30 % design time reduction

AARTEC Engineering, located in Nunspeet, The Netherlands, has been involved in the planning and design of electrical engineering hardware for more than ten years. The company implements hardware engineering solutions and is active as a turn-key project partner on behalf of various industries and segments. Their expertise portfolio also includes consulting services for automation projects in all areas of engineering. "EPLAN Electric P8 is essentially a complete design department, but with many more possibilities.” The appreciation that CEO Aart Franken from the Dutch company, AARTEC Engineering, expresses for the new CAE dimension, is easily substantiated with hard facts. Aftermigrating to EPLAN Electric P8, AARTEC was able to lower design time by 30%. This also pleases customers from the automotive and packaging industries to mechanical and process engineering to the construction industry and offshore plants. After all, shorter project times result in shorter delivery times. Heart of the design
CEO Aart Franken was immediately taken with the new EPLAN Electric P8 when it was introduced 3 years ago. “Almost all electrical engineers use EPLAN to create drawings. But this new version can do much more than its predecessors. If you use all of its potential, EPLAN Electric P8 really becomes the heart of the entire design. EPLAN links electrical engineering design processes with other design areas such as software, hydraulics and pneumatics. At the end, there is a single piece of documentation for the entire project.” Pole position among competitors
When customers contemplate migrating to EPLAN Electric P8, Aart Franken, CEO of AARTEC Engineering and an electrical engineer himself, recommends doing the job thoroughly. “Half-hearted migration doesn't pay. It would be a shame to only use half of the new functions. Then you stay stuck in place while the competition gallops away.” Good news
However, he did notice that many customers shied away from the high administration costs. "In this regard, I have good news: They are much less than feared. Of course you have to make a one-time investment. The most time is spent on improving the parts database. To best reap the benefits of EPLAN, more part function information simply needs to be available. This is also an opportunity to really clean up the parts database, which is often quite cluttered. EPLAN Data Portal
The EPLAN Data Portal, which provides device data from numerous component manufacturers in a webbased form, promises another productivity improvement opportunity through the wealth of well-structured information that is immediately available. Order numbers for procurement, technical macros for creating schematics, location drawings for equipment, function templates for intelligent device selection and preview screens – all of which can be transferred simply and effectively by dragging-and-dropping from the EPLAN Data Portal into the CAE project. This effectively does away with the time-consuming creation of your own master data. The result is faster delivery due to more intelligent planning, more reliable mounting and better wiring. Automatic part selection
As an experienced engineer, Aart Franken is well-acquainted with everyday pitfalls: “Who isn't familiar with the never-ending search for the perfect part? A fresh start with EPLAN Electric P8 brings immediate benefits, such as automatic part selection. This, personally, saves me a lot of time, because EPLAN simply conjures the part up on the screen – along with everything else that you need to know about that part – downloaded directly from the Internet.” Keyword: EPLAN Data Portal. Effective collaboration
Aart Franken finds that EPLAN also has an impact on communication in other engineering fields and processes. “How much time is otherwise wasted typing in parts list for purchasing or IO lists for the PLC programmer? Thanks to the precise interfaces in EPLAN Electric P8, this is once and for all a thing of the past.” EPLAN Electric P8 produces the relevant documents and files for the assembly, purchasing and software departments, on paper and in electronic form. “In addition, EPLAN Electric P8 can be linked directly to purchasing systems for fast and error free data integration.” Sensible migration
Aart Franken introduced the new EPLAN Electric P8 version in his company right away. He also supported various customers during the migration to the new version. In this respect, Franken can be considered a migration expert. “When the symbol library, plot frames, forms, parts, dictionaries and macros have been correctly converted, then it is easy to import EPLAN 5 projects into EPLAN Electric P8.” However, Franken emphasized the importance of a well-thought out procedure: “Before the migration, everything should be realistically planned. Enthusiastic management support is also important. With these fundamental prerequisites in place, migration can be carried out in phases with bright prospects of success.” Using EPLAN Electric P8, AARTEC reduced its own design times by a full 30%.