vanwezemael mainly does low-voltage studies, with short-circuit, section and voltage-loss calculations. ‘I talked to Raoul based on the schematics he had prepared. I then made a proposal with layout calculations for a Sivacon S4 low-voltage board, and some modifications were made to that.’

Power monitoring

In the ensuing discussion, Vanwezemael commented to think about the future. ‘What if charging stations still need to be connected? What if the customer wants to do power monitoring? With certain Siemens power switches, you can already take that kind of possible expansion into account. Raoul contacted the customer: ‘Is this interesting for you?’ It turned out that V coat was already calculating the energy consumption, but that was still a bit with the wet finger. If they move to power monitoring in the future, they will be perfectly able to tell the customer how much a job has cost in energy. With my new proposal for a modular system for electrical power distribution, they are future-proof.’ Tielens: ‘V coat, as a contractor, wants to be able to tell what it costs à la minute, in order to remain competitive by not overpaying the customer but not underpaying either. They agreed immediately. That was a good proposal from Gert.’

‘When customers buy a sign for the first time, we help them on their way to assembly’

Because of high energy costs, power monitoring is the trend for sustainability today, explains Vanwezemael. ‘We get two to three requests every week to make a proposal in this direction. In the Netherlands, large consumers already have to take mandatory measures and have audits of their consumption. That is systematically going down to small industrial consumers and in Belgium, too, there are going to be more obligations.’

The electrical consultant then also supported the installation. ‘We do that for almost all customers. When they buy a board for the first time, we help them on their way with the installation; that is appreciated.’ Tielens agrees: ‘When Gert said he would spend a day with us for the assembly, that didn't stop us from ordering; then nothing could go wrong. He even went for several days and everything turned out well.’

Fair

Meanwhile, the cabinet has been installed and several sections have already been connected, reports Tielens. ‘The cabinet is finished, I am very satisfied. I am now finishing the installation and still need some cables from Breemes to control various machines.’ Vanwezemael also wants to finalise the proverbial last wires. ‘I am going to deliver the reports Raoul needs to have the installation inspected when it is completely finished. We can take care of that too. Furthermore, I will come to assist in getting all the settings right. This is how we provide extra support that we think will benefit the customer.’

In addition, itsme continues to keep customers like TR-Service updated on new developments, such as around power monitoring. ‘Raoul is involved in so many fields, he can't keep up with everything. It also goes so fast in terms of technology and legislation. We inform our customers about this in an honest way.’ In any case, Tielens feels he has been treated fairly when it comes to price, he says in conclusion. ‘I work in direction for my customer and that goes in good faith. What it costs is ultimately secondary; what matters is that the customer has been well served. But should he start comparing prices in the market, he will see that fair prices have been charged.’

Check out our other success stories:

Stay up to date with the latest news:

Why not take a look at these trainings we offer: