Manufacturing links

Embedding manufacturability rules into the design process increases quality and performance. This eliminates downstream overheads by validating fundamental design constraints, such as short circuit checking and contact to coil usage, at the earliest instance. More advanced solutions further improve user productivity by providing design advisory functionality. As an example, users may be only be offered a limited selection of parts for designs. These would be selected by the system based on current valid design parameters. Basic features such as automatic wire and part numbering are common, and many products allow the user to define individual wire and part naming conventions for global and individual application.
ET design - variations on a theme
Electrotechnical design solutions exist to service a number of different requirements, with a common theme. Wiring constitutes the principle interconnect medium. These generally encompass:
" High voltage designs used in applications such as power and sub-station design;
" Interconnecting components such as relays, PLC's and fuses, together with sensors, actuators and indicators generally found in machine design and industrial control circuitry;
" Wiring looms and harnesses used extensively in markets such as automotive, locomotive and aerospace application. Electronic circuit interconnect for consumer goods, IT products and telecommunications application.
We will exclude comment on high voltage design, used within companies such as Mitsubishi Electric, GE and Alstom. Although this is an important market, for the purposes of this discussion we will focus on products that require intimate integration within mechanical structures and assemblies, such as cranes, cars, washing machines and photocopiers. Namely control panel and wire harness design.
Control Panel Design
Many integrated design applications provide the ability to move seamlessly between schematic design and control panel layout environments. This improves product quality and reduces development effort. These solutions also aim to automate much of the documentation and information preparation required by manufacturing and service operations. More advanced products offer automated part placement and auto-routing of wires through panel ducting. In the E3.Series product from CIM-Team in Germany, schematics and panels exist as multiple views on a single data structure. Additions or modifications to circuitry, parts or wires in the physical panel or schematic automatically reflect throughout the design as changes are made. This ensures consistency between schematics and physical panels, and reduces the effort required to validate designs through the development process.