Elevating their game to the Next Level
Reaching success with EPLAN: from pilot project to high level Systems Integrator
Lifting equipment specialist Fraco completely transformed its engineering department by introducing EPLAN and taking advantage of its Smart Wiring software to bring home the production of its control panels at efficiency levels that exceeds some of Fraco’s partners.
A Community-driven company
Headquartered in the municipality of Saint-Mathias, the story of Fraco is well documented in the region: A community-driven company that made its name by constantly redefining its role as a good corporate citizen and building strong positive relationships with customers and employees.
From humble beginnings in 1991 as masonry platform makers, the company evolved into an international producer of elevators and access platforms for projects and construction sites around the world.
In the last year, a series of changes has contributed to massive revamp of the company’s operation and now leads to new opportunities. They dedicated a higher focus on the EPLAN Platform and made the commitment to invest in Smart Wiring.
Engineering access equipment
As a manufacturer of complex equipment, Fraco relies on its team of engineers to design safe and reliable pieces of equipment that can be installed and used on the field. More importantly this equipment needs to be serviceable long after the initial installation. While the design of the panels was always handled in-house, the actual fabrication of the panels for the equipment would be outsourced to third parties.
When evaluating ways to save costs and introduce more effective processes, EPLAN came to the forefront as the key to unlock their potential. By optimizing their design with EPLAN, the company realized that it was getting cleaner results and, with some work, could even be in position to get their control cabinets ready for delivery faster than when they heavily relied on panel builders from the outside. A plan was then set in motion, working closely with the technical team at EPLAN Canada to learn how to best utilize the platform to reach their goal.
From Pilot Project to panel builder in three months
Fraco started as a company that outsources their panel building, and turned into one that now produces its own panels. The transformation came as result of a pilot project with EPLAN. The engineering team learned to improve their design and was shown how useful the digital twin can be when combined with the functionalities of EPLAN Smart Wiring. This enables the possibility to calculate wire lengths and even prepare the wires before production.
The pilot project walked the team through the entire production process for control panels from design to engineering, manufacturing and even maintenance, using templates and reference documents customized specifically for Fraco. The EPLAN technical team spent hours with the engineering department and worked on a single project as proof-of-concept. By the end, the company gained the knowledge and the tools to create their own panels and deliver them earlier than they have been able to in the past.
On the engineering side, Fraco now designs control panels quickly, using the available parts on the EPLAN Data Portal, which houses over 1.5 million parts data from more than 460 manufacturers speeding up the planning phase of their project.
New opportunities in the future for Fraco
The opportunity to build panels means so much more for Fraco. Not only have they gained flexibility in deciding when they need to get their panels built by external resource, they‘ve also equipped their team with the tools to build panels for others as well. Since last year, Fraco has been able to accept requests from local companies and has expanded its portfolio of products to reflect the additional capabilities of the company. They can also bid more ambitiously on large scale projects, with the confidence that they can exceed all the requirements.
The decision to go all in with EPLAN and focus on the benefits of routing and production has made a huge difference for Fraco. With the dedication of its engineering staff and the support of the EPLAN technical team, the company has managed to reduce their dependency on third party panel builders and can deliver projects earlier than before, with better designs, accurate and complete documentation, digital proofing of the panel, prefabricated wires and a finished product that can be trusted and reliably serviced years later.
Implementing the changes in their processes has truly helped the platform maker to elevate their game and rise above its competition.
