Enclosure specialist Rittal has bought Wiechers & Partners, the German company behind the popular Eplan electrical CAD software, and used it as the basis for a new software subsidiary.

Rittal claims that Eplan is the world`s most popular computer-aided electrical engineering design tool, with over 22,000 installations in more than 30 countries. The software is used to design and document industrial automation systems.

Rittal argues that the two companies serve the same customers, and that the new partnership will allow them "to provide a new dimension in industrial solutions".

The acquisition comes as Eplan launches several new and updated products. These include a Windows version of its Eplan Classic software which, until now, has been available only in DOS versions.

There is also a CD-ROM designed to help document PLC systems. It includes a collection of graphical macros for CPUs, I/O cards, memory boards and other PLC components from Siemens, Allen Bradley and Hitachi. These can be imported into Eplan`s software packages. The library will be extended to include controllers from other suppliers.