P&ID module on the EPLAN platform 2.0

As a module of the new EPLAN platform 2.0, EPLAN P&ID lays the basis for consistent engineering right from the start. This ranges from the first representation of a machine or plant process down to the detailed P&ID, the plant overview. Fundamental process information such as the loops and consumers as well as instrumentation requirements are stored directly in a mutual project database. Result: They are available during all the subsequent engineering phases. Electrical-engineering and fluid-power data can be supplemented on the same basis; data are "passed on" from the pre-planning stages to the detail engineering. The benefit to the user in comparison to the usual CAD-spreadsheet combinations is obvious: More speed, more continuity, more freedom.

Based 1:1 on data
P&ID stands for "Process and Instrumentation Diagram" and is the central planning document for consistent project engineering in the automation of process engineering systems. Symbols or macros are placed graphically, down to the database-oriented administration of the plant data. The P&ID engineering can be scaled flexibly. This is followed by the I&C planning in which the required data of the instrumentation and control technology are supplemented. Decisive practical advantage: The I&C database 1:1 on the process engineering data. All the PCT loop information, and thus also the process requirements, are transparent. Afterwards I&C designers simply complete the appropriate device technology and define sensors as well as their electrical interconnection or signal processing.

Automatically instead of manually
The complete automation technology of the systems is thus specified simply and exactly. The advantage: The system automatically synchronizes the modifications from the process technology. If, for example, a loop number changes in the P&ID, the modification is available directly at all the points in the project. Thus providing planning reliability. In addition modifications can be displayed via the revision control and can be traced by all users. Updating of the loop and device lists as well as of the loops and schematics is also carried out by the system. Users thus profit from a notable reduction in routine work and from clear and correct planning data.

Disciplines united
Sequential working is definitely a thing of the past with EPLAN P&ID: Colleagues in the electrical engineering and fluid teams can work parallel to the instrumentation and control technology on the same database. With EPLAN Fluid and EPLAN Electric P8, the further systems in the platform, drives and their power supply are added in the project and the corresponding documentation generated. Here too, the flow of information into the plant overview is ensured. If for example the electrical designer changes the device tag of a drive, this change is adopted automatically in the P&ID. All the corresponding reports and documents are thus up to date. Transparency is increased further by the fact that PLC or PCS assignments that enter the project through the automation technology are now also always present in the process and I&C technology.

Summary:
The new interdisciplinary documentation is an ideal basis for a consistent maintenance process that always ensures that the machine is in its "as built" state.