I am Siming.
The panel builder plays a vital role
during an electrical installation project
from mechanically assembling the panel,
to making sure all the complicated wiring & communication are implemented
correctly & fully tested before shipping to the end user.
In addition, handing over factory acceptance test reports,
drawings & single line diagrams etc. to contractors & end users is not only required
by the electrical installation standards, but also the best way to
demonstrate that the work has been completed while providing
a useful point of reference for the entire lifecycle of an electrical panel.
Today, with Fares we will walk you through EcoStruxure Power Commission
A powerful electrical panel commissioning software,
A great companion to help panel builders deliver electrical panels more efficiently.
So, I am a panel builder
I am working on a hospital electrical installation project,
I’ve just finished the switchboard assembly and I am going to use EPC to
commission the switchboard, before the factory or site acceptance test.
There are 2 videos covering the entire process in detail
In this first video, we will take a look at the 3 topics
for creating the digital representation of a switchboard.
We have another video that explains the EPC’s testing & commissioning function
Firstly, let’s download & install EPC To find the latest version to download,
type “EcoStruxure Power Commission” in Google Follow the wizard to install EPC on your laptop.
If you are a first time user, you need to create an account using your email address
If you already have an account with other Schneider software packages
such as Facility Expert, EcoStruxure Power Build, you can use this existing account to log in to EPC.
On the landing page, you can either create a new project from scratch
or access existing projects. An EPC project here represents a real electrical installation project
that normally contains one or multiple switchboards.
Let’s get started by creating a new switchboard project for this central hospital!
Here you simply need to provide the basic project information such as its name & your company information,
adding a logo here is very useful as it will be used later by other functions in EPC.
And here we have various fields relating to the end user.
We recommend you fill out this information to optimize how your projects are organized & archived.
No problem if not, as you can always come back at any time to complete or modify this information.
Now we can access the EPC’s main user interface.
Let’s follow the instructions and start by adding a switchboard to the project.
We have 2 switchboards to set up today: A main LV switchboard for a hospital substation,
plus a switchboard for some hospital office buildings
Let’s firstly create the main LV switchboard. Now I’m going to give the switchboard a name
Then, from the list, choose the relevant standard & switchboard type.
Here, you can normally find all the main Schneider Electric low voltage & medium voltage switchboards.
Should you have other types of switchboards, just select the generic LV or MV switchboard.
Then, in this field, enter the serial number of the switchboard, it can be your own switchboard manufacturing S/N
that is usually found on the panel nameplate. Each S/N is unique.
Or you can let EPC randomly generate an S/N for you, simply by clicking “autogenerate”.
Here we go, we’ve just created our very
first switchboard with a unique ID, and at the same time, a QR code is automatically generated.
This QR code now becomes the ID card for this switchboard, you can download & stick it on top of the respective switchboard.
It will make it possible for you & your customers to access all relevant project information when you need it.
This test result can be seen in a special report
We will look at this fantastic feature in another video. Now let’s repeat this process to set up a second switchboard.
Now let’s select our first Okken switchboard, and click “PLUS” again to add all its devices
This Okken switchboard contains several so-called “connected devices”. They connect
to the Ethernet communication gateway inside this Okken switchboard.
And here we have a really nice function called auto-discovery
that you can use to add all connected devices automatically through the Ethernet port on the gateway.
So here, in a couple of seconds, all the connected devices are listed, let’s go ahead and add them to the project.
Just a little heads-up here, sometimes when you are on the end user’s premises,
the hospital substation in this case… EPC may not be able to find a device automatically
due to the static IP address configuration of the customer’s network.
So, in the network connection setting, you need to change the IP address using the designated range of IP addresses.
Now all the devices have been added under the main switchboard.
You also have a communication view
that better illustrates how devices are connected, which is very helpful!
Depending on the model of device, you can access commissioning functions, such as breaker protection settings, device configurations,
password settings, breaker trip tests, function upgrades, firmware upgrades, etc.
We will cover all these function in another video.
And you may ask yourself: what if devices are not connected to a gateway, am I still able to add them anyway?
Well, let us show you another handy way of adding devices using the QR code.
Let’s jump to the Prisma switchboard and click “add device”
This time, we are going to choose the 2nd option, QR code scan.
In fact, most Schneider products are fitted with a QR code,
and if you use a generic QR code scanner, you can easily add them using QR code scan.
Most generic QR code scanners on the market are compatible with EPC, without any configuration or installation whatsoever.
We use Zebra DS3678 in this example. Connect the scanner to your laptop via a USB,
Scan the barcode on the screen to enable EPC to recognize the scanner.
And then simply scan the device’s QR code to add them one by one.
Actually, each scan will save the device’s serial number and commercial reference.
This information is crucial for the product’s future technical support, maintenance & services throughout its lifecycle.
Now with all the key devices added to the Prisma switchboard, all device information is saved! That’s awesome!
Now I’m going to save all project documentation. Before doing so, we need to set up a community.
A community can include only you or several members.
It allows you to share documents with colleagues working on the same project.
Everyone in the community will receive an email with access to the shared documentation.
Well, you may ask yourself why you need to set up a community with multiple members here? For example,
you are in charge of testing & commissioning, thus the primary EPC user in your company.
But your colleagues such as a designer or a project manager need to review, upload or update documentation,
this community allows them to access & edit the docs without installing EPC on their own laptop.
And any community, once created, can be used in future projects.
Well, if you don’t need to set this up, you can just create a community for yourself.
Uploading documentation is very easy.
You can simply drag & drop all the relevant documentation such as drawings, single line diagrams, reports, lists of spare parts, etc.
EPC will save the documentation in a secure cloud repository.
Each file can have a tag, you can choose it from the list. This will help you organize documents more efficiently,
making them easier to find in future. Great, we have successfully prepared the digital representation of the switchboard project,
you have the bill of materials, docs & QR code all set up!
By the way, if you are familiar with the nice report function of EcoStruxure Power Commission,
which can provide you a holistic view of all your commissioning work done and generate a project report automatically.
This report is added automatically in the document list, a wonderful time saving feature. Once all of that looks good.
And guess what, we are now ready to hand over to the electrical ontractor or end user.
To do that, we are going to export the data to EcoStruxure Facility Expert,
a powerful app designed for team collaboration & equipment maintenance management.
EcoStruxure Power Commission & Facility Expert work seamlessly, allowing information to flow from the construction phase
to the operate & maintain phase, which is crucial for keeping the equipment in good condition!
Let’s look at this in another video.
Thanks for attending. Hope it was useful! Thanks for watching & see you next time!