Traditionally, mechanical, electrical and software elements have been strictly separated and developed in a rigid sequence. Today, these disciplines are merging into a more integrated mechatronic approach. This not only paves the way for more efficient parallel development, but also simplifies coordination between mechanical, electrical and software engineers. This is why B&R integrates existing expert tools into the Automation Studio development platform via interfaces that ensure full transparency and functionality. Automation Studio provides all the functions needed to develop and configure an automation solution – such as those for creating control and HMI applications, linking motion control components, safety technology and much more. Expert tools are integrated via open, transparent interfaces to provide specialized functionality – such as EPLAN Electric P8 for electrical planning.

Fischcon PV, the Dutch-based manufacturer of custom hydraulic packs and firefighting systems used in oil and gas exploration, found that creating a single, transparent process for managing the procurement of authorized components has accelerated order fulfillment and provided numerous customer benefits.

Farmington Hills, March 6, 2012: A new member has joined the North American Team of EPLAN Software & Services. Ray Gaynor has joined EPLAN as the President of the North American division.

Russia relies a great deal on localisedlocalized heat and power generation. For Impuls Industrial Boiler Plants, the opportunities for building or rebuilding large boiler houses that provides heat and power to communities, including remote industrial installations, represents a major growth market. Founded in 2002, the companyImpuls has pioneered development of modular, fully automated industrial boiler houses that don’tdo not require a human operator. A key reason for choosing EPLAN as the new design tool was the ability of the softwaresoftware’s ability to support electrical, process control and enclosure design on a shared platform. As a result, projects that typically took three months or more are now being completed in 5-6 weeks.

EPLAN Fluid power: New master data sets herald a new direction in mechanical design

Computer-aided engineering (CAE) software is the designer’s best friend, a tool proven to enhance the user’s productivity. It has liberated engineers from the most tedious aspects of their jobs, shortened project turnaround times and improved the quality and accuracy of their work. Today’s advanced electrical CAE (E-CAE) programs have automated many tasks, such as wire numbering and device tagging. Engineers are completing assignments that once took days or weeks in a fraction of the time. The latest generation of CAE programs such as EPLAN adds a powerful central database that enables them to provide substantial additional automation. This database can hold a large archive of recurrent content, ready for insertion into a project with a single keystroke. Engineers can convert project documentation into different languages or regional, national and international standards. This makes the database-centric CAE wellsuited for cross-country and cross-border collaborations or for serving a multinational customer base.

A new, comprehensive master data package for hydraulics now bridges the gap between fluid and mechanical design. More than 1000 new hydraulic macros in Eplan Fluid speeds up and simplify interdisciplinary documentation.

Knowing the sequence of operations is always helpful, especially in machine and plant design and the programming of their control systems. ’Eplan Operational Sequence’ now documents the functional timeline of a machine/plant by using convenient process descriptions. You have the choice between a functional diagram or a GRAFCET standard. PLC programmers will benefit from the seamless documentation, controlling the interactions of actuators and sensors.

What started with high-performance 3D mounting layout turned into an integrative "XL engineering solution" for enclosure layout. Design, 3D layout, production and mounting merge to form an integrated solution – plus more added-value.

Half a year has passed since Eplan Platform 2.0 was launched on the market, yet some of the over 1000 extensions are still unknown. Reason enough to examine this major release from surprisingly new perspectives and learn about the convincing and exciting logic extensions for schematic generation, revision control and language management in practice.