Eplan Cogineer is heading to the cloud

The new arrival Eplan Cogineer is an innovation in automation in every way. This Eplan software for automatically generating schematics and fluid-power designs is now moving to the cloud.

At a sneak preview during SPS Drives, the cloud-based Eplan Cogineer was been presented for the first time. Working with Microsoft Azure, the Eplan software is equipped to offer completely new added value – from secure, worldwide data access to the easy provisioning of comprehensive IT infrastructure.

Microsoft Azure offers the possibility to save, archive and version data without users having to invest any time in doing it or even requiring any relevant know-how. At the same time, the simplicity of operating Eplan Cogineer is the linchpin: every Eplan user can get started immediately based on existing macros and create rule sets and configurators without any programming knowledge.

The sales concept Eplan is using is also innovative and breaks completely new ground with its new subscription basis of licencing the software. Customers benefit from the ease of getting started with using Eplan Cogineer and extra freedom from investment risk. Licences can be used dynamically or temporarily supplemented as the company’s orders situation requires, on an as-needed basis.

Eplan Cogineer is organised into two functional areas: Designer and Project Builder.

The latter is a user interface that is automatically created based on configuration variables. This technology is the first of its kind in electrical engineering. Users of the system during a recent pilot phase were impressed with the solution and have thereby affirmed the development concept. AB Graphic International has been testing Eplan Cogineer and meanwhile are using several licenses at the company.

As Control Systems Engineer Ken Lomas at AB Graphic International said: “Having used Eplan Cogineer on several machines, whilst a colleague followed the existing working method, I was able to produce a set of drawings in five to ten minutes with Eplan Cogineer, in comparison to the usual six hours. The other immediately apparent benefit of Eplan Cogineer is to avoid possible mistakes.”

Jungheinrich Logistics, a leading intralogistics company, is also relying on the new software. Head of Development Electrical Engineering Michael Reising at Jungheinrich Projektlösungen in Offenbach, Germany, explained: “Our experiences with Eplan Cogineer were very positive during the test phase. My colleguages and I were able to immediately get started with our work without a time consuming familiarisation process, and Eplan’s consultants supported us with practical tips and tricks. It became apparent that Eplan Cogineer does a very good job of meeting our needs in the area of configuration. Because of that, we’ve permanently introduced Eplan Cogineer in Offenbach in the meantime, and the implementation was completed in just a few days.”

Data in the cloud
Both the Designer and Project Builder functional areas now start directly from the cloud. User registration and administration are easy because it’s embedded in the Eplan Platform. Libraries and configurators are provided by Microsoft Azure or saved in the cloud, so that everyone involved always has access to the most current state of the project from everywhere in the world.

This working method represents the latest technology. Additional benefits for companies: management and IT efforts like backups are transferred from the user to the cloud – with no need for server hardware or administration on the company side. And users are always working with the most up-to-date version of Eplan Cogineer.