The GAW Group is a global technology group. With their focus on paper, plastic, chemical, environment and automotive markets, their plants, products and industrial services cover five essential markets almost anywhere in the world. GAW processing plants, for example, provide a significant share of the worldwide production of coated paper and board. In addition, world-leading automotive manufacturers rely on GAW conveyor technology. Founded in 1951, the group is now represented in 29 countries with over 550 employees and maintains a global network of production, service and sales units.
Won over by EB
The paper and board processing area thoroughly examined the market when searching for a consistent design system for P&IDs and flow diagrams. „Engineering Base (EB) was clearly the winner,“ said Wolfgang Schmölzer, Technology Manager at GAW technologies GmbH. They were won over by its user-friendliness, object orientation, change tracking and mobile solutions, among other things, as well as by the ease of switching to different units and standards. „The cost-benefit aspect was also decisive,“ said Schmölzer. In addition, they were won over by the convenient 3-D connection as an important requirement was the linking of mechanical and electrical engineering design.
Savings potential via standardization
GAW also uses EB for standardization; not only for processes, but also for the material master. „We see the greatest savings potential here because the standard modules in EB enable significantly more efficient tendering,“ explained Schmölzer. Details can be easily shown and hidden and calculated accordingly. If the contract is awarded, the selected tender configuration quickly becomes a real project. The complex tender PFDs were previously stored laboriously in several folders; this resulted in high potential for errors in the event of changes.
Learning from each other
© GAW GroupAUCOTEC‘s customer orientation was also impressive. „Initially, EB did not meet our requirements for piping design, but AUCOTEC implemented our proposals in the latest version,“ reported the technology expert. Thus GAW can now, for example, assign materials directly to objects and treat piping in a function-based manner.
According to Heinz Rechberger, Managing Director of AUCOTEC‘s subsidiary in Austria, which supports GAW: „Suggestions, close cooperation with customers and learning from each other have always been important to us.“ GAW now wants to switch further branch offices to EB and improve the connection to SAP. „There is still considerable potential in EB. It is also perfect for combining our expertise from Graz (Austria) with that from the USA, Brazil and China,“ concluded Schmölzer.
