At this year’s Hannover Messe, which runs from 1 – 5 April, CAE expert EPLAN is exhibiting alongside sister company, SAP specialist Cideon. Key focusses for the companies will include The Efficiency Lab, which is an on-stand consultancy service, and the ground-breaking ePulse family of cloud-based products. 
The Efficiency Lab has been developed to help companies ensure that their engineering processes contribute optimally and effectively to digitisation. EPLAN experts will work with exhibition visitors to analyse their current methods with the aim of uncovering initial potential for optimising engineering operations, processes and data flows. The Efficiency Lab makes customised and productive knowledge transfer a reality, and visitors who take advantage of the consultancy service at the show will be provided with practical ideas that they can take straight back to their companies.
Products in the new ePulse family bring the EPLAN Project into the cloud. At Hannover, the spotlight will be on eView, the first of these innovative products, which makes it possible for multiple users to collaborate easily, sharing and commenting on projects directly in the cloud.
“Our goal is to build a worldwide engineering network through EPLAN ePulse and to continue offering new functionality with a great deal of added value,” said EPLAN vice president for Cloud Business, Hauke Niehus. “Our development teams are currently working on a wide variety of projects that will take us forward toward this goal.”
Niehus sees a decisive advantage for the cloud environment in its high degree of flexibility, as it means that teams can quickly react to user feedback. “This makes it possible to optimise solutions at short notice,” he said. “The new system offers numerous opportunities for collaboration in engineering – including cloud-to-cloud connections that will be presented using examples of best-practice maintenance.”
Another important focus for EPLAN at Hannover is EPLAN Preplanning: users receive maximum support with a simplified display of higher-level PCT loops in process automation, new options for handing planning objects, and new macros for building automation. Wire harness engineering with EPLAN Harness proD is also being showcased, as is the ease with which EPLAN Pro Panel and EPLAN Electric P8 allow data to be exchanged with associated disciplines.
Presentations will show the pathway from schematics via 3D wiring diagrams and automatic manufacturing of the individual wires to the final installation of the wiring in a control cabinet. A further core element is the provision of digital device data and product configurators for the engineering and work preparation processes – providing an efficient path to the digital twin and onward to digitally connected manufacturing.
For more information, visit www.eplan.co.uk
