
Unifying your electrical, instrumentation and automation workflow with CADMATIC Electrical
Written by Kristjan Müül
Posted on June 12, 2024
In modern electrical design, the utilization of various electrical CAD (ECAD) tools or a combination of ECAD and basic CAD to deliver different parts of projects has become common for many engineering offices. Yet, this approach, marked by its diversity of tools and methods, often leads to a fragmented workflow that hinders efficiency, collaboration, and project outcome.
The challenges of maintaining synergy across different software solutions underscore the need for a unified system. What is required is a single solution engineered to seamlessly integrate the entire electrical design process, comprehensively covering electrical, instrumentation, and automation (EI&A).
Knowledge fragmentation and cost management challenges
The use of different ECAD tools and basic CAD software often leads to a scattered knowledge base, complicating the training process and escalating license costs. The divide between internal and external support further exacerbates the issue, leaving engineering offices to fend for themselves in solving internal challenges.
Inhouse developments and manual workarounds become the norm rather than the exception in a landscape devoid of integrated technology. These inefficiencies compromise not only the speed but also the quality of design work, placing an undue burden on the engineering team. Questions like "Who has the latest revision?" become all too common, undermining project integrity.
The necessity for multiple ECAD tools for different aspects of electrical design leads to a disjointed workflow. Keeping everything updated and linked becomes an almost impossible task, necessitating redundant data entry and complicating data management across the electrical, automation, and instrumentation spectrum.
Relying on human effort to keep things together
Without a unified electrical software platform, intra- and interdisciplinary collaboration relies solely on human effort and diligence, a shaky foundation for complex projects.
The truth is that no matter how skilled or diligent your electrical design team is, errors will be made and often result in a significant waste of time and a dip in quality, particularly in larger projects with numerous interdependencies.
Can inhouse-developed ECAD tools solve the problem?
In addition to using a range of ECAD tools, companies also develop inhouse tools to cover gaps in their ECAD portfolios. The cost of such development is high, however, and often relies on one or two key employees. This creates significant challenges when such employees leave the company, and their skills are no longer available.
Even if such in-house skills can be retained, in-house systems often suffer from limited scope, as well as maintenance and scalability issues. The user interfaces and user experiences tend to be less than ideal and integrations with external systems tend to be a challenge to say the least.
One could argue that in-house developed systems may have a role to play, but why live with the tangible associated risks of such tools when a single, customizable, out-of-the-box ECAD solution is available that covers all needs?
Bridging the divide between electrical, instrumentation and automation engineering
CADMATIC Electrical is designed to surmount these challenges, offering a holistic solution that promotes efficient, error-free, and collaborative electrical design. It stands as a single source of truth for all electrical engineering needs, fostering an environment where information flows freely, changes are managed with precision, and collaboration is effortless.
CADMATIC Electrical eliminates the need for multiple, disconnected tools by providing comprehensive capabilities for all aspects of electrical design within a single platform. By facilitating a shared data environment, CADMATIC Electrical ensures that everyone, from electrical engineers to automation and instrumentation specialists, works in harmony, with real-time access to the latest project information.
With CADMATIC Electrical you can say goodbye to redundant data entry and fragmented project deliverables. Its centralized database ensures intelligent data management – data is entered once and used throughout the project, enabling swift responses to change orders, and ensuring data consistency across deliverables. Design data is collected from interlinked documents, which avoids manual data input by designers and the common challenge of such data becoming outdated.
In addition to excelling in intradisciplinary collaboration within electrical engineering, CADMATIC Electrical enhances efficient collaboration in interdisciplinary design. Out-of-the-box integrations enable the integration of electrical engineering with other engineering disciplines, such as 3D modeling, cable routing, and process engineering. This streamlines engineering processes by minimizing manual work and the risks of errors, enhancing collaboration across different disciplines, and improving the transparency of the project.
More than an upgrade
The leap from using multiple ECAD tools to adopting CADMATIC Electrical represents more than an upgrade – it's a strategic move towards operational excellence.
It’s a choice to embrace the unification and streamlining of electrical engineering by unleashing a fully integrated, single-software CAD solution to handle every aspect of electrical, automation and instrumentation design. From basic to detailed projects, CADMATIC Electrical ensures up-to-date, error-free deliverables with its interconnected CAD environment and intelligent data management.
It will reduce manual inputs in your team and enhance data integrity. This means that your engineers will be freed from checking and double-checking every detail so they can focus on innovation and efficiency with smart, flexible, and customizable workflows.