EPLAN - Efficient Engineering
Jeff Kilburn
President and Managing Director
Three things have always been important to planners and operators of process plant systems: plant system security, equipment loads and system availability. Now, with so many new technological advancements within oil and gas, the sector is facing even more challenges. From new exploration and production methods for alternative power generation to the electrification of energy delivery, cost containment, efficiency challenges, unfamiliar environments and safety risk are still in play but are also affecting the financial side of the industry. Energy companies know that they have to focus on improving efficiency when it comes to achieving growth and maintaining a long-term competitive edge. Companies also have to focus on controlling costs, improving controls and managing risks.
EPLAN’s data driven solutions ensure consistency across key applications during processing, planning, management and maintenance of Electrical & Instrumentation (E&I). As with any automation technology, correct and consistent data is extremely important and EPLAN provides a continuous data thread throughout the ecosystem. The benefit of EPLAN Software and Solution’s technology is saved time, reduced costs, increase quality, faster turnaround, standardizations of engineering processes, and most importantly, efficiency increases during production and operations.
The EPLAN Platform is the all-in-one solution for 3D computer aided engineering and customized solutions for electrical design projects. Their portfolio includes numerous solutions such as:
- EPLAN Pro Panel which automates the manufacturing process by creating 3D digital twins of control cabinets, providing all the necessary data to optimize planning for control cabinet manufacturing.
- EPLAN Electric P8 allows the user to create their electrical engineering designs in a system that is consistent, integrated and fast. Detailed evaluations are an integral part of the project documentation, and EPLAN Electric P8 supplies downstream processes with all of the necessary information from engineering.
- EPLAN Engineering Configuration eliminates the need for manual control cabinet layout. Instead, the user generates a digital twin using EPLAN Pro Panel based on the configuration created. This solution works in any industry, regardless if it is a control cabinet belonging to a machine, located on a ship or part of a LV/MV switchgear system.
- EPLAN Smart Wiring visualizes every step for wiring a control cabinet. Intelligent wiring becomes a reality by providing digital engineering data and project comparisons that are always up-to-date.
- EPLAN Data Portal is a standardized and error-free database of high-quality device and component data of almost one million parts from a continuously growing pool of manufacturers. These data sets and parts are available for drag-and-drop into an EPLAN project.
- EPLAN Fluid is an engineering tool specifically created to design and generate automatic documentation of valves and circuits for fluid technology systems including hydraulics, pneumatics, cooling and lubrication.
- EPLAN Pre-Planning has many capabilities for a wide variety of automation planning tasks and is ideally suited for process automation as it enables the development of a process control strategy and accelerates creation of Process and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&ID). Standardizing P&ID development with EPLAN Pre-Planning vastly improves internal coordination, and makes it possible to obtain faster execution of P&ID layouts and in turn has added procurement benefits. Because teams have an overview of the material requirements much sooner, they are able to shorten the turnaround time considerably. Centralized component management has many customer benefits. First among these is the ability to give faster, more accurate project quotes, as well as to generate clear and complete documentation in a consistent format, whether it is the P&ID, the EIP list and bill of materials, or the comprehensive suite of documents that accompanies the completed job. Such standardized, high-quality documentation also helps maintenance staff on a service call make the right diagnosis quickly to resolve problems as efficiently as possible.
Today, Jeff Kilburn, President and Managing Director of EPLAN USA recognizes that these truly are unprecedented times with COVID-19. Just as quickly as the virus became a force within the United States, organizations find themselves with no choice but to try to adapt their businesses to overcome the unforeseen changes. With that said, EPLAN is no different. “The health and safety of both employees and customers is at the forefront of our minds at all times and decisive actions are constantly being taken to continue to serve our market in every way possible,” says Jeff. “COVID-19 has led us, as an organization, to embrace the opportunity to continue EPLAN’s own digital journey by adjusting and learning to thrive in a more virtual world.” A new and extremely exciting development during this time has been the launch of EPLAN Platform as a Service. Their newest offering, EPLAN Platform as a Service, enables U.S. based customers to use EPLAN world-renowned controls design solutions: EPLAN Electric P8 and EPLAN Pro Panel, on demand via web browsers. This allows users to work on projects 100% online via streaming in the cloud which in turn improves productivity, flexibility and allows for better collaboration and quicker feedback. “This new offering is our answer to the market’s need for a more accessible and flexible electrical and automation engineering solution,” adds Jeff.
“EPLAN provides software and solutions for the fields of electrical engineering, automation and mechatronics and our focus is on efficient engineering from initial planning to operation and maintenance. The EPLAN platform is the ideal solution for a wide variety of process automation control systems, providing collaboration and integration possibilities along with electrical control system design, 3D panel design and P & ID design capabilities. The result is high quality, highly efficient and well documented solutions.”
