All customers of Hanseatic Power Solutions (HPS) have one thing in common: they operate large energy systems. Michael Grenz, Commercial Director, explains: "We focus largely on switchgear for energy technology, especially for emergency power generators, for example in power plants and public buildings. Another field of application is control systems for compressor systems on ships." The company also uses its own products such as control units and control panels.

The company was only founded in 2009 as a spin-off from a larger group of companies and now employs almost 80 people - including many planners, as the systems are always individually designed and reach enormous dimensions. Christoph Lange, Head of Project Management: "In our largest project to date, we planned and built 140 meters of switch cabinets for the emergency power supply of a power plant." Among other things, these switchgear units are used to control the cooling water and oil preheating of 44 diesel engines.

Rapid throughput

High power and high currents: A correspondingly large amount of copper is installed in the switchgear from HPS.

© HPS

Although these are mostly large projects and all of them are batch size 1 systems, the deadlines that the company sets itself are very tight. Michael Grenz: "For the planning, approval, construction and delivery of the switchgear, we reckon with six to eight weeks from the order being placed. And we can often do it much faster than that."

This requires a speedy planning process and perfect processes in switch cabinet assembly. An important prerequisite for this was created with the Eplan platform, which is used across the board. The electrical planners work with the Eplan tools Electric P8 and Pro Panel for enclosure construction. Their ambition is to automate repetitive tasks as far as possible. For example, the engineers have created macros for individual functions such as cooling water preheating, which significantly speeds up the planning process.

Copper' extension module

The 'Copper' Pro Panel module simplifies the planning and production of busbars. Minimum distances and disturbance variables are taken into account in the virtual model.

© HPS

The switchgear and control system manufacturer recently added the Copper extension module from Eplan Pro Panel to the platform, which supports the planning and production of busbars and busbars. Christoph Lange: "We plan low-voltage switchgear up to 6300 A, power distribution boards up to 5000 A and medium-voltage switchgear up to 24 kV. That's why a lot of copper is used in the switch cabinets."

The module allows the busbars to be virtually installed in the 3D model of the (also still virtual) switchgear cabinet. The planner then simply transfers the results to the overall project. Not only are the contours of the copper busbars defined, but the drill holes are also placed automatically. According to Christoph Lange, this offers significant advantages: "Previously, the employees measured and marked before each work step. Now they can simply work according to the drawing when cutting to length, bending and drilling. This saves time and the result also looks better. In addition, you can show the customer the 3D view of the enclosure, including the copper rails, during the development process. That goes down very well with our customers."

Automated production

While the copper rails are processed manually, the processing of the control cabinets is fully automated. Eplan Pro Panel is used here. After approval, the data from the solution for the 3D control cabinet design is sent to a sheet metal processing system, which automatically drills the holes. The working method for cable assembly is similar. The same software is also used for routing. Christoph Lange: "We send the data record to an external assembly service provider. We then receive the desired cables in a short space of time - with a high level of detail, including special labeling of individual wires."

Connection to the ERP system

Once the planning has been approved by the customer, the project planners send the complete plan, including 3D view and parts list, to the ERP system. Purchasing and work preparation are then required. Michael Grenz: "We order the required components or provide them from the warehouse." The production times are recorded during the ongoing process so that post-calculation is always possible. This is because it is particularly important to closely monitor times and materials for projects that run through quickly.

End-to-end digital project planning extends beyond the time of production and commissioning: in the past, documentation was provided in the required language in up to 20 folders - today, each control cabinet is given a QR code. The user scans the code and downloads the documents for the relevant enclosure, such as the circuit diagram, system description and operating instructions for the components. They can be sure that the documentation is up-to-date because it is always kept up to date.

Current and upcoming projects

In addition, HPS has developed the planning and construction of medium-voltage systems as a new business area, whereby the circuit diagrams are also created with Eplan Electric P8. Christoph Lange: "We are currently filling the system with the data we need. The planners are making intensive use of the data portal."

Another current project is the introduction of Eplan Cogineer, the new software for automated circuit diagram generation based on a set of rules. This set of rules and the configuration interfaces can be created without knowledge of a higher programming language. All that is needed is experience in macro technology. The aim of developing Cogineer was to make circuit planning faster and more efficient.

Author: Birgit Hagelschuer is responsible for press and public relations at Eplan Software & Service.