🚀 EPLAN Next26: Festival Success Illuminating the Future of Engineering! 💡

[Elif Özaksu]

The engineering world eagerly awaited EPLAN Next26, which opened its doors in Munich and felt like a festival. This two-day special event brought together industry professionals, offering striking insights into the future trends of engineering, automation, and industry.

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🌍 Global Participation and Groundbreaking Innovations​

Approximately 1,500 participants from 36 different countries attended the event held at Cavalluna Park. The conference went beyond being just a meeting point; it served as a platform where innovations like EPLAN Copilot and EPLAN Smart Sourcing were introduced for the first time, and even hints about EPLAN Platform 2027 were given. Leading figures, experts, and decision-makers in the industry intensely discussed topics that will shape the future of engineering.

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🤖 The Future of Artificial Intelligence and Automation​

Critical questions such as how electrical engineering will transform in the coming years, new steps in automation, and the impact of artificial intelligence on engineering were addressed by international experts in various presentation formats.

EPLAN CEO Sebastian Seitz, in his opening speech, emphasized the importance of digitalization and introduced EPLAN Copilot in the cloud environment. Seitz highlighted data security and the robust architecture of artificial intelligence, sharing their long-term goals of making workflows completely autonomous. "Our aim is to transform this technology from a copilot to a true pilot," he said.

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🏭 A Look at Tomorrow's Industrial Production​

At the event, it was experienced firsthand how industry giants like DMG MORI, Eaton, and Siemens are preparing for future challenges and what tools they use to succeed in a competitive environment.

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  []Rainer Brehm, COO and CTO of Siemens Digital Industries Automation Business, emphasized the importance of transitioning from rule-based automation to goal-based automation. Siemens' end-to-end, AI-based Advanced Machine Engineering, developed in collaboration with EPLAN, was presented as an example of this change.
  
  []Dr.-Ing. Masahiko Mori, Group President and CEO of DMG MORI, introduced their "Machining Transformation" initiatives and touched upon their collaboration with EPLAN in creating digital twins for control panel design.
  
• Andy Lee, Operations Director for Eaton Power Distribution Systems China, provided fascinating insights into their highly automated control panel production facility in Changzhou, China. In this facility, the EPLAN Platform is also used as the backbone of electrical engineering, and humanoid robots inspect connected cables.
  

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🔬 Future Lab: Experience the Future​

In the Future Lab section, groundbreaking new developments and future technologies were showcased. For example, an automated panel design tool that creates a basic assembly panel design directly from the initial bill of materials attracted great interest. Thanks to this tool, even at the quotation stage, suitable enclosure selection and reliable cost estimation can be done with minimal effort.

The software-supported production workstation was another prominent innovation. This station enables even less experienced employees to produce control panels of very high quality. Topics such as Siemens Teamcenter integration and advanced machine engineering were also presented in the Future Lab, establishing a direct link between mechanical engineering, product data management (PDM), and electrical control technology (CAE/TIA).

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⚙️ EPLAN Platform 2027 and Smart Sourcing​

EPLAN used the event for a special preview of the new EPLAN Platform 2027. Integrating approximately 500 customer requirements, this platform is designed to further accelerate electrical engineering projects in three process stages: preliminary planning, electrical engineering, and control panel engineering.

Regarding component sourcing, EPLAN Smart Sourcing presented a new and highly automated solution that had its German premiere at EPLAN Next26. This tool provides practical benefits by clarifying where and how quickly necessary parts can be procured during the design phase. In various Master Classes, users had the opportunity to explore new features of the software and topics such as control panel design, efficient machine wiring, and digital product configuration.

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🤝 Standardization and Collaboration Trends​

In the Partner Plaza, more than twenty companies, including ABB, Phoenix Contact, Rittal, Rockwell Automation, Siemens, and Weidmüller, showcased their innovations to simplify and automate engineering within the EPLAN ecosystem. Data consistency played a key role here, and it became clear that a complete digital twin can only be implemented with these intelligent connections. As many speakers emphasized, the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) is playing an increasingly central role as a standardized transmission channel.

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✨ Conclusion: A Successful Start and More to Come​

At the end of the two-day event, Sebastian Seitz drew an overall positive conclusion: "This was a successful start. Many of our partners on the panels and in discussions emphasized that the future lies in collaboration – only in this way can we overcome the challenges of the future. The technologies are available. The real question is how we can consistently integrate these opportunities into our processes. We look forward to discussing this further at EPLAN Next27."

EPLAN Next26 was an unforgettable event that inspired the engineering world, offered innovative solutions, and hosted visionary discussions about the future. Next year's meeting is already eagerly awaited!