Web tool helps to plan cabinet-free automation systems
30 April 2026 
At the recent Hannover Messe, Beckhoff unveiled a Web-based engineering tool for planning control-cabinet-free automation systems. The MX-System Designer tool can be used to configure actuators, I/O modules, drives and power supplies in a structured manner and to evaluate key aspects of the electrical system design at the planning stage. It is designed to be used with Beckhoff’s MX-System technology which redefines the hardware architecture of machine automation by avoiding the need for traditional control cabinets.
The tool will help machine-builders to model and validate the electrification of modular systems – from energy supplies to connected peripherals.
Beckhoff emphasises that the tool is not a conventional product configurator. It is not designed to support the selection of individual components, but rather to facilitate structured planning of a machine’s electrical architecture. It first defines actuators, motors and sensors, based on the machine function. This is used to define drive module, I/O module, and communication interface requirements.
After this, the tool determines how these functions are distributed to baseplates and how the energy supply is structured. Rather than designing a control cabinet, the tool is used to is plan a machine’s entire electrification, from its energy supply, through power and I/O levels, to connected peripherals.
A key element in the planning process is the structured cable layout. The MX-System Designer helps to choose suitable pre-assembled cables. It takes cable lengths, electrical properties, and topological relationships within the machine into account. This can be done as early as the concept phase.
In addition to structural planning, the tool also evaluates the system configuration technically. Automatic checks of key aspects of the electrical system design can therefore be carried out at the planning stage.
