With its digital twin, cloud-based services and ever-increasing data consistency, Eplan has changed the planning processes of design engineers in various industries. This has now been celebrated with an anniversary event at the National Automobile Museum - The Loh Collection.

When the first personal computers (PCs) came onto the market in the early 1980s, Winfried Müller, a creative engineer, ventured an experiment: to create circuit diagrams using commercially available and therefore relatively inexpensive software. What begins as a simple idea is the birth of a global software standard, the founding of Eplan - and the start of a success story. Prof. Friedhelm Loh recognized the great potential of this idea at an early stage and invested in the "software start-up" back in 1986 - a forward-looking decision, as would later become clear.

A passion for innovation

A lot has happened since the early years. Eplan has driven and helped shape the digitalization of electrical design. From preliminary planning and electrical and fluid engineering project planning to the design of control and switchgear systems or cable harnesses, the Eplan platform is used by customers worldwide in 20 languages. Eplan solutions are used across the board in various ecosystems - from mechanical and plant engineering, the automotive industry and its suppliers, the energy sector and building technology to control and switchgear engineering. The digital twin that users can create with software solutions from Eplan is indispensable today. On this basis, processes in engineering and production are further partially or fully automated for greater efficiency in the value chain. This also counteracts the pressing shortage of skilled workers. In addition, more and more cloud-based software and services are finding their way into engineering. The basis: data, digital and consistent, as the basis for "efficient engineering", Eplan's corporate slogan.

Today, with 68,000 customers, 274,000 licenses and 50 locations, Eplan is a global player and part of Rittal Software Systems within the globally active Friedhelm Loh Group. "From the very beginning, we were driven by a passion for innovation and people. Inventing new things, making solutions better and staying ahead - that has always defined Eplan's DNA and is the recipe for success for tomorrow," said Sebastian Seitz, CEO of Eplan, at the anniversary celebration in the National Automobile Museum, making his enthusiasm clear: "Developing software that is there for people, that makes their daily work easier and is fun at the same time - that's what drives us every day. We are grateful that customers have become real fans who are enthusiastic about our solutions. Today and in the future, the collaboration between Eplan and Rittal in the Group opens up new perspectives for us."

For Markus Asch, CEO of Rittal International and Rittal Software Systems, the focus is on this potential: "The interaction of hardware and software based on end-to-end digital data creates real value for our customers. They can make all processes more efficient and productive. This creates decisive competitive advantages for our customers and is our aspiration."

"Cross-industry software standard"

Prof. Friedhelm Loh, owner and CEO of the Friedhelm Loh Group, praised the company's courage in always going its own way and thinking and doing things differently to others. This is extraordinary, especially in this day and age, and is a role model for the entire industry: "We are celebrating a great corporate success with our 40th anniversary. Today, Eplan software is the cross-industry software standard. By combining software and hardware expertise within the Group, we are creating unique added value in the market. Now it is important to keep up the pace and continue to advance our customers in the digitalization of their processes. This is our drive and our promise today and in the future. We would like to thank our customers for their trust and partnership, and all Eplan employees who make this possible."

"We are delighted with Eplan's 40-year success story, which we have been able to write with our team and Eplan's own spirit," concludes Sebastian Seitz: "Our story is far from over and I am delighted to be part of its continuation."