Bentley OpenPlant software launch built on iRING data sharing

Bentley’s OpenPlant software for plant creation based on an open data model. The new plant offerings from Bentley are the first commercially available products to share and meet the primary goal of the iRING user community (www.iringug.org) – that is, to enable real-time, seamless sharing and interoperability of data and information across different organizations and systems using an internationally recognized standard.

August 25, 2010

Bentley Systems has made available three new products in Bentley’s OpenPlant software for plant creation based on an open data model. The new plant offerings from Bentley are the first commercially available products to share and meet the primary goal of the iRING user community (www.iringug.org) – that is, to enable real-time, seamless sharing and interoperability of data and information across different organizations and systems using an internationally recognized standard. iRING implementations (ISO 15926 Real-Time Interoperable Network Grids) address the challenging workflow requirements of today’s globally distributed and sourced plant projects.

Among the firms actively involved in the iRING community are Bayer, Bechtel, CH2M HILL, Consolidated Contractors Company, Dow, DuPont, Emerson, Fluor, Hatch, and Zachry. The new plant applications from Bentley enhance interoperability across data formats, workflows, and plant design systems, and add to the comprehensiveness of Bentley OpenPlant – extending its ability to integrate across multiple infrastructure disciplines while improving project team collaboration and providing breakthrough value.

Regarding the new OpenPlant products, Bruce Strupp, CPE-design technology director, CH2M HILL, a leading provider of the full spectrum of consulting, program management, design, construction, and operations solutions, said, “CH2M HILL has been an active member and participant in both FIATECH and, more recently, the iRING community of users. We’re committed to the goals of these organizations to achieve true interoperability and deliver business value through ISO 15926, and are delighted to see Bentley standing up to meet these challenges. The capabilities being delivered by Bentley with these new products are what the iRING community has been waiting for.”

The three new Bentley OpenPlant products being released today include:

·                     Bentley OpenPlant Modeler V8i – the first 3D plant modeling software to natively use the ISO 15926 data model as specified by the iRING user community. OpenPlant Modeler V8i incorporates the ongoing and ever-advancing capabilities of MicroStation V8i, the market-leading platform for plant creation and every infrastructure discipline. OpenPlant Modeler V8i is the only plant modeling software to natively support workflows that combine commonly used software standards including DGN, RealDWG, point clouds, and PDF.

·                     Bentley OpenPlant ModelServer V8i – the first plant design server software to effectively and productively manage both files and components – ideal for globally sourced projects that are necessarily loosely “coupled.” File management, enabled by Bentley’s ProjectWise collaboration services, is essential for the efficient exchange of deliverables and work packages, while at the same time, component management supports a higher level of abstraction, productivity, and quality of work. Projects using Bentley OpenPlant ModelServer V8i can benefit from yet another first: interoperable workflows across multiple design environments, including Intergraph’s PDS as well as Bentley’s AutoPLANT and PlantSpace.

·                     Bentley OpenPlant Isometrics Manager V8i – the first isometrics generation software to extract and incorporate complete intelligence from 3D plant models, automatically and in real time. Uniquely, such “on demand” intelligent isometric views remain relevant for owner-operators throughout the plant lifecycle – beyond procurement, fabrication, and construction to “as built” and “as safely operated” maintenance and compliance.

Commenting on the new offerings, , “Bentley announced its OpenPlant strategy for enhanced interoperability in 2008. In 2009, the iRING user community demonstrated, using prototype software, the benefits of interoperability achievable with a full technical implementation of ISO 15926,” said Bhupinder Singh, senior vice president, Bentley Software. “Leveraging our MicroStation and ProjectWise platforms, the new OpenPlant applications enable users to achieve that level of real-time interoperability by using software that’s now commercially available – dramatically increasing the quality, cost-effectiveness, and freedom with which plant projects can be performed.”

Added Anne-Marie Walters, Bentley global marketing director, “Our new additions to OpenPlant are key facets of our ‘Smart Plan’ (www.bentley.com/SmartPlan) for PDS users that we introduced in March. The plan provides users of PDS software around the world with an economical migration path that protects their knowledge investments and enables them to reuse their catalogs, specifications, and PDS databases.”

Bentley also announced the next versions of Bentley OpenPlant PowerPID V8i and ProjectWise PDx Dynamic Review Service V8i. Bentley OpenPlant PowerPID V8i is the only commercial software for process and instrumentation diagrams to be based on a completely open data model. The V8i (SELECTseries 3) version adds support for ProjectWise Managed Workspaces and common specifications/catalogs, and shares the same iRING-enabling schema with OpenPlant Modeler. ProjectWise PDx Dynamic Review Service V8i enables real-time interactive workflows to visualize, query, analyze, and annotate complete PDS data, and to extract i-models and V8 DGN files directly and completely from the PDS relational database.

For additional information about Bentley’s “Smart Plan” for PDS users and to read the white paper “Making PDS Interoperable,” visit www.bentley.com/SmartPlan.