Powering up with EPLAN

Industria Sigrama, S.A. de C.V. of Torreón occupies a sweet spot in Mexico’s fast-growing economy. The company designs and builds automated systems as well as process and plant controls. Founded in 1987, it is one of the country’s leading suppliers of control systems used in the production, transmission, processing and distribution of energy and in process industries. Sigrama has built a reputation for successfully managing large, turnkey projects: both new installations and modernizing existing ones – so successful, in fact, that by the middle of the last decade, the electrical engineering staff at Sigrama had outgrown their software tools.

As business grew, Sigrama outgrew its AutoCAD tools

A growing design workload and the increasing complexity of projects were creating significant pain points for the designers working in AutoCAD. These issues included delays in manufacturing that could be traced to the engineering group’s inability to meet deadlines and to design documentation errors not caught prior to the start of production. The company wanted better quality documentation and the ability to archive and re-use data. It would take a database-centric electrical CAE to get the desired improvements in speed, accuracy and efficiency – especially in the handling of large projects. Sigrama officials determined EPLAN was the most comprehensive product available.

Makes extensive use of EPLAN Data Portal

Sigrama purchased its first EPLAN Electric P8 license in 2007 and subsequently has added EPLAN Pro Panel for cabinet and control panel layout and is making extensive use of the EPLAN Data Portal to import component data such as 3D files and component macros from major suppliers like Weidmuller and Panduit. With Sigrama’s growing workload, company officials expect to continue expanding the engineering department, adding and upgrading EPLAN licenses and providing additional training to maximize the benefits of the software.

Using EPLAN generates savings in manufacturing, procurement

Using this advanced CAE has achieved significant improvements in engineering productivity and in the quality of project documentation, helping Sigrama handle large projects more efficiently. “EPLAN helped us develop a hydroelectric project which involved control systems, programming, instrumentation and electrical equipment,” says CEO Alfredo Hernández Cuéllar. “With the use of this tool, design times were reduced, allowing for work in the field to proceed in different areas of the project while standardizing design drawings and diagrams.”
Most of Sigrama’s assignments involve custom design work. When engineering was done in the old AutoCAD environment, design and manufacturing work usually had to proceed concurrently to meet project completion deadlines. Often, that resulted in manufacturing bottlenecks such as when engineering fell behind or there was a need to make modifications on the shop oor to account for late customer design revisions or to rectify design errors not caught during the extensive, manual error-checking required with AutoCAD. By accelerating engineering with EPLAN, Sigrama now manages projects sequentially. “The engineering package is developed first, and only after it is approved by the customer does manufacturing begin,” says Hernández Cuéllar. EPLAN automated error-checking has minimized the error risk and the time spent error-checking electrical documentation.

Benets accrue throughout the company

The company estimates the productivity of the electrical design group has increased about 30% with the switch to EPLAN, reecting the acceleration of work using design automation features and the ability to produce high quality documentation. In manufacturing, the EPLAN benefit is over 15%.

Helps keep manufacturing in-house

“We do our manufacturing in-house and using EPLAN has helped keep production on time while minimizing the number of errors considerably,” says Hernández Cuéllar, adding that EPLAN has helped keep manufacturing in-house by making it more cost-effective. In purchasing materials, the company estimates a 10% cost benet and hopes to raise that to 15% as Sigrama makes even greater use of EPLAN’s capabilities. One possibility would be to link the EPLAN database to the company’s enterprise software as part of a future acquisition of additional EPLAN technology.
“At the user level, the company’s ve electrical engineers are making the most of EPLAN features such as automated cross-reference and error-checking, the ability to archive data and for EPLAN Electric P8 and EPLAN Pro Panel to share project data,” says technical director Mariana Morales. “So far, they have created over 50 macros that are helping accelerate projects.”

Generates documentation in EPLAN format

The engineering department is able to generate documentation in the EPLAN format – which some customers require. With EPLAN’s Intelligent PDF, engineers are able to incorporate customerspecied changes faster than they ever could in AutoCAD. “The intelligent PDF is a simple format for both the clients and ourselves to have better communication and a better understanding of the changes and additions they want in a project,” says Morales. “Among other high-level benets EPLAN has delivered,” says Hernández Cuéllar, “is an ability to generate faster, more accurate price quotations for customers. It also helps us with potential new customers to have good references from our existing customers regarding the quality of our project development. They say our work looks very professional. Some have even said it sets us apart from other integrators.”

Enhanced productivity company-wide

Industria Sigrama, a leading Mexican developer of plant and process control systems for the energy and other sectors, had outgrown its AutoCAD software. Switching to EPLAN has not only made its electrical engineers more productive by a factor of approximately 30%, but has also helped keep projects on schedule while producing signicant cost improvements in manufacturing and procurement. Customers like the superior quality of the electrical design documentation, stating that it makes the company look more professional, while others wanted it in EPLAN format all along and are now pleased to be receiving it that way. These and many other benets have combined to make the switch to EPLAN a signicant win for Industria Sigrama. Find out more about Industria Sigrama at <link http: www.sigrama.com.mx _blank>www.sigrama.com.mx.