Facilitating growth by centralizing design

The merger of Goodtech ASA and El & Industrimontage Svenska AB in 2010 has enabled two successful companies, one Norwegian, the other Swedish, to become even stronger as one. The vision of the Oslo-listed Goodtech Group is to become Scandinavia’s leading supplier of electrical, environmental and industrial technology. In order to satisfy customer requirements in factory automation and its other fields of endeavour, Goodtech used the occasion of its merger to review the multiple electrical CAD design tools in use at different locations within the company. Could they be replaced by a single system that would serve all locations and project requirements, generate improved productivity and help support the growth of its business? Goodtech provides customized and turnkey solutions
With a turnover of around SEK 2.2 billion and 1,400 employees, Goodtech is a complete electrical engineering contractor. It’s also the Nordic region’s largest automation and instrument assembly company, serving industries like construction, power generation, oil & gas, infrastructure and water and wastewater management. It offers turnkey solutions for automated production lines, robot cells and special machinery for manufacturing. With even tighter delivery timeframes and a highly diverse order book, the merged company saw potential advantages in adopting a single software system to standardize electrical design processes at all of its locations. It wasn’t a simple matter. “Our deliveries largely consist of customized systems,” says Flemming Davanger, Automation Manager for Goodtech Project & Services. “We seldom produce multiple, similar machines or control systems. Therefore it’s difficult to standardize CAD systems.” Survey conclusion was unanimous
Nevertheless, Goodtech decided to undertake such a consolidation and find one system that would meet specific requirements. “A working group with experience with all our CAD systems looked at the possibilities to find a uniform tool,” says Davanger. “We wanted a system that would be user-friendly and flexible enough to be used for different types of projects. All data would be stored centrally and easy to share among regional offices. The system would be managed centrally and most importantly, would not require major administrative support; it should be possible to develop it with minimal input from an administrator. The regional representatives conducted their own individual assessments. All came to the conclusion that EPLAN Electric P8 should be our preferred software for electrical design.” Benefits captured across the board
Thus far, adopting a single, centralized system has delivered multiple benefits, systemically and for the individual user. “Using the same tool company-wide is a huge advantage, as we can assist one another internally and distribute the workload,” says Davanger. “Labor and cost savings are being achieved at all steps in the design process – from preparations for an I/O lists, to creating a wiring diagram, generating build documents for manufacturing control cabinets, finalizing revisions and handling on-going updates during installation.” Designers rely on central database
Projects are moving faster now that engineers, wherever they work, can access an archive of macros in the central database representing a huge quantity of components from different manufacturers. This is crucial for Goodtech, which works with all makes of components. Another key benefit of centralization: Last minute changes happen in almost every project. A common, database-centered system like EPLAN, expedites the incorporation of these changes. New data entered in any list or schematic is reflected automatically throughout all project documentation. In designing automated production lines and processes, generating high quality manufacturing and customer documentation is the most important aspect of ensuring quality and on-time delivery. “The challenge always has been to save time while improving the quality of the documentation,” says Flemming Davanger. With the conversion to a centralized tool, “every link in the design chain knows what data to enter, and the stages are clearly defined. The process has been optimized to eliminate duplicate data input and other time-wasting tasks.” Everything hangs together
Now, Goodtech can generate documents, diagrams and lists to suit each control system. Documentation is produced in PDF or DWG format, whichever the customers prefers, along with Excel spreadsheets for parts suppliers and Excel tables for internal use identifying components and cables. CAD centralization also offers unlimited scope for planning, documentation and management of automation projects. “The EPLAN Platform with its API module (Application Programming Interface) allows us to integrate with our other standard design tools,” notes Davanger. “EPLAN has satisfied our demanding requirements and provided the flexibility necessary for us as non-brand-specific systems integrators. All needs of the end customers have been satisfied using effective, standardized measures without jeopardizing quality. “We still can improve further and make use of more of the capabilities offered by EPLAN,” adds Davanger. “It is particularly interesting now that the organization has expanded. With our merger, we hope to secure more automation orders in Sweden and more electrical engineering work in Norway, which will mean satisfying tough delivery requirements.” Benefits of one design tool for multiple locations
Goodtech, a leading Nordic engineering contractor and supplier of electrical, environmental and industrial technology, used the occasion of a merger to select EPLAN Electric P8 to replace a multitude of electrical CAD tools being used at its various locations. Adopting a universal electrical computer aided engineering tool has reaped time and cost savings at every stage of project design. Additionally, Goodtech was able to centralize the archiving of a growing amount of component and project data in its EPLAN database accessible to its engineers throughout Sweden and Norway. EPLAN also satisfied another of the company’s key selection criteria by providing it with a single CAD system that requires little administrator support while supporting the company’s ambitious growth objectives. Find out more about Goodtech ASA at goodtech.no/eng.