The future of industry is AI-driven: EPLAN & Rittal to highlight AI-driven industrial automation at Hannover Messe
Hannover Messe 2025
Growing the business in the face of international competition is a constant challenge for industrial companies, above all in Europe and most particularly in Germany. As a result of artificial intelligence, a whole host of opportunities are also at the same time presented, especially in mechanical, electrical, process and plant engineering. At Hannover Messe 2025, EPLAN and Rittal will demonstrate how AI can help companies drive forward and be ready for the future with several practical and real-life project case studies, involving Siemens and Microsoft. The theme: AI-driven industrial automation is the future. What’s more, visitors will be able to see other high-tech innovations, including Rittal’s Direct Liquid Chip Cooling, which makes AI applications in data centres technologically possible in the first place. There are also innovations and developments in EPLAN software, Rittal power distribution and enclosure technology, as well as copper processing and machining with Rittal Automation Systems.
Professor Niko Mohr: “AI leadership and software expertise combined with deep industry knowledge are the key levers for a new growth curve and international competitiveness for industrial companies.”
“AI leadership and software expertise combined with deep industry knowledge are the key levers for a new growth curve and international competitiveness for industrial companies,” says Professor Niko Mohr, member of the Executive Board of the Friedhelm Loh Group and CEO of Rittal International and Rittal Software Systems. He adds: “The future will be driven by AI, especially in plant planning, design and engineering. EPLAN and Rittal are pioneering and advancing industrial automation forward through AI and showing how this technology will improve mechanical, electrical, process and plant engineering tomorrow.”
At Hannover Messe, these two Friedhelm Loh Group companies will provide answers how AI will soon be helping electrical designers, engineers and planners improve their daily work in new and innovative ways. EPLAN and Rittal have already put together real-life project case studies, like the AI-assisted generation of mounting plate layouts based on Microsoft Azure Open AI Service. EPLAN is working with Siemens on extensive end-to-end integration that will digitise and automate the entire engineering process in the future. “If AI systems can interconnect with each other, both across the board and independently, we will raise the benefits for customers to a whole new level. In automation technology, for example, there are considerable efficiency gains to be had, such as a reduction in costly design and planning time. AI-assisted tools allow developers to simulate a variety of different scenarios in just a few minutes, something that would previously have taken days or even weeks. This not only saves time but also significantly and consistently improves the quality of the outcomes,” says Sebastian Seitz, CEO of EPLAN. The ambition and objective is quite clear: To utilise AI in current solutions to meet industry’s specific requirements and to automate the entire engineering process.
Sebastian Seitz: “If AI systems can interconnect with each other, both across the board and independently, we will raise the benefits for customers to a whole new level.”
AI needs data – of the highest quality and in standardised formats
The basis for any automation solution, even if using AI, is first-class data. This challenge is met by the requirement that EPLAN established years ago with the EDS data standard, i.e. fully detailed, documented and standardised article data. Now, the EPLAN Data Portal contains over four million data records for users. Moreover, in Hanover, Eplan will present the upcoming EPLAN Platform 2026. As a preview, visitors will gain the first insights into functional expansions to the engineering solutions.
Is current IT infrastructure AI-ready?
The Hannover Messe is showcasing a wide range of AI applications that promise revolutionary economic benefits. But are data centres ready? Computing power and power density for AI represent new technological territory, as the physical limits of established and existing air cooling are exceeded. Rittal is showcasing a completely new type of Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU) that uses direct water-based chip cooling to deliver over 1 megawatt of cooling output, thereby enabling data centres to be used for AI applications in the first place.
EPLAN and Rittal provide answers how AI will soon be helping electrical designers, engineers and planners improve their daily work in new and innovative ways.
Consistent standardisation accelerates power distribution
Digital transformation and energy transition require electrical power – and lots of it! The new RiLineX system platform speeds up the production of power distribution in control and switchgear construction, so that time savings of up to 75% can be achieved during assembly. At the trade fair, Rittal will present eight new distribution boards in the standard enclosure widths for 550 A and 800 A or 380 kW and 500 kW. With a systemised platform approach, the company is driving forward international standardisation. It has launched a network of technology partners who are developing ‘Ready for RiLineX’ components that can be directly connected through a click system to the distribution board. At the trade fair, Rittal will introduce new partners who cover a wide, future-proof range of applications for AC and DC current.
New products also on show include copper processing machines from Rittal Automation Systems, like the Bending Terminal BT 20E, as well as new system enclosure solutions. For example, the new AX IT Nano DC safeguards and protects ever-growing IT infrastructure, such as servers and switches, in harsh industrial environments. AX compact enclosures are now also available in new sizes that are particularly suitable for use with underfloor enclosures or for logistics conveyor applications.
