Electrical design software joins the family
An
Autodesk product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Nov 5, 2003
AutoCAD Electrical is a new AutoCAD-based product optimised for electrical controls design and engineering.
AutoCAD Electrical is a new AutoCAD-based product optimised for electrical controls design and engineering.
The software helps electrical engineers, designers and detailers create better electrical designs, reduce costs and shorten time to market for their products.
AutoCAD Electrical 2004 results from the integration of AutoCAD 2004 software and the newly acquired VIA Wiring Diagram (WD) products, which have a proven history of working within the AutoCAD environment since 1994.
As part of the Autodesk Manufacturing family of complementary solutions, this new product will enable users to more easily communicate with design teams using 2D or 3D software.
"Until now, AutoCAD has clearly been the software of choice in the US controls design market", said Robert Kross, Vice President of the Manufacturing Solutions Division at Autodesk.
"However, electrical engineers who adopt this new, specialised technology to get their job done can realise significant productivity boosts and a rapid ROI within a short implementation period.
Engineers who use basic AutoCAD software or a competitor's program for electrical design should be delighted with AutoCAD Electrical".
Autodesk customers that have beta-tested the product applaud its functionality and price/performance value.
"We use AutoCAD Electrical to maintain projects with more than 200 prints in each set", said Shawn Kelly of Caterpillar.
"AutoCAD Electrical saves us time and prevents mistakes.
This program is a real asset to our company".
"Most electrical schematic programs I've worked with over my career were difficult to use, had limited features, and were not fully integrated into the AutoCAD application.
Autodesk has done it right.
AutoCAD Electrical is the best electrical package available and will help add to the bottom line", said Bill Hosier, President of WJ Engineering Services.
"AutoCAD Electrical has an abundant amount of feature-rich tools-electrical schematics are easily created and can be transmitted in a number of ways, BOMs and other reports can be made with ease, and the pneumatic tool bar really helps integrate pneumatic motions".
"I haven't missed a single project deadline since I switched to AutoCAD Electrical.
No other electrical design tool even comes close to the power and simplicity of AutoCAD Electrical", said Doug McAlexander of Electrical CADD Consulting.
"AutoCAD Electrical 2004 predicts what I am trying to accomplish and finishes the steps for me.
An 80-hour design can be completed in 60 hours or less".
AutoCAD Electrical is the perfect solution for anyone designing or laying out ladder-style control schematics or point-to-point wiring diagrams, helping save users time and money while at the same time drastically improving their drawing accuracy.
The software offers intelligent electrical controls engineering and design to help users create better designs, reduce errors and save time-enabling customers to focus on the design and engineering task rather than repetitive drafting functions.
It provides an intuitive interface for new users and the same familiar working environment for AutoCAD users along with many industry-specific tools to automate the design process.
These tools include automatic wire numbering and component tagging, automatic project reports, automatic creation of programmable logic controller (PLC) I/O drawings from spreadsheets and the ability to re-use existing drawings.
The software also has many features to drastically reduce errors, including automatic coil and contact crossreferencing with usage tracking, audit reports that check for design errors and the ability to build control panels from design information to eliminate missed components.
Many companies struggle to standardise designs across their engineering department.
AutoCAD Electrical 2004 helps standardise the way users' drawings look and the data they contain.
Companies can share configuration files across the network for all users including vendor catalogue files, component descriptions and PLC data files.
Its open and flexible API lets users extend its power and functionality to address their company-specific design/drafting needs and to integrate with existing business and engineering systems.
To foster collaboration, AutoCAD Electrical 2004 enables users to share drawings with customers and vendors as well as track their changes.
Users can also publish designs to the web via HTML.
AutoCAD Electrical 2004 is available immediately in the UK.
Not what you're looking for? Search the site.
Contact Autodesk
Tel +44 1252 456789
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