Industry solutionsMachine Tool Engineering

Meeting high requirements

Ever faster machines are required within the machine tool

engineering industry, high-precision machines that can handle

the production of increasingly complex parts. Other challenges

faced by manufacturers include parameters such as

international statutory requirements, a lack of skilled labour

and constantly increasing complexity. At the same time,

systems need to be compact and flexible, and ensure reliable

communication in CAx-neutral data flows.

The objectives:

�� Minimisation of downtime

�� Easier, more user-friendly operation

�� Faster conversion times

�� First-class energy efficiency

�� Short “time to market”

�� Long service life while reducing maintenance costs

�� Reduction of total cost of ownership (TCO)

You can achieve these objectives by clearly focusing on

optimising and securing processes throughout the entire

supply and value chain.

Machine Tool Engineering

Success in the machine tool industry – identify and take advant age of new trends

Company

EPLAN Software & Service

develops CAE solutions and

advises companies on how

to optimise their engineering

processes. Customers profit

from increased efficiency in

the product development

process through standardised

procedures, automated

sequences and consistent

workflows. EPLAN provides

custommade concepts for

the system implementation,

installation and smooth

integration into the IT / PLM

system landscape, based

on standard engineering

solutions. The service

portfolio also covers

customising, consulting and

training. The development of

individual and standardised

interfaces for ERP, PDM and

PLM ensures data consist-

ency in product develop-

ment. Consistent customer

orientation, global support

and innovative development

and interface expertise are

success factors. EPLAN is

part of Rittal Software

Systems which is part of the

Friedhelm Loh Group. This

ensures continuity and

investment security.

2

Machine Tool Engineering

Success in the machine tool industry – identify and take advant age of new trends

Properly equipped

As a machine tool manufacturer, you are also confronted

with other challenges – increasing globalisation and

mounting competitive pressures mean that your company

needs to increase productivity, standardise the product

portfolio, shorten development cycles and comply with a

constantly growing number of standards and guidelines.

Approaches to solving these problems include optimising

your design and engineering and improving cooperation

with other departments. Interdisciplinary approaches

replace traditional processes, change engineering methods

and offer considerable potential for optimisation. An

enterprise-wide PLM strategy combines engineering with

both product data management (PDM) and commercial

systems, resulting in an exceptional increase in productivity.

A competent partner

Everything is from one source – from software to training to

consulting. Interdisciplinary – from mechanical to fluid

power and electrical engineering to PLC programming.

Integrated – from order processing and manufacturing to

service.

Under the motto “EPLAN – efficient engineering.”, EPLAN

Software & Service provides innovative, practical solutions

for workflow optimisation within the machine tool engineering

industry. The systems of the EPLAN Platform establish a

uniform basis for all information and enable effective,

interdisciplinary and parallel operations.

3

TurningTurning

BendingBendingMillingMilling

Individuality

Custom machines for individual customer requirements

Continuous workflows

As a machine tool manufacturer, you benefit from integrated

processes thanks to EPLAN’s solutions, allowing you to

rapidly bring customised, high-performance machines to

the market.

Machine types at a glance

�� Drills

�� Hobbing machines

�� Lathes

�� Milling machines

�� Laser cutting machines

�� CNC machines

�� Water jet cutting

machines

�� Erosion machines

�� Bending machines, and

much more

4

DrillingDrilling GrindingGrinding

StampingStamping Laser cuttingLaser cutting

You can trust EPLAN

“EPLAN – efficient enginee-

ring.” – the company motto

emphasises the competence

of optimised, efficient

processes, which help

customers to be competitive

in the long term.

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Increased productivity

From acquisition to delivery

Process optimisation right from the start

Achieve the best possible productivity gains by optimising

your entire value chain – from acquisition to delivery. For

example, you can make significant savings in time and

costs via fast and uncomplicated coordination between

your sales and technical divisions. And within the enginee-

ring process itself, seamless cooperation between areas,

such as MCAD and electrical or fluid power technology is

crucial. A unified database and simultaneous processing of

projects boost the quality of your engineering and reduce

your “time to market”. Another area of potential for optimi-

sation can be found in the early integration of manufacturing

into product development.

