Have you seen the sugar monster?

Halloween is a strange and wonderful time for everybody. Isn’t it priceless to see the effort kids (and grown-ups) put into dressing up and walking around begging for treats? If scary is what you’re going for, try getting in between the little ones and their candy, or worse, sticking around after they’ve had too much! No matter how you look at it, kids, candy and Halloween together is like a great horror movie – so much fun, because it’s so scary!

The double-edged sword of candy and Halloween is a long discussion. Every Halloween my doorbell rings, I hear the words ‘trick or treat’ and candy leaves my house. But no success yet in tricking anyone to leave the candy for me.

I seem to have better luck surprising people with design tricks in E3.series, so let’s talk about that instead. There are some treats in store for you as well but let’s start with the tricks.

Losing yourself in 256 levels of excitement…

The age-old drafting function ‘layer’ is widely used in design to manage the information on a drawing. Needless to say, it is easy to forget it exists in E3.series with all the other automation and intelligence making life easy. Layers are known as Levels in E3.series and they are, as you might guess, a much more intelligent version than the ghost of the old design tools. The trick here is to use the levels to help you standardize and reduce the effort to create a perfect drawing.

Levels in E3.series can control multiple items all at once or you can choose to control them individually. Easily show/hide elements of your choice on any of the 256 levels available in the project. The standard library uses levels as a basic guide for standardization, making the library a perfect place to assign specific levels to the design elements controlled by project-specific configuration.

Each level is sub-divided into:

• Symbol
• Symbol Graphics
• Symbol Text
• Empty Text – Attributes or Text Types that have no value hidden by default
• Graphic
• Text
• Connections

Users can quickly change project configurations by using Read and Write level configuration options. The ability to export, standardize and automate improves time savings and productivity. If you haven’t tried levels before or simply forgot about them it is time to give it a shot and level up your designs.

The curious case of connector information

The information displayed in a drawing can vary from one project to the next. You shouldn’t have to go change the library every time or have to maintain separate libraries to adhere to standards. In E3.series the library can truly be a single source of truth – the question is ‘how’ isn’t it?

I am sure you can relate to having to display or find one particular detail of a connector at the worst time possible. Invariably, caught wishing you had saved it the last time you had to go look it up in a datasheet. Levels, although great, are not a solution for the dynamic nature of information attached to connectors and their pins. The challenge; do you make it visible all the time in the drawing? Would it be better for this information to show up on the drawing as and when you need it?

Connectors have their own attribute visibility manager in the settings for any project in E3.series. The visibility of the attribute text is managed for the first, last and the middle pins. If you think about attributes like a part number or device tag, you’ll likely want to show the part number below on the last pin, and the device tag only above a set of connector pins rather than on each pin.

The idea here is to not have to create custom symbols for pins but rather use generic symbols. A novel solution like this enables configuring your project as the requirements evolve. I use about eight pin symbols to represent thousands of connectors and these settings are a blessing. I don’t even want to think about managing all those connectors without this feature.

What is reality, if not shared perception?

We have dozens of such tips, tricks and sage advice available on this blog and in the Zuken community. If you haven’t signed up for the community you are missing the protection of being in the inner circle and validating your reality – https://community.zukenusa.com

Head to the island to be safe, the zombies are coming…

Zuken Innovation World Americas 2019 is being held in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina from April 15-17, 2019. It is a wonderful place to learn more about the solutions directly from the experts. You’ll enjoy many networking opportunities with your colleagues amidst the soothing sound of the waves caressing the soft sandy beach.

The presentations by customers and industry experts are the highlight of the agenda. If you haven’t submitted your abstract, now is the time – the call for papers closes November 2, 2018. The information and topics are always going to be a treat but there are additional perks to presenting and the real TREAT is that approved speakers attend FREE!

Enjoy these tricks and treats on your next design project, and if you find yourself with any leftover Halloween candy, I hope you’ll send it my way!

