Electrical engineering at WAGO

In addition to terminal blocks, the company’s product catalogue includes transmitters, power supplies, controls and I/O systems. WAGO also provides 3D and electrotechnical data for all its components. 

With efficiency and productivity in mind, WAGO decided to use the WSCAD SUITE electrical CAD solution for the design and maintenance of its in-house manufacturing facilities. It was also used to manage the Minden site’s entire electrical installation. The decision was made because WSCAD SUITE covers six relevant engineering disciplines: electrical engineering, control cabinet design, fluid power, piping
and instrumentation, building automation and electrical installation.

On top of this high functionality, the software is easy to use. This has enabled WAGO to increase the skills portfolio of its personnel who are using the WSCAD software. The company uses WSCAD’s Electrical Engineering (EE) and Cabinet Engineering (CE) modules to design and maintain its manufacturing facilities and to manage a wide range of customer projects.

WAGO has also used the WSCAD SUITE software for internal training and the design of pneumatic and hydraulic plans. With the
additional capabilities offered by the Building Automation (BA) and Electrical Installation (EI) modules, WAGO will be able to expand further by building even more facilities in Minden.

The company takes full advantage of the common interface that links WSCAD SUITE with WAGO’s own Smart Designer package. Essentially, this makes WAGO both a WSCAD user and a partner, which also enables the company’s personnel to become extremely knowledgeable about the WSCAD system.

Eliminate routine tasks to improve efficiency 

WAGO uses the various tools available within WSCAD SUITE
for the electrical design needed to extend and enhance its manufacturing machines. It achieves considerable time-savings when generating schematic diagrams. Using drag and drop, the process of inserting sub-circuits and even entire layout pages into the electrical design is simplified. Replacing a component in one schematic diagram is immediately completed in all other plans, saving time and improving quality.

This reflects the clear strategy behind the WSCAD SUITE: as the electrical engineer is relieved of repetitive routine tasks, they more time for creative tasks and handling
engineering processes. Intelligent links between symbols and components make it easy to identify components in a control cabinet and display the schematics and all the relevant data – including the cable labelling and pin assignments or the current cabinet structure. Having such comprehensive information available reduces development times and makes time-consuming manual design tasks or recurring routine work unnecessary. 

"There is nothing difficult for the electrical engineer here, everything is straightforward thanks to the easy-to-use user interface," explains Alexander Krahner, administrator of CAE applications at WAGO. 

Read the full article in the August issue of DPA.