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The proposal phase is getting longer while the project lead times are becoming shorter. This is precisely the reason why we need systems that allow us to work faster and flawlessly. Within 18 months of orking with EPLAN, we already achieved time savings of 30%, and we are convinced that even greater cost reductions are possible. Moreover, errors are virtually eliminated.”
Erik Henrard, Controls Group Leader, and Jan Teugels, Senior Designer, are very satisfied with EPLAN. In December 2003, the Handling Department switched from the graphical platform Aucos to EPLAN 5, partly due to internal reorganization, but also to better meet market demands.
The road to multinational enterprise
Egemin started out as a small installer half a century ago. Since then, the company has grown into a global player with more than 600 employees and subsidiaries in the Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States. Another location is planned in Italy. The corporate headquarters is in Zwijndrecht, Belgium. Erik Henrard: “In addition to electromechanical equipment, Egemin has been providing automation solutions for data and physical flows for many years. The Industrial Automation Department had already been using EPLAN for 10 years. Herman Demunter, our “EPLAN guru”, can be credited for that. As one of the first users in Belgium to see the huge potential of the system, Herman implemented the software perfectly to fit the specific needs of our company.”
The switch to EPLAN 5
Unlike the Industrial Automation Department, the Handling Department is in charge of non-product specific automation processes such as in-floor chain conveyor systems, storage systems, automatic storage and retrieval systems and automatic guided vehicles. “In the beginning, we used Aucos for our engineering,” reports Erik Henrard. “Many customers asked us if we could deliver the plans in EPLAN. That makes sense since EPLAN is now the standard in Belgium. Besides, Aucos was rather limited in its functionality.” “In December 2003 we made the final switch to EPLAN 5 and we are very satisfied. The software saves us time, reduces errors and improves profitability. In fact, due to the extensive standardization, profitability keeps rising with each day.”
From 0 to 80%
Last year, Jan Teugels was heavily involved with the standardization of engineering processes. He developed a practical manual so that every engineer can work accordingly with the favored EPLAN standard. “With Aucos our engineering was all manual, but we were able to generate motors and PLC I/O cards automatically to some extent with the help of internally developed software. Any further automation was impossible without major software changes. Furthermore, the package was severely outdated. EPLAN 5 enabled us to automate 50% of our processes within a year. Our goal is to achieve 80% automation in the near future. Everything progressed really fast. Herman Demunter created the foundation for this development and I could use many of his original macros. The training classes offered by EPLAN Software & Service were also very helpful. I attended several classes, one in particular for data engineering. I was able to quickly grasp the application, and now the system offers me even more capabilities than ever before.”
With the click of a button
Standardization has helped Egemin to achieve significant time savings. Jan Teugels states “At the present, we finish our projects 30% faster. In the long run, this should reach 50%. EPLAN enables us to deliver complete construction documents in a very short time. A click of a button is all it takes to generate cable, terminal and device lists. Plans and lists match 100%. That is a great relief. In our department we reuse a lot of the schematics so the time savings are enormous.”
Another advantage of EPLAN 5 is its compatibility with Office. “Basic standard tools are sufficient for advanced data engineering,” affirms Jan Teugels. “The EPLAN system is linked to an Excel file. It works really great. You just read the PLC I/O lists in Excel and select a few parameters. After a click of a button, electrical plans are automatically revealed. Parts and macros can be selected easily and the schematics are generated quickly. I can make the changes in Excel files by myself, and that is a considerable advantage. I don’t always have to ask one of our computer experts for help. I save myself time and don’t have to burden the IT department.”
Teugels concludes his enthusiastic comments “The manual is now also available in Flemish and we can call the hotline at any time for support. We really appreciate that.”
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