Growing in the face of international competition is a major challenge for industrial companies, especially in Europe and Germany. Artificial intelligence now offers completely new opportunities, particularly for mechanical and plant engineering. At the Hannover Messe 2025, Eplan and Rittal will be demonstrating how AI can help companies to move forward in the future with a number of use cases, including with Siemens and Microsoft. The message: AI-driven industrial automation is the future. And there are more top tech innovations in store for visitors, such as Rittal’s Direct Liquid Chip Cooling, which is the first technological application of AI in data centres. There are also innovations in Eplan software, Rittal power distribution and enclosure technology, and in copper processing with Rittal Automation Systems.
‘AI leadership and software expertise, combined with in-depth industry knowledge, are the most relevant levers for a new growth curve and international competitiveness for industrial companies,’ said Prof. Dr. 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 is AI-driven – especially in the field of plant engineering. Eplan and Rittal are driving industrial automation with AI and demonstrating how this technology will advance mechanical and plant engineering in the future.’ At the Hannover Messe, the two Friedhelm Loh Group companies are offering specific answers to the question of how AI will soon be helping electrical engineers and planners in their daily work in new ways. Eplan and Rittal have already put together use cases – such as the AI-supported generation of mounting plate layouts based on the Microsoft Azure Open AI Service. Eplan is working with Siemens on far-reaching end-to-end integration that will digitise and automate the entire engineering process in the future. ‘When AI systems can interact with each other independently and across the board, we will take customer benefits to a whole new level. Particularly in the field of automation technology, there are significant efficiency gains, for example in the reduction of planning time. AI-supported tools enable developers to simulate various scenarios in just a few minutes that would previously have taken days or even weeks. This not only saves time, but also significantly improves the quality of the results,’ says Sebastian Seitz, CEO of Eplan. The goal is clear: to make AI usable in existing solutions according to the specific requirements of industry and to automate the entire engineering process.
AI needs data – of the highest quality and standardised
The basis for any automation, right up to the use of AI, is first-class data. This challenge fully meets the requirement that Eplan established years ago with the Data Standard (EDS) – fully described, standardised article data. The Eplan Data Portal now offers users over four million data records. Eplan will also be presenting the upcoming Eplan Platform 2026 in Hanover. Visitors will be given a sneak preview of the functional enhancements to the engineering solutions.
Is your IT infrastructure ready for AI?
The Hanover trade fair showcases a wide range of AI applications that promise revolutionary benefits for the business location. But are data centres ready for it? Computing power and power density for AI represent uncharted technological territory, as they exceed the physical limits of established air cooling. Rittal is showcasing a new coolant distribution unit (CDU) that delivers over 1 megawatt of cooling output with direct chip cooling based on water, thereby making data centres suitable for AI applications for the first time.
New standard boosts speed of power distribution
The digital transformation and energy transition require power – lots of power! The new RiLineX system platform speeds up the construction of power distribution, for example in panel building and switchgear manufacturing, with assembly time savings of up to 75%. At the trade fair, Rittal is presenting eight new complete boards in the most common control cabinet widths for 550A and 800A or 380kW and 500kW. With a consistent platform approach, the company is driving international standardisation and has initiated an ecosystem with technology partners who develop components ‘Ready for RiLineX’, which connect directly to the board. At the exhibition, Rittal is introducing new partners who cover a wide range of future-proof applications for alternating and direct current. The new products also include copper processing machines from Rittal Automation Systems, such as the BT 20E Bending Terminal, and new system enclosures. The new AX IT Nano DC, for example, protects the growing IT infrastructure, such as servers and switches, in harsh industrial environments. The AX compact enclosures are also available in new sizes, which are particularly suitable for use as underfloor enclosures or for logistics conveyor applications.