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French version

Being responsive was one of their key objectives in adopting a digital design flow. “Responsiveness has always been one of our major strengths. If one of our customers sees their order book increasing, we bend over backwards to meet their needs and avoid slowing down their production,” explains Christophe Poirier, Technical Manager.

Another objective was to maintain control of all of their product parts. “It is a matter of principle that each product leaving our premises has been tested to ensure exemplary quality,” says Poirier.

EFA France carried out an exhaustive benchmarking study of the main electrical solutions on the market, and decided that Zuken’s E3.series best fitted their current and future needs.

Specialist supplier

A specialist in automotive electrical and electronics systems, EFA was founded in 1999 in Germany, and its French operations launched in 2004. Their main business activities are:

• Production / integration of simple and complex assemblies, and vehicle installations for wiring and assembly of electrical and electronic subassemblies.
• Project management of entire complex projects, from specification to mass production.
• Supply of single components and complete solutions for human machine interface products, such as sensors, screens, controllers and joysticks.

The key reasons EFA chose Zuken’s E3.series include

• The proven stability of the E3.series platform
• Ability to carry out native 3D design in E3.panel, which allows them to cover the entire process; from design to the generation of job descriptions for manufacturing.
• Ability to manage cable, panel and electrical schematics in a single tool, offering an end-to-end design process.
• Zuken France – a local team offering expert support in French language.
• Zuken’s strong financial structure.

There were also some reasons relating to the approach Zuken took towards EFA as a new customer:

“Zuken carried out an in-depth analysis, which meant they precisely mapped our objectives and processes. They were intent on understanding the complexities of our business – not just in terms of our ECAD requirements – but our needs as a manufacturing company. They took time to find out our business goals and aspirations from a high-level perspective before they moved on to find out our technical requirements,” says Poirier.

Plus, the personal aspects of business cannot be understated in France.

Poirier continues: “For us as a medium-sized company it is very important that we get on with the people we choose to work with. Zuken took plenty of time to get to know us before we met in person, and were happy to give us a detailed history of their company and tell us about customers they were working with in France. We were reassured by the fact that other local companies in our sector had good experiences with E3.series.”

Since using E3.series EFA has achieved the following benefits

• Less rework and time savings: If manufacturing makes a change, they can do so using the existing structure with no rework, and they can make comments within the drawing about their changes.
• An increase in performance relating to project delivery, meaning EFA can give a more reliable guarantee of their manufacturing deadlines.
• A further increase in process and product quality. The ease of reading E3.series plans and the wealth of information contained within them has significantly improved team communication, and saved valuable time.

A trusted partner to ensure stable growth

“Finding a partner that we could trust and who speaks the same language as us (as in both French and our common technical language) was very important. Zuken had good business and industry knowledge were able to advise us about what we might need in the future. They also invited us to their local customer conference to increase our business exposure.

“We see Zuken and E3.series as key to helping us achieve our corporate growth goals,” says Poirier.

For more on EFA, see: www.efa-controls.com , and for more on Zuken’s automotive solutions see www.zuken.com/automotive
*****

French version

Zuken accompagne la croissance des constructeurs français de véhicules automobiles et spéciaux

En croissance continue depuis plusieurs années l’équipementier pour véhicules industriels EFA France s’est rendu compte qu’il devait dans ce contexte repenser l’organisation de son bureau d’étude électrique.  L’augmentation significative de leur chiffre d’affaires, la volonté forte de maintenir un haut niveau de qualité des produits et process de production ont poussé les équipes de EFA France à rechercher une nouvelle solution de conception électrique pour leur bureau d’études.

Être agile, réactif et flexible lors des phases de conception était l’un de leurs principaux objectifs. “La réactivité a toujours été l’une de nos principales forces. Si l’un de nos clients voit son carnet de commandes augmenter, nous nous plions alors en quatre pour répondre à leurs besoins et éviter ainsi de ralentir leur production », explique Christophe Poirier, responsable technique.

