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.

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.

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?

Our world of people, places and things is coming together in some interesting and challenging ways. For those in manufacturing, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is connecting people, places and things in ever more functional and innovative ways, and it is changing the fabric of how things get made.

SEE ALSO: 15 Resources to Improve Your Understanding of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

It is also starting to change expectations. Customers are going to be more demanding as they learn the cost savings and time efficiencies that can be delivered in a Smart Factory. Additionally, this connectivity will also enable a much greater degree of customization, and the capacity to support increasingly smaller batch sizes.

The rise of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is creating a mind shift in how design and production are done. The product lifecycle of the future will be increasingly oriented towards individualized customer demands and extend from the initial idea through product development, manufacturing, sales, and on to retrofitting and recycling.

The interconnection of machines, processes, people and thedata that fuels it all is creating an integrated environment that means tremendous opportunity for greater efficiencies,cost savings and improved customer service.

There are many components to the production process involving people, machines, software, and hardware. To add to the complexity, there’s a good chance that most of these components are not located in the same place. It’s a multi-faceted environment and holding it all together is data.

A lot goes into producing machinery. At EPLAN, we put a lot of thought into our platform that allows production to move faster, more efficiently and cost effectively. EPLAN helps you manage engineering data consistently from concept design, through detailed engineering all the way to manufacturing and service with a focus on decreasing processing time and simple project management.  

But, there’s more to efficient engineering than creating machinery. What happens to the equipment produced once it is shipped and in your customer’s hands is just as important as the production itself.

We were reminded of this by one of our customers, Neutron Factory Works. Neutron is based in Delta, British Columbia. They install and maintain equipment for manufacturing, processing and warehousing facilities around the BC Lower Mainland. They provide 24/7 services. On their website they state:

Downtime is the biggest preventable expense in any factory, your losses due to idle equipment and staff during production grow exponentially by the minute. How you move through this situation will have more of an effect on your company’s performance than any other cost saving measure. Protection of your investment is key. Try us out and see the difference it makes when you have a team of experts engaged in a preventative service model maintaining your facility.

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?

Saving time and money is a major concern when designing and building new machines. There are only so many steps that can be taken to make these savings a reality but the most important -- the one that has the most impact -- is incorporating computer-aided, database-driven design software into your workflow. Here are some ways this 21st-century technology can streamline the process.