Data centres are fundamental to the modern world, and the industry is one of the most demanding manufacturing segments.
Suppliers must guarantee high quality, reliable delivery, and full documentation, as project delays can lead to significant financial losses.
Much of the foundation of data centres relies on fabricated metal parts. The server rack (a cabinet designed to hold, protect, and cool equipment) is one of the most recognised components and serves as the physical foundation for the entire site.
Challenges and requirements (Data centre components)
Components, such as racks, enclosers, and airflow panels, must meet strict requirements to ensure long-term operational stability.
- Rack cabinets are generally highly standardized. Small deviations can compromise cooling efficacy and prevent seamless assembly with third-party components. Tight dimensional tolerances are required (typically within ±0.1–0.3 mm, depending on the component).
- Parts must be perfectly sized and bent. Consistent bending angles are essential, as repeatability in bend directly affects structural fit and rigidity.
- Production capacity must be able to scale instantly. Data centre projects often require high-volume output within very short time windows, meaning the manufacturing process must handle rapidly increased demand without compromising quality.
- Panels and doors must maintain high stiffness while using relatively thin sheet metal to manage weight and cost. Low vibration levels are valued during both assembly and operation.
- Materials must meet specific fire ratings and corrosion resistance standards, complying with ESD and EMC regulations.
- Finishes should be free of scratches. Coating thickness is precisely controlled for both aesthetic and functional performance.
Component specifications
Manufacturing for data centre applications typically includes the production of rack and cabinet structures, cable management channels, connections and junction boxes and mechanical frames for server modules. These generally fall into the following technical groupings:
| Component type: | Material Thickness: |
|---|---|
| Frame uprights and brackets | 1.5–2.5 mm steel |
| Side panels | 0.8–1.2 mm steel / aluminum |
| Doors (perforated or solid) | 1.0–1.5 mm steel |
| Cable management | 0.8–1.0 mm |
| Airflow components | 0.6–1.0 mm aluminum / thin galvanized sheet |
| Equipment’s rails | 1.5–2.0 mm steel |
| Top and bottom panels | 1.2–1.5 mm steel |
Special focus: Copper busbars
Copper busbars are among the most critical components in data centre electrical distributions, making their manufacturing quality essential.
Punching
Hole location accuracy is crucial to ensure proper alignment with connectors, and bolts. Surface flatness is also important, as contact areas are sometimes ground or machined to achieve optimal electrical conductivity.
Bending
If a bend angle is slightly inaccurate (±0.5–1°), the busbar may fail to connect correctly to the USP or power board. Precision forming is essential.
These requirements make precision forming, bending, and finishing essential parts of copper busbar manufacturing for data centre applications.
Process and material
The manufacturing volume for data centre components is rarely stable. The manufacturing demand is driven by unpredictable production peaks.
Volume: Data centre demand is changeable, requiring high-volume capacity with extreme flexibility to manage sudden spikes and drops in order size.
Material: Materials vary but require high safety and shielding properties (for example steel, aluminium, copper for busbars).
Solutions (Data centre components)
Pivatic’s scalable production technology is built to handle the uncompromising demands and volume fluctuations of the data centre industry.
Pivatic lines can process galvanized steel, stainless steel and aluminum. All of the production steps are handled from raw material processing, punching, bending– all the way up to assembling.
To meet the standards of data centre production, Pivatic lines feature a flexible Thick Turret punching station with quick-change tool cassettes, used for standard holes. The wall mounting embossing, bottom plate knockouts, or clinching tabs can be cut and formed in several ways. For a large number or unfixed location of the features the suggestion is to use special F-size tools in the flexible punching station. For standard size embossing’s or knockouts, the most efficient solution is to add a press tool station in addition to the flexible punching station.
Meeting the challenges for bending depends on the production method. For U-frame manufacturing, Pivatic bending machines can be applied directly after the punching solution – and provide one of the fastest available cycle times for mass production. Mounting plate kit production and small series sizes of different parts require a highly flexible panel bender for which Pivatic offers to integrate external panel benders such as RAS Multibend Center.
To complete the enclosure frame production, our lines can integrate corner welding, spot-welding robot, assembly robot, or a direct connection to a painting line. Our offering also includes order management systems in between the systems.
To discuss how our machines can meet your manufacturing needs, contact our technical sales team.