Data Portal and eView - Eplan already offers these applications in the cloud. What is still missing, however, is a certain bracket around the individual products. With ePulse, an open, cloud-based system is now to take over this task; a cloud-based centerpiece, so to speak, for the cross-disciplinary and cross-interface work of engineers!

The Eplan system is to become the foundation for a network of cloud-based solutions that brings together data and projects, disciplines and engineers worldwide. Users now have free access via their Internet browser to applications that supplement the product world of the Eplan platform with additional functions along the data-based value chain. The ePulse system is to be kept open for various file formats and interfaces to systems from other providers.

Sebastian Seitz, CEO, is convinced of the success of the Eplan portal: "Our customers can already access 800,000 digitized device data today."

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The aim is for the Eplan platform to optimize processes and increase efficiency in the engineering phase. In concrete terms, this means that from Eplan's point of view, the digital twin of an enclosure will take center stage in the engineering phase in future. The twin is based on high-quality 3D data that depicts the enclosure and accessories. They are supplemented by project-relevant component and wiring information. This means that data can be extracted without media discontinuity and used in further sub-processes such as production, including wiring. Interdisciplinary engineering should also offer significant optimization potential. This makes it possible to store parameter data from smart sensors in a central location - in the Eplan project - and use it in the subsequent process.

Open, standardized interfaces such as AutomationML (AML) make this data available to any user. This is done without application-specific formats or data structures. Users can be, for example, machines for control cabinet or wire processing or even people who carry out wiring with the help of digital information. In the operating phase, this data should help to maximize system availability and minimize downtimes in the event of a fault. QR codes of installed components help to find them again and make their properties, such as part numbers and technical data, available for spare parts procurement at any point in the system and at any time via tablet or smartphone.

Collaboration desired

Eplan ePulse is designed to support the scenarios described. If the aforementioned project data is stored there, nothing stands in the way of access at any time and from any location. For this purpose, the project is shared with the necessary partners for collaboration purposes via Eplan eView. Companies are networked with their customers and suppliers to enable data to be exchanged easily and securely. The project is thus to become the central, digital model of an automation solution that is set up with various applications such as Eplan Electric P8, Pro Panel and Fluid and is available as a "single source of truth". The Eplan project ultimately supplies the downstream processes with the necessary data. Users can utilize the platform's services and at the same time tap into the added value of cloud-based services such as Eplan eView and Eplan Cogineer.

The portfolio to date

Eplan already offers three services - eVIEW, Cogineer and Data Portal - for the cloud-based system ePulse:

• eView makes the engineering projects generated in the Eplan platform available in the cloud. This means that project data can be viewed anywhere and at any time. Using the redlining function, service technicians and production employees can also note suggested changes in the circuit diagram. Engineering has an overview of all comments, edits them and has control over the up-to-dateness of the final project data.
• Compiling circuit diagrams from a template library with just a few clicks - in future, this will be possible directly in the browser using the cloud version of Cogineer in ePulse. This means that circuit diagrams can be created based on the Eplan templates provided.
• Combining device and component data from a growing network of manufacturers in one application - that is the aim of the Data Portal. Users can access the data directly via the browser and also evaluate its quality. Manufacturers thus receive valuable feedback from the community. Users, in turn, benefit from the constantly increasing volume of data at a constantly increasing level of quality.

Engineering 4.0 study

The 'European 4.0 Transformation Center' (E4TC) at the RWTH Aachen Campus has produced the "Engineering 4.0" study together with Eplan. The study took a closer look at the strategic digitalization of design at German mechanical engineering companies, engineering offices and equipment manufacturers.

In preparing the study, the researchers focused on the fields of engineering, design, parts lists, reports, control cabinet construction as well as articles and templates. An important finding of the study is that companies literally have it in their own hands to tap into time and cost-saving potential in precisely these areas through standardization and automation projects. The path to greater efficiency in the value chain is therefore mapped out from traditional methods to standardization and automation. In order to evaluate the efficiency of each work step, the study scales the methodology workflow into five stages, within which the efficiency levels (eLevel) of engineering can be located.

Rising potential

From the data collected, the scientists deduce that companies can become 20% more efficient from eLevel to eLevel and that the time required to create a circuit diagram is halved from level to level. For example, 10% effort for standardization enables a 50% faster creation of a circuit diagram. 25% time savings in circuit diagram creation are achieved with the device-oriented method. Users save half the time when creating circuit diagrams with a circuit library for product functions. 75% less effort in checking circuit diagrams is achieved by using a comprehensive circuit library. And 100% time savings in the creation of all reports can be achieved through standardization.

Interested parties can request the study free of charge on the Internet.