SAVAGE, Minnesota, June 9, 2026 — Beckhoff’s MX-System Designer is a web-based engineering tool that supports the planning and design of cabinet-free automation systems. This tool enables users to configure MX-System controllers, actuators, I/O modules, drive technology and power supplies in a structured and efficient manner. It also helps perform technical evaluations of key electrical system design requirements during the planning stage. The MX-System Designer is free of charge and only requires a myBeckhoff account to get started.
With the MX-System, Beckhoff has redefined the hardware architecture of machine automation by eliminating traditional control cabinets. The MX-System Designer now extends this architecture with a convenient planning tool that maps and evaluates the control technology for cabinet-free machines. Machine builders can use it to model and validate the electrification of modular systems — from the energy supply to connected peripherals.
The MX-System Designer is not a conventional product configurator. Instead of focusing on the selection of individual components, it is designed to support structured planning of the electrical architectures of machines. First, actuators, motors and sensors are defined based on the machine’s functionality. This in turn defines the drive module, I/O module and communication interface requirements. The next step is to determine how these functions are distributed to baseplates and how the energy supply is structured. Rather than only planning a control cabinet, the tool maps the entire electrification of the machine.
A critical aspect of planning automation systems and machine designs is a structured cable layout. The MX-System Designer helps select suitable pre-assembled cables and takes cable lengths, electrical properties and topological relationships within the machine into account. This creates a transparent wiring structure and enables technical evaluations to be carried out as early as the concept phase. In addition to structural planning, the MX-System Designer also supports technical evaluation of the system configuration. As a result, key aspects of the electrical system design can be automatically checked and validated as early as the planning stage.