Global engineering expertise on one platform

© battenfeld-cincinnati Austria GmbH

Global engineering expertise on one platform

EB's data model accompanies high-end extruders from drawing board to maintenance

battenfeld-cincinnati is a global technology leader for extrusion solutions in plastics processing. battenfeld-cincinnati Austria GmbH in Vienna supplies around 150 twin-screw extruders annually for the production of window profiles, pipes or plastic panels all over the world. The company has been using AUCOTEC's cooperative platform Engineering Base (EB) since 2012 in order to ensure the best quality and short delivery times, even in the future.

Open and flexible

Walter Kölbl, Director Electrical Engineering & Automation in Vienna, summed up the reasons behind this decision: "The openness and flexibility of EB met our requirements exactly: an increase in the level of automation in engineering as well as connection to in-house order processing." Another important motive was the challenging requirements for customized plants. "In order to be efficient, we needed standardization capabilities like those of EB," said Kölbl.

Versatile data model for all those involved

battenfeld-cincinnati Austria GmbH© battenfeld-cincinnati Austria GmbH

All those involved work together, regardless of their location, on a versatile data model in the central database. Thus consistency and up-to-dateness are always ensured. Circuit diagrams are generated automatically. From them, EB also derives the complete BOMs automatically. Furthermore, the platform is not only open for order processing, 3-D or SAP, but can even support battenfeld-cincinnati's customers with automated configuration of their distributed control and predictive maintenance system. This consistency ensures maximum data quality.

Fast design

Engineering has thus accelerated significantly. In three out of four cases, the complete technical documentation is available to production within eight hours of receiving the order. EB's tracking and revision functions also save time. They make all changes of the electrical designers — who sometimes work from different locations — comprehensible throughout the entire engineering process. This largely replaces complex lock mechanisms, comparing routines, and user rights administration.

Prepared for global competition

EB's implementation first started in Austria. The first extruders were already developed with EB by the following year. Shortly afterwards, EB's user-friendly multilingual options proved themselves during its roll-out in China. Today, other group offices are working internationally with the cooperation platform. "With EB, we have invested in the future and are well prepared for global competitive pressure," concluded Walter Kölbl.

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