We’ve talked a lot about EPLAN’s Data Portal in this space and how it encapsulates the promise of IIoT in manufacturing. While this has been a feature available to EPLAN users for some time, the company has recently announced that it has opened up the Data Portal to users of other CAE programs as well.

“We provide more than one million downloads a month from Data Portal,” said Jeffrey Abell, Business Development Manager - Data Portal at EPLAN. “More than 150 catalogs are available to our users. It allows them to focus on the engineering rather than the data creation they need to do their engineering. Now that we’ve opened up to non-EPLAN users, no matter what CAE tools are being used, engineers can access the Data Portal and get a DXF representation of the electrical schematic. This means that instead of spending time creating a schematic of a device, users can download the device’s documentation right into their design. So they can spend more time focusing on adding value to the engineering work.”

Currently, the EPLAN Data Portal has over 661,000 data sets available. While not all manufacturers offer DXF representation, currently 28 manufacturers do and over 38,000 data sets are available with DXF documentation. And that number is growing.

We’re opening the Data Portal up to non-EPLAN customers for a variety of reasons, but the one that counts most is making it easier for engineers to get their job done more efficiently.

Without Data Portal, engineers need to spend an inordinate amount of time contacting device manufacturers, downloading product manuals, and manually entering device data into the schematic.

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With Data Portal, all a user has to do is find the part they want to enter into their schematic, then drag and drop it into the project. The Data Portal incorporates essential data about the component which can include macros (essentially pre-engineered circuit schematics), dimensions, trade characteristics, connection and mounting properties, etc. that can be easily entered into the current design file with the click of a mouse or stored on a shared server for reuse. Development teams can save between 20 minutes to a couple hours compared to manual input of data. Data is also available for documentation purposes and can be integrated into the current documents in parallel with the design process.

“Non EPLAN users can access the Data Portal at www.EPLANDataPortal.com,” said Abell. “Create a free account, then browse the parts. Our search tool makes it easy to find a part, even with partial part numbers. Or, do a keyword search by manufacturer or type of part and narrow down your search.”

Here is an example of what you will find when you enter the Data Portal. This is for a Block LR3 48-3/10 Line Reactor. Non-EPLAN users will also have access to PLC data sets, cables, motors - everything from enclosures fans from Rittal to Servo motors from Wittenstein.

So, check it out and see how IIoT and the EPLAN Data Portal can transform your machine manufacturing capabilities.