How CAE tools boost machine builders' profitability

In the 21st century, businesses investing in automation have high expectations; they want machines that precisely fit their own specific requirements and they want them now - if not yesterday! This poses a headache for machine builders, because designing custom machines from scratch and even devising the modifications to customise existing machines are time-consuming processes, and there is always a risk that errors will creep in at the design stage, adding to costs and delaying the delivery of the machine.

And it is not as if machine design is getting any easier! Today's component suppliers seem to be upgrading their products and introducing new versions faster than ever, while standards and regulations are getting more complex and demanding as well. In truth, design engineers have a hard time trying to keep up with these developments, let alone handling the pressure for design work to be completed in the shortest time possible.

It is little wonder that, under these conditions, there is a significant risk that machine builders will see their profitability fall as they have to foot the bill for overtime payments in the design departments, deal with errors made by designers working under pressure, and possibly even compensate their customers for late delivery of their machines.

How CAE helps machine builders

This is a pretty bleak picture - surely there is something that can be done? There is! The machine builder can take advantage of modern computer-aided engineering (CAE) software. But machine builders who go down this route need to be cautious about relying on ideas they may already have about the capabilities and limitations of CAE. The best modern systems have a lot more to offer than is generally realised.

Yes, of course, they allow things like electrical schematics and layout drawings to be produced quickly and efficiently, but where does the information on the components used in those schematics and drawings come from? Not long ago the answer might have been that it came from a rather limited database that was updated once in a while, or even that it had to be entered manually. But now there is a better way - the Data Portal.

A data portal is an online database of component data, and it is maintained by the component suppliers themselves who regularly update it to reflect their latest developments. This means that engineers using data from the portal can always be sure that it is accurate and up-to-date.

Furthermore, in the case of EPLAN, the EPLAN Data Portal database is enormous - it has information on over 635,000 components from more than 155 manufacturers at present and is growing daily. Needless to say, the data can be directly imported into the CAE software with no need for conversion or manipulation.

The data portal is a big step forward, but what about the design process itself? Well, a good CAE package will enable users to choose the standards relevant to the equipment they are working on, and will then enforce these standards. They can be national and international standards, but they can just as easily be site standards adopted by the machine builder or imposed by the end customer. Preferred methods of working can also be programmed into the CAE software so that all designs use the same approach, irrespective of which engineer produced them.

But perhaps the biggest time and money saver that a really good CAE system will deliver is modularisation. This works by breaking jobs down into design modules that can be reused time and time again. For example, a simple module might be a reversing motor starter. When this has been defined as a CAE macro, that work never has to be repeated. All the design engineer needs to do is to call up the macro, and everything else is taken care of automatically.

That is a very simple example, of course, and most macros will be much more complex. Nevertheless, the benefits are enormous. Using these macros for modules saves a lot of time and also ensures uniformity of design, which aids manufacture and maintenance of the machine. Furthermore, once the modules have been tested and proved, they can be reused as often as they are needed, with total confidence that they are error-free.

When this modularity is mentioned, machine builders often respond by saying something like, "Ah yes, but our machines are all different, so this does not really apply to us." Almost invariably they are wrong! The actual machines may be very different, but if the designs are carefully analysed, it is surprising how many design elements will be found to be common to all of them. EPLAN's experts have had much experience in identifying these common elements and this experience is at the disposal of existing and prospective customers for the company's products.

Documentation

Now let us look at another area that is often seen as the bane of designers' lives: documentation. With conventional engineering approaches, the production of documentation is a tedious and time-consuming job that is prone to all sorts of mistakes and errors. With a good CAE system, however, the documentation is produced almost at the touch of a button and it is guaranteed to be accurate. Furthermore, it is very easy to keep the documentation up-to-date when design changes are made, and anyone who has ever had to maintain machines on site will know just how big a benefit that is!

So far, so good. The CAE package will take in component data from the data portal and, by using macros, it will dramatically reduce the design time needed. It will also make sure relevant standards are observed and it will generate accurate documentation. Can it do more? If it is a good package, like those that make up the EPLAN platform, the answer is definitely yes.

Such a package will provide 3D visualisation for control panel layout and for the placement of components on the machine. It will also show wiring runs and allow them to be optimised. It will produce data in a format that suits the user's production processes, so that the manufacture of the machine proceeds smoothly and with a minimum of queries. And it will provide similar facilities for fluid power - hydraulics and pneumatics - as well as for the electrical and electromechanical elements of the design.

In fact, there is even more that the latest CAE packages can do for machine builders. How about a configurator that allows end customers to fully specify the machines they want in such a way that a quotation can be generated almost instantly and the customer requirements can be imported directly into the design section of the CAE package?

How about easy exchange of data between the CAE package and any other CAD, MRP or similar software that either the end user or the machine builder may use? How about automatic generation of production data that can go straight to CNC machines?

All of these things and many more beside are possible for machine builders that invest in the right CAE software from a dynamic and supportive supplier. There is no room to explore all of these exciting possibilities here, but the EPLAN team will be very happy to provide further information on request! Hopefully, however, enough has already been said to show that the right CAE package is the key that unlocks the ability of machine builders to respond effectively to present-day market requirements and to do so profitably.

Follow the link to find out more about EPLAN CAE tools.