Certified EPLAN Interface in SAP

The integration of the SAP Engineering Control Center Interface to EPLAN has been available since September. EPLAN is therefore the first and so far only CAE system listed on the SAP price list with certified direct integration. Monheim, 16 October 2015 – The new SAP Engineering Control Center Interface to EPLAN enables the secure storage of projects in the SAP system through to the parts list exchange. Additional advantages for companies lie within the provision of project data across departmental boundaries, user access control over the SAP authorisation system, backing up older versions of projects, status and clearance management and the provision of PDFs and other neutral formats for all SAP users. Special practical advantage: It is not necessary to integrate an additional PDM system. Maximilian Brandl, President of EPLAN and Cideon, explains: "We are extremely happy that the interface has been listed as a standard product in SAP. This is a huge step towards mechatronics, as alongside mechanics and its eight interfaces to date with the corresponding authoring systems, SAP now also supports electrical engineering as a further discipline within the product life cycle."

Mechatronics is within reach

The interface uses SAP's new standard integration technology, Engineering Control Center. On this basis, all CAD integrations, for example Autodesk Inventor and others, are added into SAP. The advantage: If the customer works in a multi-CAD environment, all of the interfaces in SAP function in the same way and have the same look and feel. In addition to this, the EPLAN integration supports a complete life cycle across disciplines.

Deep integration into SAP

It's exciting to think about a deep integration into the whole of SAP: Connecting to customer orders and SAP project structures within maintenance and other SAP objects is easy to do with a drag and drop feature in the interface. It doesn't just connect the EPLAN project to the SAP succession processes, but also makes it easier for the design engineer to find the relevant SAP objects inside the desired EPLAN project. With an integration into the SAP update service, historical states can be managed on the EPLAN platform according to date and serial number validity. The consistency of the data and access permission can also be controlled via SAP mechanisms. SAP Workflow supports the controlled flow of the EPLAN data throughout the entire company. At the same time, SAP's Access Control Management determines specific group authorisations and access permissions in order to protect project data against unauthorised access. As part of the ordering process, EPLAN also makes SAP integration functions available for the transmission of parts lists. This isn't just intended for project completion, but also works for partial parts lists which are automatically entered into SAP beforehand. At the push of a button, these are entered in the background without the user having to do it themselves.

Combined know-how

The integration between the EPLAN platform, SAP Product Lifecycle Management and SAP ERP was realised in close cooperation with Cideon Software, a subsidiary of the Friedhelm Loh Group business network. The integrated workflow between the leading systems supports controlled flow from the first steps in design through production to distribution and maintenance. EPLAN, October 2015