Automation Technology
Automation Technology in Machinery and Plant Construction
Automation technology comprises the design of sensors and actuators, their regulation and the controls for machines as well as the communication between systems. All components are represented in the schematics. With the EPLAN Project, you can create a complete digital image of the schematics and a digital twin for the control cabinet technology. This serves as the central source of information for all components and machine data for your engineering and manufacturing departments. In terms of digitisation and automation, our goal is to enable you to create your schematics with as little effort as possible.
Automation Technology – What Is It?
Automation technology is its own independent discipline. It is used in all areas of technology for engineering machines and plant systems. With the solutions from EPLAN, you have an enormous range of functions for this discipline at your fingertips.
Fundamentals of Automation Technology in Engineering
The basics include the continuous measurement using sensors and the programmable logic controllers (PLCs) for actuators. Rules for setting the actuators can be based on measurements from the sensors. The higher the degree of automation, the greater number of sensors and actuators will be used in engineering. Communication between these elements is made possible through field bus systems. Designing machines is a complex engineering task in which many design parameters must be taken into account, and working with sensor/actuator lists is a common part of this. These lists can be imported into EPLAN and the design process can be completely digitised as a result.
Fundamentals of Automation Technology with EPLAN
Automation technology within EPLAN Platform makes it possible for users to automate many work steps, including the completely automatic generation of schematics. Step by step, a change of methods in design engineering thereby follows. With each automation step, the creation of schematics and documentation for manufacturing becomes more efficient and requires less manual work. Structuring a design engineering task, a product or a machine forms the foundation for automation. In engineering this is referred to as the functional structure. It includes product functions that have a clear relation to the actuators.
What Possibilities for Automation Does EPLAN Offer You?
EPLAN supports you in setting up your engineering processes across all disciplines. For you, this means a significant efficiency increase when working on your EPLAN Project because your digital data flows seamlessly from solution to solution becoming further enhanced in every step of the process.
Automating Work Steps
Incomplete documentation, lots of clicking back and forth, manual project monitoring and manual creation of external documentation: daily work in engineering is often characterised by many recurring work steps and repeats itself from project to project. These tasks can account for 20 per cent of the work time on average – time that you can save through automation. EPLAN Platform offers you a variety of functions for this, such as automating recurring actions, one-click solutions, establishing standard processes, company-specific exports and much, much more.
Automating Directly in EPLAN Platform
Automation also means the automatic control of program functions. EPLAN Platform offers extensive possibilities for users to simplify workflows or automatically execute several actions in a row with just one click.
Automation in Theory and Practice
The European 4.0 Transformation Center (E4TC) at RWTH Aachen University has investigated the strategic digitisation of the engineering and control technology design of machine and plant systems.
Your Added Value: Time Savings, Cost Benefits, More Time for Innovation
The central finding of the “Engineering 4.0” study: Partially automating engineering achieves the optimal ratio of effort to benefits from a business perspective. The ability to automate or generate, plus the creation of schematics, depends on the thoroughness and digital availability of configuration data. The study shows that putting 10 to 20 per cent of effort into standardisation results in up to 80 per cent of your schematics being automatically created.
Three Phases of Automated Engineering
What specific approaches do companies take to successfully automate their engineering processes? The efficiency study also delivers informative results in this area: the basis is the structuring of re-usable functions such as variants or options. These functions are described in partial circuits and centrally administered in macro libraries. Schematics for new orders can be compiled more quickly with this modular, function-oriented product structure. If product or sales configurators are being used in a company, this ordering data can be directly imported. The result: schematics are generated either through dialogue guidance or completely in the background and fully automatically on the platform or through a web application.
PLC Controls and Exchanging Assignment Lists
Control technology is a branch of automation technology and an important area of responsibility for EPLAN users. An overview of the relevant topics and useful services.
Codes and Standards in Control Technology
The international IEC 61131-3 standard (also IEC 1131 and/or 61131) is a standard that is valid worldwide for the programming languages used for programmable logic controllers. Mechanical engineering usually uses digital or binary sequential controls while in process engineering it involves a combination of analogue and digital signals.
Device Data in EPLAN Data Portal
EPLAN Projects allow you to design both digital and analogue sensors, signals, controls and actuators. EPLAN Data Portal forms the foundation for the device data.
Application Example: TIA PLC Interface
PLC device data from a variety of manufacturers is available in EPLAN Data Portal, including from Siemens. You can download instructions here.
IO Lists for Import and Export
The EPLAN “IO Lists Export/Import” functionality is used for importing and exporting the signals. The EPLAN Help Function is available for you – for instance, you can access IO lists even without installing EPLAN software. EPLAN offers the possibility of supplying every controller with the required data through the open AutomationML interface.
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