Panel building

Welec: Evolvingin line with our customers

EPLAN is a vital link in our growth

In 1991 Willy Eyckmans started up a company in Westerlo with just three employees.

Willy Eyckmans Electriciteitswerken, i.e. Welec, specialized in electrical installations, initially

aimed at companies in the local industrial area. As these companies started to grow and

progressively needed more complex installations, Welec evolved with them, in knowledge,

services and scale. More than twenty years later Welec has become a respected partner in

electronic end-to-end projects and employs more than 250 well-trained employees.

Welec‘s activities are no longer restricted to electrical installations. To respond to the specific

needs of its customers the company continuously anticipates the most recent innovations

and developments in the market. And although general electrical installations - from low to

high voltage systems - are still part of its core activities, Welec has made itself a name as an

expert in industrial panel building, rational energy management, process automation, data

cabling, security and Scada systems.

General manager Willy Eyckmans has found the right explanation for this. “Our customers

are always asking us: ‘Could you just solve it, please.’ And that is exactly what we do,

even if it means mastering new techniques, or gaining more in-depth knowledge of certain

technologies or regularly expanding our range of activities. What matters is that we have a

flexible response to our customers‘ problems. And this is something they are very grateful

for. Because we offer our customers exactly what they want, we have managed to build up

a very loyal customer base. Some of our customers have been using our services for more

than twenty years. And we want to nurture their loyalty, even if the market presents us with

increasingly greater challenges.”

Focused customer-orientation

The challenges of the market are extremely demanding. Increasing international

competition, shorter turnaround times, demand from customers for more variation and

guiding suppliers towards a ‚configure to order‘ approach ... “To respond to all these

issues, you need a great deal of internal knowledge and flexibility,” Willy Eyckmans

confirms. “Welec has evolved as a result of this market. In the course of the years it

has enabled us to accumulate all the much-needed know-how, little by little. It‘s been a

non-stop project. We provide our staff with continuous training and refresher courses,

as the markets and the technologies are constantly changing. It is vitally important for us

to remain fully up-to-date if we want to provide the answer to our customers’ changing

needs.”

Enhanced customer service

So far this approach has resulted in Welec doing a lot more than installing systems.

Willy Eyckmans: “The services we offer are extensive. We have a service department that

does everything possible to assist our customers. Service is one of our core competences;

24 hours a day, 7 days a week our service department is fully operational. We have a large

fleet of fully-equipped cars on the road every day to take over our customers‘ problems. In

addition, we are building up a huge stock so we can respond immediately to the demand

for adjustments or spare parts. Twelve hours a day, our technical staff is ready to dispatch

what‘s needed and thus meet all our customers‘ needs. This requires a high degree of

organization.”

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Panel building

Developing towards an end-to-end service

Automation and ergonomics

Willy Eyckmans: “My great passion for automation and

technology largely shapes our panel building department. For

example, engineering is automatically linked to a Steinhauer

CNC machine. We also have our own Stierli-Bieger copper

fabrication line that manufactures, folds and drills customized

copper profiles. We produced our own wiring table. It has

an automated infeed and outfeed system so that our staff

do not need to lift heavy pieces. It is also customizable to

accommodate the ergonomic needs of our employees.”

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Panel building as an end result

Welec‘s service originated from the customers’ need

for an end-to-end solution from a ‚one stop shopping‘

partner. This also applies to the company’s panel building

department. Willy Eyckmans: “Panel building was never an

end in itself, it is more an end result. We do it to better serve

our customers. But once we decide to start something, we

aim to do it as well as possible. This means that we want to

distinguish ourselves in panel building as ‘best in class’.”

Innovation first and foremost

These are not just hollow words. Willy Eyckmans‘

no-nonsense approach is clearly reflected in the way

Welec is committed to panel building: innovative and with

a high degree of automation. The department has digitally

controlled CNC machines, its own copper fabrication line

and even ultra-ergonomic wiring tables. In this way the

‚peripheral activity‘ helps increase the efficiency of the

engineering process and contributes to the high quality of

the supplied systems.

Panel building

EPLAN offers enhancedoptimization

Vital link

EPLAN is an important link in our aim to enhance optimization and automation in engineering. “I would go as far as to

say,” explains Willy Eyckmans, “that we can no longer imagine all this without EPLAN. We are always willing to invest in

solutions that help us serve our customers faster and better. And this was clearly the case when we changed from our

previous CAD system to EPLAN. It was an excellent decision. I cannot imagine there is any other system that could run our

entire engineering process in the same way.”

Twenty years ago Welec switched to EPLAN. Almost immediately it had a positive impact on the efficiency of their engineering.

Today they have three EPLAN Professional licences. Willy Eyckmans: “EPLAN sustains a large part of our automation.

Among other things the system controls our CNC machine and copper fabrication machine. And all this thanks to

interfaces we developed together with EPLAN. It allows us to think digitally throughout the entire engineering process. It

has resulted in fewer errors, faster work, a higher quality of diagrams and documentation and more flexibility in responding

to the needs of our customers.”

Looking to the future together

The engineers that work with EPLAN are also full of praise. “In recent years we have invested substantially in EPLAN

knowledge. But these training sessions have been well worth our while. Not only because our engineers really get to know

the system, but also because we can safeguard all our engineering knowledge in the EPLAN platform. Moreover, I see

further potential with the EPLAN optimization options. It is important to look to the future. And when you do that together

with a partner who also is always looking ahead, you know nothing can go wrong.”

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EPLAN Software & Service

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E-Mail: sales@eplan.be · www.eplan.be

EPLAN Software & Service

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Tel: +31 (0) 316 591 770 · Fax: +31 (0) 316 591 749

E-Mail: sales@eplan.nl · www.eplan.nl