Panel-shop MES vs CAD and EPLAN: design tools end where the build begins
EPLAN, AutoCAD and 3D panel design tools produce the engineering. KonstanTrack controls what happens to that engineering once it is released to the floor.
Short answer
CAD and EPLAN are design authoring tools: they create schematics, single-line diagrams, GA drawings, terminal plans and 3D panel layouts. A panel-shop MES does not author anything. It controls the released output — which revision the floor is building to, what stage the build has reached, what was inspected and tested, and what evidence exists at handover. KonstanTrack works alongside EPLAN and CAD and does not replace electrical design or 3D panel design.
Design tools are excellent at the thing they do. EPLAN will generate a wiring schedule, a terminal plan and a device list from a schematic and keep them consistent. Nothing in an MES competes with that, and any MES claiming to is selling you a worse CAD package.
The problem sits after the design is finished. A drawing gets released, the build starts, an engineer issues revision C on Tuesday, and on Thursday somebody is still wiring to revision B because the printed set on the bench is the one they were given. The design tool has no visibility of the shop floor, and the shop floor has no enforced link back to the design. That gap is where rework is born.
Who owns what
| CAD / EPLAN | KonstanTrack | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Author the design — schematics, SLDs, GA drawings, terminal plans, 3D layout. | Control the released design as it is built, and prove the panel matches it. |
| Revision handling | Versions inside the design tool, owned by engineering. | The revision released to the floor, attached to the job, visible to whoever is building. |
| Bill of materials | Generated from the design. | Checked for readiness against the specific panel before the build starts. |
| Who uses it daily | Design engineers. | Production, supervisors, wiremen, QA, contracts. |
| Build progress | Not visible. | Stage by stage, with approvals and hold points. |
| Inspection and test records | Not held. | Captured against the job as work happens, with who signed and when. |
| Handover pack | Drawings only. | Drawings plus inspection, test, NCR history and sign-off, assembled from what was captured. |
Where they genuinely overlap
- The bill of materials. EPLAN generates it from the design; KonstanTrack asks whether it is physically ready for this panel and whether the floor is working from the current version.
- Documents at handover. The design tool produces the drawings; the MES is where they sit alongside the test records, inspection evidence and NCR history that make up the pack.
- Revision identity. Both hold a revision number — but only one of them knows which revision a wireman actually had in their hands last Tuesday.
A worked example: revision C and the wireman who never saw it
An engineer issues revision C on a control panel, changing two interlock terminations. The drawing is correct, saved and released. The wireman finishes the panel that afternoon working from the printed revision B set that has been on the bench since Monday.
Nobody was careless. The information existed and never travelled. When the released revision is attached to the job, and the stage cannot be closed without acknowledging the current one, the same change reaches the bench without anyone having to remember to walk it over. The design tool did its job; the gap was everything after it.
Illustrative example based on common panel-shop practice — not a customer case study or a measured result.
When KonstanTrack is the wrong answer
- You need to draw. KonstanTrack has no schematic editor, no symbol library and no 3D layout, and adding one is not on the roadmap.
- You need automated design checks, macro generation or a device database driven from the schematic. That is EPLAN's territory.
- Your problem is engineering throughput rather than shop-floor control. Better design tooling will move that needle; an MES will not.
Limitations worth knowing
- KonstanTrack stores and references the released drawing. It does not parse EPLAN project files or read native CAD data structures.
- There is no automatic sync from the design tool. Releasing a revision to the job is a deliberate human action, which is the point — release is a decision, not a file save.
Common questions
Does KonstanTrack replace EPLAN?
No. EPLAN authors the electrical design; KonstanTrack controls what happens to it after release. They cover different halves of the same job and are used by different people.
Can KonstanTrack produce schematics or 3D panel layouts?
No, and it is not intended to. Design authoring stays in your CAD or EPLAN tool. KonstanTrack holds the released output against the job and tracks the build against it.
How do drawings get into KonstanTrack?
The released drawing set is attached to the job as a document, with its revision recorded, so the floor works to a known version. There is no live link into the design tool's project files.
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