Schneider Electric’s new Prisma Plus product - the Merlin Gerin low voltage distribution switchboard – is now available in different Gulf markets and the company’s panel builders are receiving training on the product.

The new product was introduced in the Gulf market in June, and recently Schneider Electric held a training seminar in Dubai, which was attended by around a dozen authorised panel builders and six official distributors.
The Prisma Plus low voltage distribution switchboard is designed to be fully integrated with Schneider Electric distribution, control and automation products. It offers a wide range of solutions, from the simplest through to the most sophisticated, for the production of switchboards up to 3,200 A. This comprehensive offer covers all electrical distribution and building utility control requirements for commercial and industrial applications.
“Prisma Plus is designed to simplify the switchboard life cycle, from product discovery, design, wiring, installation and operation, up to the management of its end-of-life increase in value,” a company spokesman said.
“Its switchboards are fully tested to comply with BSEN60439-1 and the offer includes both wall-mounted and floor-standing options from IP30 to IP55, fault levels of up to 85 kA for one second and form ratings up to Form 4b type 6. The new switchboard design offers savings in both build time and space, which gives the benefits of quicker delivery and smaller switchrooms.”
The training seminar was organised to officially introduce Prisma Plus to the authorised panel builders and to initiate a Prisma Partners Club, said Laurent Belle-Perat, external communications manager for EPS Schneider Electric, Riyadh Agency. Several official distributors also attended the event.
Belle-Perat said the panel builders had to go through the training because Prisma Plus was more than a replacement of Prisma since it had several new features. “These new assets had to be properly introduced because they are the key differentiation points for our partners versus the competitors’ offers.”
“The aesthetic re-look is not the only change. We designed Prisma Plus to offer more simplicity, more safety and more quality to the panel builders,” he said.
“With Prisma Plus the panel builders can reduce the mounting time while increasing the safety of the distribution and motor control switchboards for industrial and tertiary buildings.”
Belle-Perat said the Prisma boards were certainly an improvement over other distribution boards. “With its innovative busbar system, compact and fully protected against direct contact and associated to the current distribution blocks, the system offers by standard construction a fully IP20b (finger proof) degree of protection from top to bottom.
“Moreover, this unique architecture leads to a clear organisation of the installation through separate working areas for the different ‘players’ such as panel builders/contractors/end users, thus minimising the risk of mismatching between them.”
Prisma Plus distribution boards were first launched in Belgium in September 2003. Italy followed at the end of 2003 and most other European countries launched the system in 2004 while 2005 was the year for the rest of the world.
In the Gulf, Prisma Plus parts are available in the region through Schneider Electric official distributors. Already the Shopping Centre in Riyadh has been using the new product. Schneider provides all the different parts of the Prisma Plus panel board to the panel builder. The separate parts are then assembled according to the specifications of the customer.  Schneider does not send the finished product because one panel board is different from the other. “That is the strength of our production. We can adapt to all changes,” said Belle-Perat. The panel builders assemble the panel parts according to international standards and Schneider trains the panel builders.
Elsewhere, several prominent companies have been using it including IBM and hospitals in France, water sewage treatment plants in Ireland, the new exhibition centre in Milan, Italy and the Telecom building in New Zealand.
The manufacturing site is located in Montmelian, in the French Alps. The feedback is that customers are impressed by the ease of mounting and other features as well as the professional look of the finished product.
The authorised panel builders who attended the training seminar were: East & West, Hawad, Jamed, Electrical Modern Factory, Power Center, Sawary, Ba’amer, Shuman, Advanced Power, RFPB, NCEI, Al Amal, PSI. Al Ojami Factory and Saudi Transformers.
Participating official distributors were: Abunayan, Akel, Abdulkarim, Ghandourah, Ohod and Electric House.