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Control Cabinet-Free Automation Wins Two Product Design Awards

The MX-System receives the Red Dot Award in the highest category and the iF Design Award

May 11, 2023

Control Cabinet-Free Automation Wins Two Product Design Awards
The MX-System’s waterproof and dustproof design provides a highly flexible automation solution that eliminates control cabinets

In the MX-System, Beckhoff offers a flexible, space-optimized, and intelligent system solution that completely eliminates conventional control cabinets and can thus revolutionize the world of automation. Its pioneering product design contributes massively to its potential for innovation, and this was confirmed by the jury for the renowned Red Dot Award, as they have honored this product with the highest “Best of the Best” award category. This was further confirmed with the iF Design Award.

The MX-System is a standardized modular automation system consisting of an aluminum baseplate and function modules that can then simply be plugged into it. The system assembly, consisting of the baseplate and modules, is waterproof and dustproof and can be mounted directly on the machine without additional protective housing. The MX-System aspires to integrate into an incredibly diverse range of machines, both functionally and visually.

The Beckhoff development team therefore worked closely with the Adrian and Greiser design agency right from the outset. The result is a design concept that gives the MX-System a visual and ergonomic edge that reflects its unique range of functions. The design demonstrates the compactness and continuity of the system. Components such as IPCs, drives, and I/O assemblies have their own character, yet assembly and installation of the MX-System have been simplified to the maximum.

This innovative design concept also won over the Red Dot jury, consisting of around 50 international product design experts. Every year, this award honors industrially manufactured products which are outstanding in terms of their design quality: the products must be aesthetically pleasing, functional, smart, or innovative. In fact, the MX-System offers so many special features and benefits here that it was honored with the Red Dot: Best of the Best Award for groundbreaking design, the highest award in the competition. According to the jury, only the best products in a category receive this award. Another renowned jury, consisting of 132 design experts from 20 countries, is equally convinced. They awarded the MX system the iF Design Award 2023.

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MX-System

Related Product

MX-System Extended with Two Pneumatic Modules

Control cabinet-free automation now aso includes pneumatic valves. In November 2021, Beckhoff presented the MX-System: a completely new, holistic concept which aims to eliminated control cabinets. The basic concept aims to replace control cabinet wiring with a baseplate that allows a wide range of electronic modules to be automatically interconnected via standardized interfaces. All classic control cabinet functions are covered and pneumatic valves from Festo and SMC can now also be integrated directly with the help of two new modules.

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