Case study · 2024–2026
Outdoor network cabinets for a utility communications program
Electric utility communications (via an industrial networking OEM). Scope: electrical design, drawings and BOM, UL 508A shop assembly, configuration loading and test, serialization, labeling and staged shipping.
The challenge
An industrial networking manufacturer supplies a utility with field communications cabinets. Each one is an outdoor NEMA 4 enclosure built around:
- a cellular router and managed industrial switch;
- a UPS with battery backup;
- a combined LTE/GNSS antenna;
- fiber and power entry.
The cabinets go out in batches of a few to several dozen. Each has to match the approved drawing and arrive ready to deploy, with its serial data on record.
What we did
- Owned the drawings and bill of materials. Our electrical design engineer redesigned the wiring when the program moved to an integrated cellular router, which removed a separate controller. Bottom-entry cutouts, a fiber entry port, a power-entry connector, a mechanical ground connector for the utility's #4 ground, a door-to-enclosure ground strap and Corning fiber housings were added as the requirements firmed up. We sent the revised layout and wiring drawings to the customer and had them signed off before production.
- Built in stainless and fiberglass. The stainless runs use pre-punched Hammond enclosures. The program has used both fiberglass and stainless versions, chosen to suit the climate where the cabinets are deployed.
- Built in batches:
- runs from about ten cabinets to several dozen at a time, the largest shipping as a single multi-pallet load;
- a year-long order delivered in 2026.
That is well over 100 cabinets since the program began.
- Tested every unit, and configured units where the run called for it:
- confirmed the UPS charges its batteries;
- set the temperature/humidity controller to the utility's set-points and sealed it with tamper tape;
- loaded the OEM-supplied network configuration onto the switch, following the OEM's written procedure;
- recorded our serial number alongside the device serial numbers and addresses in the OEM's shared tracking sheet.
- Labeled and shipped to instruction. Every cabinet carries an "Assembled by Gross Automation" serial tag, plus the utility's location labels inside, outside and on the box. Orders were palletized together and released with the OEM's packing lists for each delivery site.
The result
The OEM has repeated the cabinet across several production runs, and the most recent batch shipped in 2026. Design updates for future rounds are under discussion with the OEM.
What it shows: repeat-batch production of a standard design, drawing and BOM ownership through design changes, outdoor and stainless enclosure work, unit-level test and serialization, and logistics to the customer's own instructions.