Streamlining workflow

Electrical contractors are under constant time and cost pressures. To remain competitive, they have to find innovative solutions that shorten design times and minimise the risk of design errors.

One dynamic electrical contractor that has found such a solution – in the form of EPLAN Electric P8 – is AB Electrical Engineering (Rugby) Limited.

Until recently, AB Electrical Engineering used traditional CAD software to plan and design electrical projects, but the adoption of EPLAN Electric P8 and the EPLAN Data Portal has revolutionised and streamlined the company’s workflow.



As AB Electrical Engineering manages the entire execution of projects from design to completion, the engineering team required a sustainable CAE system that would not only increase productivity but also ensure that designs were fully compliant with clients’ specifications. It quickly became evident that the first step to an optimised engineering process was the implementation of EPLAN Electric P8, together with the EPLAN Data Portal.

“After meeting with one of the EPLAN consultants, we could see that there were many improvements the system could bring to our business. For instance, as a standard feature, EPLAN Electric P8 fully automates the production of cable schedules”, said Andy Back. “So instead of spending days creating the cable schedule for a big project, we can now let the software do it almost instantly. This shortens the design time and lets us get it right the first time so that the installation subcontractors know exactly which cable goes where. The way EPLAN Electric P8 works is very intuitive and it integrates easily and seamlessly with our business.”

AB Electrical Engineering has found that EPLAN Electric P8 is accelerating not only the electrical design work but also the purchasing and manufacturing processes.

Quotations and documentation can be rapidly generated as all the components can be found at the click of the mouse by working with the EPLAN Data Portal, a collaborative web-based platform with major suppliers of electrical, mechanical, fluidic and pneumatic components which currently has more than 230 manufacturers, 780,000 data sets and more than 1.2 million configurable parts.

By using proven and tested library modules, the engineers at AB Electrical Engineering can produce error-free designs and effortlessly enhance the quality of their work.

In addition, by using these validated design paths, they can considerably shorten the time it takes to complete a project by minimising the need for custom engineering.

The EPLAN Electric P8 CAE package used by AB Electrical Engineering supports schematic pages, macro variant technology with placeholders, wire numbering and device numbering. It also has additional modules for producing single line drawings and for managing revisions made during the project cycle. It has the ability to automatically connect, mend or break connections between devices.

All the data can then be passed to the production team and the end user’s maintenance personnel in intelligent PDF format with hyperlinks.