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77

Machine Tool Engineering

Complex machines demand optimum interaction of all disciplines

EPLAN Platform – the data centre

Fast, high-precision machine tools require seamless,

trouble-free interaction of all of their components. Interaction

between all disciplines is critical, even during the development

stage. With a unified database and the core functions for

the various divisions, the EPLAN Platform ensures that your

workflow is smooth and frictionless. Consistent data

shortens development time and increases the quality of

your engineering.

�� Power drives

�� Electrical control systems

�� Safety engineering

�� Machine monitoring

�� Machine wiring

�� PLC (digital/analogue)

Mechatronic Components

Electrical engineering

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Machine Tool Engineering

Complex machines demand optimum interaction of all disciplines

�� 3D mounting layout

�� Control cabinets

�� Switchgear

�� Flexible power distributions

�� Order information

�� Production drawings

�� NC machine control

Control cabinet engineering

�� Measurement systems

and sensors for monitoring

process parameters

�� Pneumatics

�� Hydraulics

�� Cooling

(workpiece/system)

�� Lubrication

Fluid power engineering

Measurement and control technology

9

Engineering competence in the machine tool industry has a name: EPLAN Software & Service

Advantages that will impress

you:

�� Virtual 3D prototypes for

optimal dimensioning

�� Custom-fit components

�� Integration of NC production

guarantees highly precise

machining

�� Smooth workflows

minimises complex

coordination

�� Standardisation increases

quality

�� Integration of diverse

supplier data assists your

supply chain concept

�� EPLAN Platform for

simultaneous project

processing

Exemplary workflow 1

From sales to engineering

Individuality is called for

Special requirements are the big unknown for engineering,

design and costing. That means that close coordination

between sales and engineering plays a central role in your

processes.

Create an integrated workflow and transparency for everyone

involved, starting with a rule-based product configurator

and secondary technical configuration, including automated

documentation.

CAxFluid power/Wiring diagra ms

Enclosure mounting

Sale

ERPOffer/calculationBill of materials

Engineering

Mechanic3D Models

Integrated Model –Modular system,

Components, Standards, Rules

Konfigurator

In the following, you will

find exemplary workflows

of efficient design and

configuration by using the

EPLAN Platform systems.

PricingMachine functions

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A product configurator for your sales success

The rule-based product configurator offers your sales staff and partners the following

options:

�� To configure a machine individually

�� The security of knowing that only technically coordinated and saleable configurations are

possible

�� Automatic costing and fast and easy preparation of tenders

The configurator works on the basis of the EPLAN Engineering Center (EEC). That means you

can define modularised products using our modular method together with our experienced

EPLAN consultants. In this way, the EEC resembles a knowledge database. Knowledge of the

various possible product combinations is defined as a set of rules in the EEC. Reusing the

individual functional modules then allows you to significantly reduce the number of variants.

Technical configuration and automated engineering

The openness of the EEC along with the optimally integrated EPLAN Platform enable

engineering staff to provide a second, technically-oriented configuration and parameterisation.

All engineering documents can now be generated automatically:

�� Mechanical manufacturing and order BOMs

�� Mechanical design drawings

�� Hydraulic and pneumatic diagrams

�� Wiring diagrams

�� PLC programs

�� Technical documentation

CAxFluid power/Wiring diagra ms

Enclosure mounting

Engineering

ProgrammingHW-Code/PLC-Code

11

Exemplary workflow 2

The fast track to succe ss with integrated engineering

Workflow optimisation

Two identical machines, with different documentation, for

the same customer – in practice, it happens all the time.

To blame are conventional structures, different levels of

expertise and different working practices among different

employees, and the strict separation of the engineering

disciplines. Duplication of data, incorrect components, and

differing representations of components result in the need

for time-consuming reworking of documentation. Raise the

quality and boost the speed of your engineering processes

with an integrated workflow and a centralised base for your

data.

Navigation, searching, printing ...

