A new feature in the Cabinet Engineering discipline of WSCAD SUITE is the creation of control cabinet layouts using data from external E-CAD systems. This new degree of freedom makes developers and designers independent of the E-CAD systems of their suppliers. The resulting planned control cabinet is no different from the usual approach based on schematics. The planning is complete, including the wire routing and the provision of data for manufacturing. If wires, wire bundles or control panels and plates are to be manufactured, planning details can be passed to the respective machines, service providers and NC machining centers. Another new feature is the 3D representation of the control cabinet for better spatial awareness.
In addition to the menu item "New material" for the cabinet layout without schematics, there is now the new button "Import E-CAD material". Clicking on this button opens a dialog for importing terminal charts as well as material and connection lists that were previously exported from the other E-CAD systems. Depending on the manufacturer of the third-party E-CAD system, the export occurs in the form of one or more Excel lists, for example. An import wizard in WSCAD queries the manufacturer of the source data, reads the input lists and merges them into the format required by WSCAD.
On importing the data, among other things, information such as vendor and function texts, ref. names, part data, values from motor lists or additional texts are taken over. To avoid redundancies within the WSCAD application, a comparison is made with the WSCAD database. The well-known design process is then executed with scaled drawing for autorouting, automatic and precise "center" or "clearance" snapping of components accurate to a tenth of a millimeter, collision checks and a display of the filling degree. The imported wiring information in the form of connection lists and terminal charts are used for the autorouting.
Once the cabinet is completed, all the data is available for manufacturing. For example, single or serial production of wires on mobile wire cutting machines, cable labels and label printing or the production of ready-to-install cable bundles. On NC machining centers, control panels and cabinet doors can be produced with the data. A better spatial overview is provided via the new 3D representation of the control cabinet. If desired, the schematic can also be created from the finished cabinet data.
"Cabinet builders can now work with WSCAD, no matter from which system and in which E-CAD data format they get data", explains Klaus Kinner, Product Manager at the WSCAD electronic GmbH. "A very interesting aspect, given the fact that many cabinet builders work with WSCAD and receive data from their suppliers from another E-CAD system. And that at a third of the cost for comparable functionality!"
In addition to the menu item "New material" for the cabinet layout without schematics, there is now the new button "Import E-CAD material". Clicking on this button opens a dialog for importing terminal charts as well as material and connection lists that were previously exported from the other E-CAD systems. Depending on the manufacturer of the third-party E-CAD system, the export occurs in the form of one or more Excel lists, for example. An import wizard in WSCAD queries the manufacturer of the source data, reads the input lists and merges them into the format required by WSCAD.
On importing the data, among other things, information such as vendor and function texts, ref. names, part data, values from motor lists or additional texts are taken over. To avoid redundancies within the WSCAD application, a comparison is made with the WSCAD database. The well-known design process is then executed with scaled drawing for autorouting, automatic and precise "center" or "clearance" snapping of components accurate to a tenth of a millimeter, collision checks and a display of the filling degree. The imported wiring information in the form of connection lists and terminal charts are used for the autorouting.
Once the cabinet is completed, all the data is available for manufacturing. For example, single or serial production of wires on mobile wire cutting machines, cable labels and label printing or the production of ready-to-install cable bundles. On NC machining centers, control panels and cabinet doors can be produced with the data. A better spatial overview is provided via the new 3D representation of the control cabinet. If desired, the schematic can also be created from the finished cabinet data.
"Cabinet builders can now work with WSCAD, no matter from which system and in which E-CAD data format they get data", explains Klaus Kinner, Product Manager at the WSCAD electronic GmbH. "A very interesting aspect, given the fact that many cabinet builders work with WSCAD and receive data from their suppliers from another E-CAD system. And that at a third of the cost for comparable functionality!"
