The need for digitalization in panel building

The panel building profession has transformed in recent decades. Control panels and control cabinets are now assembled, which makes considerable cost savings possible. But there are still plenty of challenges in panel building, says John de Krijger of Fedet, which includes the Federation of Panel Building.

During the very first Panelbouw online knowledge day, on Tuesday 21 September, De Krijger will give a lecture on this subject. We spoke to him briefly.

According to De Krijger, there are a number of specific challenges within panel building: “The shortage of skilled workers is a bottleneck, the level of knowledge is a bottleneck and the safeguarding of laws and regulations is one. Because in fact, digitalization needs to happen quickly and the regulations need to be safeguarded in the drawings.”

“The problem now lies partly with the training courses, but the question is whether you can incorporate all the laws and regulations into a training course. For example, can you ask a panel builder whether he knows the installation dimensions by heart and how they should be installed? I don't think that's feasible,” he says. “You're talking about MBO middle management engineering training courses. Or electrical engineering.”

Moreover, this technology sector is also crying out for skilled workers. “But nowadays, people no longer learn to work with their hands and have knowledge of a specific component,” sighs De Krijger. “You can therefore ask yourself whether you are not vulnerable as an entrepreneur. Imagine you have three panel builders with a great deal of knowledge working on the floor. But when they leave, the question immediately arises: how are you going to secure the work? How are you going to get that knowledge back into new people?”

Yet there is a solution, says De Krijger: far-reaching digitalisation in the sector where assembly is now the norm: “There is a need for digitalisation and a need for a blueprint of a design. The entire process of panel building must therefore be digitalised. It will come as no surprise to my target group that this is necessary and there is progress to be made there, but the problem is: we do not have that data yet. So we have to create such data ourselves. There is currently no library with templates, for example, that we can get started with. So I think this problem is underestimated.”

During his lecture, De Krijger wants to raise this issue with his supporters. Other challenges, such as de-globalization, will also be discussed. Would you like to attend this lecture online? sign up for this online knowledge day.