EPLAN Blog

Launched at Hannover Fair 2017, Eplan Cogineer automatically generates schematics and fluid power systems to save perhaps weeks on large or complex projects

It’s no secret that machine and system designs are growing ever more complex. So the idea of being able to generate complete electro-technical documentation for a given design with just one click might sound pretty appealing.

T-squares, compasses, a variety of pencils, rulers, a drafting table, and lots of paper…these were some of the tools that were a part of everyday life for those involved with product design until the later part of the 20^th century.

Customer expectations are changing. It is one of the payoffs of living in a connected society. Since the introduction of the iPhone, we have discovered the ability to engage with others in real time whenever we want. The impact of that can be seen on a personal level whenever we go into a public space and see upwards of 80% of the people around us on their smartphones. Whatever your viewpoint of this engagement, it is a new world that is effecting all of us as individuals and increasingly, as professionals as well.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) offers many advantages to manufacturing and in our collaboration series, we have sought to showcase how this connectivity can enhance relationships in many parts of your business.

In the last of our four-part series, we look at what is arguably the most important collaboration partner you have – your customer.

Satisfying the customer is key in any business. Time and money are the variable factors that can have the most impact on that relationship. Successful manufacturers are always looking for ways to deliver a better product in the most cost effective manner. IIoT takes production into another realm of efficiency that can have valuable bearing on these customer relationships.

We’ve talked about Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) here before. So, it should come as no surprise that, for our next look at collaboration, we are going to talk about what role machines play in improving manufacturing efficiency.

This issue is at the forefront of so many conversations about what is next for connected manufacturing. A recent article in the technology and science newspaper, The Register, discussed the next iteration of the mobile network, 5G, whose initial standards are set to be released in 2020.

We’ll cover this in greater detail in a future post, but what you need to understand for the purposes of this article is that ultra-fast, low latency wireless internet is on the horizon and being built to accommodate the needs of industry and the IIoT. What this means is that the manufacturing industry is going to see rapid changes in infrastructure, processing and automation capabilities. It will also mean a much more focused transition to IIoT, which will filter its way down to nearly all industries and business sizes.

A new manufacturing era is quickly advancing upon us. Implementation of next generation Smart Factory technologies are beginning to happen at a faster and faster pace…and moving down the food chain at an astonishing rate. The ability to process large amounts of data, combined with faster processing and computing speeds is changing the way business is done on a global scale. No matter what size the company, technological advances are connecting us personally and professionally, creating tremendous opportunity and challenges. Which brings us to the question, how do you prepare in a thoughtful way?

When evaluating new ways to implement best practices at your company, asking the right questions can be just as helpful as the answers you come up with. This is important on a number of levels, but most impactful is the effect on the bottom line and faster deliverables.

The business relationships we have, whether they be with vendors, customers, prospects or departments, are a good place to begin looking for what questions to ask. All of these collaborative connecting points are rife for process improvement initiatives.

We broke these manufacturing touch points down into four defined areas, which are:

• Collaboration Between Departments
• Collaboration with Vendors
• Collaboration with Machines
• Collaboration with Customers

You don’t need a crystal ball to determine what the future holds for manufacturing. This next wave is even a part of some European government initiatives called Industry 4.0, which is based on product creation, from pre-planning to delivery, involving communication among the parts to be created and the assembly line machines.

As The Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) matures, the cost and time efficiencies that it can bring are pretty astounding. To be able to have unified operations across all touch points of the product development process makes optimized engineering possible. Here are 5 ways that it does this.

1. Data

Working in a connected environment means you can share data across all aspects of the production, from pre-planning to build. What does having the ability to be able to leverage data through out the engineering process and also into the manufacturing process mean?