Control cabinet wiring was a central focus at Weidmüller’s Automate 2026 booth. The company demonstrated how its SNAP IN connection technology allows conductors to be terminated without tools or ferrules before showing the same process performed by a robotic cell.

The demonstrations coincided with Schneider Electric’s announcement that it is incorporating the technology into its TeSys motor control portfolio, beginning with TeSys Deca contactors, manual motor controllers and control relays. The collaboration brings a toolless contactor to the U.S. market that can cut motor control installation time by up to 75% for OEMs and panel builders.

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Spring-clamp connections have long offered an alternative to traditional screw terminals. Weidmüller’s focus at Automate was on using the technology to simplify manual wiring while making automated wire termination practical.

Demonstrating Tool-Free Termination

During a live demonstration, Hannah Witopil, product manager for rail-mounted components at Weidmüller USA, inserted a stripped, fine-stranded conductor directly into a terminal without a ferrule or screwdriver. Once seated, Witopil explained, the connection provides audible, tactile and visual confirmation that the wire is properly terminated. “It gives you a ton of feedback that leaves no uncertainty of the state of the termination,” she said.

The system uses a preloaded spring mechanism that requires very little insertion force. Witopil described it as a “digital” connection because installers know immediately whether the wire is properly seated. “It’s either zero or one—it’s terminated or not. There is absolutely no question about it,” she said. 

Because the connection relies on spring force rather than screw torque, it also eliminates the periodic retorquing that is often associated with conventional screw terminals.

Extending Automation to Cabinet Wiring

Witopil then demonstrated the same technology in a robotic wiring cell. The system cut, stripped and measured wire before routing it to a power supply and SNAP IN-equipped terminal blocks. With virtually no insertion force and no screwdriver torque sequence required, the wire termination process can be automated. 

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“SNAP IN technology has for the first time made automated wiring a possibility,” Witopil said. “It takes almost zero insertion force to land that wire, and that’s what makes it possible.” 

The robotic cell builds on Weidmüller’s existing automation for DIN rail assembly, component placement and marking, extending automation into one of the most labor-intensive stages of control panel assembly.