EFA France a alors réalisé une étude comparative exhaustive des principales CAO électriques du marché et a décidé que la solution E³.series de Zuken répondait le mieux à ses besoins actuels et futurs.

Un autre objectif était de garder le contrôle de toutes les pièces de leurs produits. « C’est une question de principe, en effet chaque produit qui quitte nos locaux a été contrôlé pour assurer une qualité exemplaire », affirme M. Poirier.

Fournisseur spécialisé

Spécialiste des engins industriels – systèmes électriques et électroniques embarqués, EFA a été fondée en 1999 en Allemagne puis en France en 2004. Ses activités principales sont:

• Production / intégration de sous-ensembles simples et complexes, pour une installation rapide sur véhicule : câblage et l’assemblage de sous-ensembles électriques et électroniques.
• Gestion de projets complexes entiers, de la spécification à la production de masse.
• Fourniture de composants uniques et de solutions complètes pour les produits d’interface homme-machine, tels que les capteurs, les écrans, les contrôleurs et les joysticks.

Les principales raisons pour lesquelles EFA a choisi E³.series de Zuken

• La stabilité éprouvée de la plate-forme E³.series
• La capacité à réaliser un design 3D natif dans E³.panel, permettant une couverture de l’ensemble du processus : de la conception à la production via des fiches de poste pour le service fabrication.
• La capacité à gérer les schémas de câblage, les coffrets et les schéma électriques dans un seul et unique outil, offrant ainsi un processus de conception de bout en bout.
• Une équipe locale Zuken France offrant un support et une expertise de qualité en langue française.
• La structure financière solide du Groupe Zuken.

Il y avait aussi quelques raisons liées à l’approche de Zuken envers EFA en tant que nouveau client:

“Zuken a effectué une analyse approfondie, ce qui signifie qu’ils ont précisément cartographié nos objectifs et nos processus. Ils avaient l’intention de comprendre parfaitement la complexité de nos activités – pas seulement en termes de besoins ECAD – mais aussi en tant que société de fabrication afin de mieux nous aider. Ils ont pris le temps de connaître nos objectifs et nos enjeux d’entreprise avant même de passer à la découverte de nos exigences techniques », explique Christophe Poirier.

Christophe Poirier poursuit: « Pour nous, en tant qu’entreprise de taille moyenne, il est très important de s’entendre avec les partenaires avec qui nous choisissons de travailler. Zuken a pris beaucoup de temps pour nous connaître avant de nous rencontrer en personne, et était heureux de nous donner un historique détaillé de leur entreprise et de nous parler des clients avec lesquels ils travaillaient en France. Nous avons été rassurés également par le fait que d’autres entreprises locales de notre secteur avaient de bonnes expériences avec E³.series. ”

Depuis la mise en place de E³.series, EFA.France a obtenu les bénéfices suivants:

• Moins de retouches de plans et donc un gain de temps: si la fabrication effectue un changement, ce dernier est immédiatement incrémenté sur l’ensemble du dossier et un commentaire y sera associé.
• Une augmentation de la performance de livraison des projets, ce qui signifie qu’EFA France peut donner une garantie encore plus fiable des délais de fabrication.
• Une augmentation supplémentaire de la qualité du processus et du produit. En effet, la lisibilité de nos plans E³.series et la richesse des informations qui y sont contenues ont clairement réduit les malentendus de nos équipes, nous permettant ainsi de gagner un temps précieux.

Un partenaire de confiance pour assurer une croissance stable et durable

«Trouver un partenaire en qui nous avons confiance et qui parle la même langue que nous était très important. Zuken avait les connaissances de l’industrie, et était en mesure de nous conseiller sur ce dont nous pourrions avoir besoin à l’avenir. Comme partenaire de confiance, Ils nous ont également invités à exposer à leur conférence (Zuken Innovation World).

«Nous considérons Zuken et E³.series comme un des éléments clés pour nous aider à atteindre nos objectifs de croissance», explique Christophe Poirier.

Plus d’informations: www.efa-controls.com,  www.zuken.com/automotive

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