Three new subsidiaries in Japan, South Africa and Turkey: all signs point to expansion for solutions provider Eplan. The company celebrated its 30th anniversary at the Hannover Messe. More than 40,000 customers, over 100,000 installations in more than 50 countries and over 700 employees - these are the signs of success for the company which began as a three-person shop in 1984.

"Our market for CAE solutions is the world," stated Maximilian Brandl, President of Eplan. "Eplan is excellently positioned as a global company and I see huge opportunities in view of growth markets around the world," he added. Eplan, the market leader for CAE solutions, is already present in more than 50 countries. Greater expansion is planned for growth markets in the USA, China, India and Japan. Timely investments in the area of consulting have ensured the continual growth of the solutions business. Professional Services, including consulting, implementation and support, now make up a substantial portion of Eplan's revenues. And the bar for growth has been set quite high; Eplan is aiming for substantial double-digit growth in 2014 as well - and the creation of more than 100 additional jobs.

The FriedhelmLoh Group, the group of companies to which Eplan belongs, is also making massive investments in software and engineering. Cideon, a SAP system integrator and Autodesk Reseller with about 500 employees, joined the group in September 2013. "Mechanical and electrical engineering are merging into mechatronics," said FriedhelmLoh, owner of the FriedhelmLoh Group and went on to explain the group's vision. "As a rule, Industry 4.0 scenarios require many elements; from software to interfaces on through to automation." FriedhelmLoh first invested in Eplan back in 1986 (when it was still known as Wiechers & Partner) because he recognised an opportunity early on. Today he is specifically steering the FriedhelmLoh Group in the direction of optimised value chains: "Our customers expect potential improvements and savings from us, and that's something we can achieve with Industry 4.0. In this context, the strong service network of Eplan, Cideon, Rittal and Kiesling is an excellent foundation for increasing our customers' added value."

What began in 1984 by substituting paper and ink with a PC and software has continued to develop: Eplan was and remains a trendsetter for optimising engineering processes. With Eplan Engineering Centre and the automatic configuration of machine documentation based on modular design, Eplan's experts have launched pioneering technology. And with the seamless Eplan Platform, customers in machine and plant engineering, in the automotive and transport sectors, in mechanics and automation and even in medical and energy technology also benefit from the increased efficiency of product development processes brought by standardised procedures, automated processes and continuous workflows.