Maximilian Brandl, CEO of Eplan and Cideon, explains: "With 'Syngineer', we create a shared view of the machine to be designed."

© Eplan

The 'Syngineer' platform is designed to support easy access to mechatronic engineering - i.e. cross-departmental collaboration in mechanics, control technology and PLC software. For this purpose, the various authoring systems are linked via a browser add-in and thus connected to the communication platform. Eplan as the manufacturer of the CAE software and Cideon as the provider of mechanical engineering processes and CAD software have cooperated with 3S-Smart Software Solutions for the PLC area. This enabled synchronization with the PLC program blocks and the control simulation. The communication platform is designed to be system-open so that other authoring systems can be integrated in the future.

The cloud technology enables the option of communicating in real time and across locations. This means that changes or new requirements can be assigned directly to the relevant disciplines. Tasks can be assigned, divided and completed individually by each project participant.

Comments and chat function

If the authoring systems are linked to each other via the communication platform, the designers can also communicate online via a chat function. A system of automatic notifications also informs all designers involved about changes in other areas. For example, the mechanical designer and the software developer automatically receive a notification when the electrical engineer replaces an electric motor with a different model. They can then check whether this change has an impact on their own work.

Mechatronic parts list

The 'Syngineer' is not intended to compete with a PDM or PLM system, but rather to extend its range of functions. The discipline-specific processes are still managed with the joint PDM/PLM system. By linking the components from the discipline-specific authoring systems with the communication platform, the "assembly instructions" for the mechatronic parts list are transferred to the PDM/PLM system from this link information. This means that the mechanical and electrical parts lists no longer have to be manually compared in order to avoid duplicates when ordering. The prerequisite is that both the mechanical design and the electrical design have an interface to the PDM/PLM system, which Eplan and Cideon have already developed for many PDM/PLM systems.