Electrical design often involves separate tools for libraries, schematics, validation and cabinet layout. Dassault Systèmes describes how CATIA Electrical aims to connect these stages on a shared platform through a bottle filling machine example.
It starts with the Electrical Content Portal, a certified catalog of manufacturer parts, symbols, footprints and electrical-oriented models, with ANSI and IEC environments preconfigured. Teams collaborate on a shared database, moving from line diagrams to detailed schematics with macros, terminal strips and catalog-based PLC drawings. ControlBuild supports a MODSIM approach, simulating electrical behavior and testing PLC logic during design, including virtual commissioning before hardware exists. Reports are generated automatically, then the structure moves to the three-dimensional designer for cabinet layout and wire routing, updating reports with measured lengths.
Overall, it aims to reduce rework and repeated data entry.
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