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Tools boost efficiency of automation and electrical design

09 August, 2021

Siemens Digital Industries Software has released a pair of software packages for designing automation systems and industrial electrical equipment. It says that the NX Automation Designer and NX Industrial Electrical Design tools can help manufacturers of production systems to manage design complexity, cut development lifecycles and increase the quality of their designs.

Siemens adds that automation engineers using NX Automation Designer will benefit from extended capabilities for generating sequences and safety programs, while electrical engineers using NX Industrial Electrical Design will be able to work faster with enhancements to connection handling and reporting, and new symbols for IEC, ANSI and fluidics, and 2D cabinet dimensioning.

The new tools are part of Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio which helps users to harness digital twins to provide new insights and levels of automation. They will also integrate directly with Siemens’ Teamcenter PLM (product lifecycle management) software. However, users can begin electrical and automation design work without Teamcenter, thus benefiting from the electrical and automation design capabilities without needing a complete PLM system.

The scalability of the software allows them to start with a single module or combine different modules with each other. The NX applications can work natively, without Teamcenter, or in a managed mode with Teamcenter in the background.

Wolfgang Schloegl, Siemens’ vice-president of digital engineering, says that the integrated tool chain will allow even smaller enterprises to embrace digitalisation. “Through this tool chain,” he adds, “a significant efficiency enhancement can be achieved – in particular, when realising new products”.

NX Automation Designer provides a multi-disciplinary design environment for production systems engineering, thus boosting engineering productivity and lowering IT costs, helping to address the growing consumer demand for product variety.

Siemens claims that its NX tools will improve the efficiency of designing automation and electrical equipment

One of the first applications of the new software is at the German machine-builder, Stima, which is using the platform to combine various disciplines – mechanical, electrical and automation – into one environment to manage projects more efficiently and to improve quality. The company is said to have cut its engineering time by 45% through the consistent use of data across the different areas, and by creating more efficient workflows.

“Today, in order to maintain profitability, you have to realise more projects with the same number of employees,” says Stima’s owner, Karl Stieler. “Furthermore, you need to quickly react to different in complex customer requirements. This means we need the close interaction of mechanical design, electrical design and automation technology.”

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