Eplan and Phoenix Contact link component notices to engineering projects

Eplan and Phoenix Contact plan to present a component-change notification solution at the SPS trade show in November, using the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) to connect manufacturer notices with the engineering projects affected by them.

According to Eplan, the use case allows information about a changed or discontinued component, or a safety-relevant update, to be transmitted in a structured format and processed in the Eplan Data Portal. An engineer can then receive a notification and identify the projects or existing systems that use the affected item. The company describes the system as a planned presentation; the supplied feature does not establish general availability.

Connecting engineering and procurement data

The feature also describes Eplan Smart Sourcing, presented at the company's Next26 event. During planning, it connects component selections with availability and delivery information from participating manufacturers and distributors. Eplan says this allows critical parts to be substituted earlier and validated bills of materials to be passed to procurement.

Eplan Platform 2027 has been available since the beginning of September, according to the company. Its Copilot assistant can use a part number to search cloud-stored projects for component usage. Eplan distinguishes that assistance from its longer-term ambition for autonomous engineering.

The company reports that its Data Portal contains more than four million static and configurable device specifications from over 550 manufacturers. It positions the AAS, with ECLASS Advanced providing a semantic foundation, as a means of transferring structured data between different companies and applications.