What an Eplan engineering company actually does, and why it matters
An Eplan engineering company designs the complete electrical documentation of a machine, a production line or an industrial installation using the Eplan software suite: Electric P8 for schematics, Pro Panel for 3D cabinet design, and supporting tools (Cogineer, Harness proD, Data Portal) to automate parts of the process. The result is not just a "nice-looking" schematic: it is a coherent data model that links schematic, terminal strip, cable list, cabinet bill of materials, mounting-plate drilling and conduit drawings.
The difference compared with generic CAD tools is structural. In Eplan, when a symbol is changed in the schematic, the bills of materials, cross-references, terminal-strip drawings and — if Pro Panel is used — the 3D cabinet model are all updated automatically. This eliminates the typical errors of industrial electrical projects (missing components on order, miscounted terminals, unlabelled cables) and lets engineering work in parallel with cabinet manufacturing and on-site installation.
What we cover as an Eplan engineering company
At Bluemation we use Eplan as the backbone tool for all our electrical engineering. We cover the following scope:
- Electrical schematics in Eplan Electric P8: power, control, communications, field instrumentation and general drawings.
- 3D cabinet design in Eplan Pro Panel: apparatus layout, mounting-plate drilling for CNC, cable-duct sizing and internal wiring.
- Auto-generated lists and documentation: terminal strip, terminal list, cable list, BoM, page index and cover sheet.
- Corporate macros and libraries: creation of page and window macros so that recurring projects can be generated in hours instead of days.
- Templates and standardisation: definition of the corporate standard (page numbering, identifiers, schematic language, drawing format) so that all future engineering remains consistent.
- Integration with manufacturing: data export for CNC mounting-plate machining, guided wiring systems and BoM into ERP.
- Migrations from AutoCAD Electrical or other CAD tools: redrawing and restructuring of legacy projects to bring them into the Eplan data model.
When it makes sense to outsource Eplan engineering
Not every company needs an in-house Eplan team. In our experience, outsourcing electrical engineering with Eplan pays off in any of the following situations:
- Punctual workload peaks: large projects that overload the in-house team and force temporary hires that don't justify a permanent role.
- Lack of licences and deep experience: Eplan has a real learning curve, and getting the most from it requires years of practice with macros, libraries and real projects.
- Pending standardisation: companies with many legacy projects in heterogeneous formats that need a common Eplan baseline to grow in an orderly way.
- Need for high-quality documentation for tenders or export: markets such as Germany, the Nordics or the pharmaceutical industry typically require structured Eplan documentation by default.
Sectors and project types where we apply Eplan
| Project type | Typical applications |
|---|---|
| Machinery OEMs | Standardised schematics with macros, variant generation from a configurator, export-grade documentation. |
| Integrators and panel builders | Pro Panel for 3D design, export to CNC manufacturing, BoM integrated with procurement. |
| Industrial plants | As-built documentation, modernisation of legacy projects, maintenance drawings. |
| Regulated industries (pharma, food) | Traceable, validation-ready documentation as part of the qualification package. |
| Building automation and BMS | Electrical cabinet schematics linked to the BMS, field terminal strips and conduit drawings. |
What sets us apart as an Eplan engineering company
There are three things a client should demand from an Eplan engineering company, and which they often don't get. The first is coherent, reusable deliverables: well-built macros, a component library with full data (part number, manufacturer, connections), standard templates and parametrisable projects. If all you receive are PDFs without source files, you have bought drawings, not engineering.
The second is integration with automation: the Eplan schematic does not live in isolation. It must talk to the PLC programme (variables, I/O mapping), to the physical cabinet (drilling, wiring) and to the end client (training and maintenance). An Eplan company that also programmes PLCs spots inconsistencies much earlier than one that only draws.
And the third is technical honesty: Eplan is excellent for most industrial electrical projects, but it is not always the right tool. For a small machine with five contactors, the overhead may not be worth it. A serious Eplan company will tell you so before selling you hours you don't need.
How to start an Eplan project with us
- Initial technical meeting: we understand the scope, deadlines, internal standard (if any) and expected deliverables.
- Proposal: a quotation with engineering hours broken down by phase, review milestones and delivery format.
- Execution: project development with intermediate reviews, version control and short follow-up meetings.
- Delivery: editable Eplan project, signed PDFs and, where applicable, exports for cabinet manufacturing.
- Support: standard maintenance, macro updates and as-built revisions after commissioning.
If you have an Eplan project, a pending migration, or you need to outsource the electrical engineering of a machine or installation, share the details with us. We provide a concrete technical proposal and a realistic timeline at no commitment.