Legacy datatechnical and commercial data

EPLAN Platform

PDMDocument management

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Exemplary workflow 2

The fast track to succe ss with integrated engineering

Design without media breaks

Profit from the master data at the EPLAN Data Portal, available to you with the EPLAN Platform

for all disciplines including MCAD, fluid power and electrical engineering.

Project your data across all media and make your design data seamlessly available across

your entire enterprise through a powerful PDM system – thereby achieving time and cost

savings throughout the value chain.

Seamless integration of engineering disciplines

To get your project started quickly, the EPLAN Data Portal contains approximately 340,000

devices from many major component manufacturers. The components include standardised

graphic characteristics in each of the disciplines and contain commercial information: In

short, a comprehensive manufacturer database as the basis for a seamless engineering

process.

The various projection tasks can now be edited with the EPLAN Platform and your expert

systems. For example, the fluid power engineers could work with a hydraulic power unit

within EPLAN Fluid. EPLAN Electric P8 then makes available all information relevant to

electrical control of the unit, such as graphic characteristics or connection point descriptions.

Changes, for example a change to an item number in the hydraulic schematic, are automatically

included in the electrical schematic. You can then make the resulting design data available

to the entire company with your PDM system. Thanks to integrated version control, all

users have access to the current documentation – goodbye to manual revisions.

Standardisation and reorganisation as a productivity factor

EPLAN‘s expert consultants identify your workflows and organisational structures, develop

design guidelines to enable standardisation and guide you through the reorganisation

process. The goal is a clear division of responsibilities for all involved – we say: “The CAE

administrator takes care of the master data and standardisation, and the designer gets on

with the engineering.”

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Exemplary workflow 3

Team players: Engineering and manufa cturing

Manufacturing Integration

Efficient manufacturing is a fundamental factor in your

company‘s success. Exploiting the full capacity of your

machinery and the precision of the manufacturing process

are just as important as reliable delivery to your customers.

At the same time, development cycles are getting shorter

and time pressures intensify. The result: Data is incomplete

when manufacturing starts. You can get over this hurdle

with optimised manufacturing integration using 3D virtual

prototyping and direct data transfer to NC machining

centres and automated cable assembly systems.

Production documentation/Assembly documentation

incl. Assembly drawing

NC data generation/Production integration

(Perforex, Steinhauer, DXF)

Engineering Construction

14

Exemplary workfl ow 3

Team players: Engineering and manufa cturing

3D design of enclosures and mounting panels

Create integrated, automated processes from engineering right through to manufacturing.

With EPLAN Pro Panel, the EPLAN Platform integrates your production scheduling and

mounting perfectly into the product development and manufacturing process. The system

supports the development of 3D virtual prototypes.

For both electrical and fluid power components, all existing projected components in the

schematic or in the mounting layout can be easily positioned on the mounting panel or in

the enclosure. Dynamic collision detection and the inclusion of the manufacturer‘s installation

instructions improve quality whilst saving you a great deal of time.

Seamless integration with NC manufacturing

For machining, dedicated drill patterns and templates which are passed directly to NC

machining centres are created. Special interfaces allow EPLAN data to be read directly into

the machine controller, for example for Steinhauer eCAB and Kiessling Perforex. On top of

that, the neutral DXF format allows you to integrate almost any NC-based drilling and

machining centre into the workflow.

Wiring made easy

EPLAN Pro Panel provides you with all the information you need for perfect wiring. The 3D

mounting layout and the information from the wiring diagram provide the basis for virtual

wiring of the enclosure. You can find fabrication data such as conductor length, termination

details, bundling and labelling at the push of a button. Interfaces allow you to pass this

information on to automated cable assembly systems, including for example Komax,

Schleuniger or Metzner Cable Center.

3D conductor routing(Komax, CADCAbel, Lists)

Cable harness

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EPLAN Software & Service GmbH & Co. KG

An der alten Ziegelei 2 · D-40789 Monheim am Rhein

Phone +49(0)2173 3964-0 · Fax +49(0)2173 3964-25

Email: info@eplan.de · www.eplan.de

�� Process consulting

�� Engineering software

�� Implementation

�� Global support

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