Innovative power distribution in new Arco France leather goods factory


“Is the idea of using data centre PDUs in our new factory feasible?” Jérôme Quintard, who played a key role in achieving Arco’s new production facility, posed this question to Schleifenbauer.

 
About Arco

Arco (Ateliers réunis du center-ouest), specialises in the production of high-quality leather goods for the world’s largest conglomerate of luxury products. The French company is located in Châtellerault, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

The company is experiencing strong growth, which has been facilitated by a variety of factors. There is a positive economic climate, growth in the luxury sector and French products are experiencing increased popularity abroad. Over the past three years, Arco has grown from 350 to 700 employees.

 
A new factory with special needs and requests

In 2019, investments were made in a completely new and state-of-the-art factory, spanning an area of ​​12,500 m2, providing ample space for further growth and equipped with modernised workshops. The factory was already well known in the world of leather goods, and now it is fully prepared to take on the next 10 to 20 years.

There were a number of important needs and requests for the design of the new factory and workshops. One specific requirement was for the flexible power and compressed air connections to the workstations, which would allow for only a limited changeover time to another product line. They also wanted to get rid of the “jungle of cables”; in the existing production facility, the individual workstations were all connected to one central point in the ceiling, which did not exactly contribute to an organised look.

 
Intensive collaboration with Schleifenbauer

Jérôme Quintard was already familiar with rack PDUs because of his IT and data centre background. But he had been unable to realise his specific request for the new Arco factory using standard products. From the moment he approached Schleifenbauer with his concept, an intensive collaboration was born.

After several visits to the factory in France, all of the necessary discussions and a variety of demo set-ups, the results were a success. A unique configuration was achieved for the workstations, including all the functionalities that Arco had hoped for.

The solution that was developed ensures that only one central power cable from the ceiling is required for each ‘zone’. This prevents all of the workstations from having to be connected to a separate power supply via a traditional bus bar on the ceiling. This avoided a mass of tangled cables and results in a much clearer and tidier overall look inside the factory.

Another advantage of this PDU solution is that it offers clear insight into the total power consumption and is easy to measure and report, both for internal reviews and for regulators.

In total, approximately 1000 custom PDUs have been delivered and installed in the new factory.

Proud of this successful project in an industrial setting

At Schleifenbauer, we look back with pride on this project and collaboration, where we were able to deliver an incredible application in an industrial setting. Helping to transform a brilliant idea into a project that exceeded expectations, there is simply no better reflection of our motto: “Living for the power to deliver”.

More information: 

Would you like more information about this collaboration, or are you interested in Schleifenbauer’s products and services in the area of power measurement and power distribution? Please visit our website or contact our sales team at info@schleifenbauer.eu. 

Download the case study as PDF-document: