Cool award – Rittal cooling unit wins Best of Industry Award

28.02.2017 The readers have decided – Blue e+ from Rittal is one of the best products in 2017. Industry magazine MaschinenMarkt has honoured this generation of cooling units with the 2017 Best of Industry Award in the Automation category. The Vogel Business Media publishing group presents the award for solutions that have already won an industry award or have met with an outstanding market response. Voting was by a panel of experts and online readers.

“Top-class industry achievements” is how Hans-Jürgen Kuntze, publisher of trade magazine MaschinenMarkt, described the winning products in the 2017 Best of Industry Awards. In the Automation category, he was referring to Rittal’s highly efficient Blue e+ units. This generation of cooling units impressed the readers and panel of experts in equal measure. With their patented hybrid technology, the units cut energy consumption and CO2 emissions by an average of 75 percent, ensuring greater climate protection and cost savings in industry. The advanced temperature control system protects the sensitive control electronics and extends service life, thus preventing overheating and production stoppages. The units harness intelligent interfaces to communicate with their surroundings, report potential faults at an early stage and are compatible with mobile devices. “We’re delighted to accept this award,” says Frank Himmelhuber, Executive Vice President Research and Development at Rittal: “It shows Blue e+ is both an innovative product with substantial customer benefits and is helping to protect the environment.”

Victory secured by readers’ votes

The winners of the 2017 Best of Industry Award were decided by a two-stage evaluation process. The results of an online reader vote made up 60 percent of the overall result, with the votes of a panel of experts accounting for 40 percent. Just under 11,000 votes were cast online in eight categories in the space of just a few weeks. The experts judged the nominees according to the criteria of “level of technical innovation” and “benefits for industry, the environment and society”.

Blue e+ from Rittal met both criteria with flying colours and thus also won over the readers. This generation of cooling units represents a real quantum leap in energy efficiency. The innovative and patented hybrid technology consumed over 75 percent less energy in tests at prestigious car manufacturers. It utilises a combination of a compressor cooling unit and heat pipe. The compressor is only used when passive cooling is no longer sufficient. The units can also be operated flexibly in all standard grids worldwide thanks to their multi-voltage capability. Standardised communication interfaces support connection to Industry 4.0 structures. “The reader votes show we’re not just reaching our customers with the benefits of Blue e+, but also impressing them,” says Dirk Miller, Executive Vice President Marketing at Rittal.

Experts from trade journal Produktion and consultants Staufen AG honoured Blue e+ with the German Industry Innovation Award as the best product in 2015. In 2016, the cooling units won the international “Cooling Oscar” awarded by the British RAC cooling magazine.