In this article, we will take a closer look at the changes that are imminent in the CAD world, particularly for the field of application of enclosure manufacturers. And the changes start at the factual level of software use: in addition to the classic engineering solutions that this clientele uses in its own IT landscape, interfaces and cloud-based applications offer enormous potential for greater data consistency and consistent digitalization. This applies both within the company itself, but also in particular when collaborating with partners and clients in the industrial automation ecosystem. In addition, new licensing models from software providers - subscription, SaaS - enable a decisive increase in flexibility with professional engineering solutions.

The cloud benefit provider

The user decides whether the data for the projects to be processed should be stored in their own IT landscape, i.e. on premise, or in the cloud. The new concept, which is explained in this article using the example of Eplan Platform 2022, is not tied to the use of the cloud. However, it only unfolds the full extent of its advantages with it. These advantages include location-independent electrical engineering. This already existed in the days before the cloud, with emails and FTP servers. However, the Eplan Cloud now gives customers the opportunity to give all project participants access to the current and identical data status.

The advantage is that electrical engineers and other project participants can now work with consistent data. The central provision of data simplifies the handling of project versions and changes and facilitates collaboration within the project team. Clear access authorization determines who can view and change which data. Depending on requirements, the project manager can define an authorization and release the project for a colleague or the customer. This makes collaboration across locations, departments and the product life cycle much easier than before. This increases the quality of projects and productivity because, for example, coordination between project participants is much faster and discrepancies can be identified earlier. It increases transparency and simplifies the installation and commissioning of control cabinets on site, for example, because commissioning engineers can always call up the current data status via laptop. What's more, they can use redlining/greenlining to directly document changes that occur on site and pass them back to their colleagues in engineering. This also increases the quality of the design data and ensures a consistent 'as built' status.

These new possibilities are not only interesting for large companies working on international projects. If, for example, control cabinet and mechanical engineering companies work together, it is just as advantageous if they have consistent data and can use one and the same digital platform in the cloud - especially as such a platform does not have to be 'built' or operated and maintained. At Eplan, for example, it is part of the scope of the cloud offering. This means that companies can share, mirror and exchange the status of their projects virtually free of charge and without any administrative effort.

A must: Define standards!

This significantly expanded type of collaboration - which is also characterized by the fact that all participants can be both senders and receivers - brings with it new freedoms. However, this also means that users and those who collaborate with them should define standards. Both for the process - when are project statuses shared? - as well as for the way in which changes and comments are entered and edited.

Such standards can be stored in an editor system, for example, which also defines the type of collaboration with the respective customer on the shared software platform - whether in the cloud or 'on premise'. In addition to the added value of efficient and comprehensive communication and coordination, this also opens the door to new business models.

'Digital twin' business model

Some Eplan users have already developed and implemented ideas in this regard. A northern German enclosure manufacturer, for example, which primarily works on very complex projects for energy systems, large ships and hospitals, offers its customers access to the latest documentation via a QR code on the enclosure - for the entire service life of the system. In this way, it is expanding its range of services and maintaining permanent contact with the end user of the control cabinets, providing them with a comprehensive 'digital twin' of the switchgear. This also eliminates the need for paper documentation - saving time, effort and costs.

New license options - new opportunities

If cloud-based software products are available according to the software as a service model, this also simplifies the first steps towards the cloud. At the same time, the new extended options also simplify interaction with on-premise solutions. Users do not have to implement a new software module in their infrastructure or migrate to a new version. The applications, which are tailored precisely to the task at hand, reduce training and are generally intuitive to use. He can simply try out the new way of working with a project - and does not have to coordinate this with his customers in the first step, for whom nothing changes in the collaboration until the new possibilities are also used in the collaboration.

It is all the easier to try things out if the first new services and offers are available free of charge. This applies to Eplan eView Free, for example. With the help of this tool, projects in Eplan can be shared with other participants: across the entire value chain - from engineering to production and assembly to service and maintenance - and without media discontinuity. This applies to circuit diagrams as well as control cabinet design and also includes fluid technology - if it was planned with Eplan. A first option for cloud-based collaboration, which is free of charge if the user is registered in the Eplan cloud environment.

At the same time, users can take advantage of new collaboration options. This is because the latest version of the tool includes AR functionality through a combination with the free Vuforia app from PTC. This means that the enclosure manufacturer can present the virtual model of the planned enclosure - which does not yet exist in reality - to the customer or end user in the real environment. This is more than just a marketing tool, as it allows the customer to see how the enclosure will integrate into the production environment.