Motor control has evolved from simple bimetallic overloads and fuses to sophisticated networked controllers that can provide advanced motor diagnostics, improved energy management, less field wiring, faster installation time and easier maintenance.

By taking into account your project’s motor control center requirements early in the design process, Wunderlich-Malec teams include it in the architectural and building layout space planning process, which includes:

• MCC plan and elevation drawings
• Bus sizing, fusing and breaker selection
• Manufacturer evaluation and selection
• Power and conduit routing
• Heating and cooling loads
• Floor loading

The implementation of an MCC design that is both cost effective and meets your requirements for safety, energy savings, process operation and ease of maintenance may include the following or a subset of the following:

• Incorporating I/O and/or controller panels into MCC structure, either as full-section supervisory panels or partial MCC section(s).
• Designing for manufacturer pre-wired I/O starter buckets to reduce field installation costs.
• Networking to intelligent motor starters and VFD’s to further reduce field wiring and installation costs.
• Utilizing communication networks to monitor and gather motor performance data for analysis, troubleshooting and maintenance.
• Presenting real-time and historical motor data—such as current, current/phase, electronic overload percent usage and time-to-trip—that can be used by operators and maintenance personnel.
• Incorporating e-stop zone and safety circuit requirements into the MCC design to efficiently utilize safety contactors to stop equipment and motor groupings.