The Siemens Industry Automation
Division and Bentley Systems announced today at the Hannover Messe that they
are stepping up their strategic collaboration, focusing on the process industry
sector in fields such as chemicals, energy, pharmaceuticals, and oil and gas.
Both companies are targeting increased interoperability between the Comos
engineering software solution from Siemens and Bentley’s OpenPlant 2D/3D system for plant design and
construction.
One of the aims envisaged by the
collaboration is for both companies to work jointly on a system that will allow
the capture, exchange and further utilization of data and information spanning
the entire plant lifecycle, from engineering through to plant operations across
all disciplines. Along with a cohesive connection between Comos and OpenPlant,
this collaboration also seeks to afford users access to supplementary
disciplines supported by the Bentley portfolio such as heating, ventilation and
air conditioning (HVAC), construction simulation, cable and raceway management,
conveying technology, steel construction and laser scanning.
“By increasing the interoperability
of our fully integrated 2D engineering software solution Comos with Bentley’s
open 3D system OpenPlant, we will be generating exciting new potential for
users, based on the global standard ISO 15926 and iRING,” explained Andreas
Geiss, Vice President of Comos Industry Solutions, Siemens. “This will benefit
both plant engineering and operation.”
Comos provides unique
industry-specific solution concepts spanning the entire plant lifecycle on a
standardized, object-oriented data platform. Consistent and reliable data
exchange is guaranteed from the engineering stage through to maintenance, with
plant documentation that is always up to date.
Comos’ bidirectional data exchange
between graphics and database prevents inconsistencies and provides the
guarantee of an up-to-date, as-built depiction of the plant at all times.
The interoperability between Comos
and OpenPlant extends the scope of these benefits to now span plant design,
engineering, procurement, and construction. “This breakthrough is a validation
of our organizations’ interoperability strategies, and a great return on
Bentley’s investment in ISO 15926 and iRING. It brings our joint users information
mobility across CAPEX and OPEX – that is, from design and construction through
operations and maintenance,” said Ken Adamson, Bentley Vice President,
Building, Electrical, and Plant Products. “As in our ongoing collaboration with
Siemens Industry Automation Division to unify product and production lifecycles
for discrete manufacturers announced last year, it’s both rewarding and
stimulating for us at Bentley to work with Siemens in the process manufacturing
sector. For instance, in leveraging technologies such as Siemens’ SIMATIC
environment, we can together further enable the ultimate in industrial
information mobility – from plant design through real-time automation.”
Monica Schnitger, principal analyst
at Schnitger Corporation, said, “We've long believed that much of the value
created in the design and engineering process is lost in the handover to
operations. By using the ISO 15926-compliant i-model to connect OpenPlant and
Comos, Bentley and Siemens are coupling 2D and 3D, the conceptual design of a
process through to the controlling instrumentation of an operating plant.
This project, an extension of a
collaboration announced last year for the discrete manufacturing industries,
promises to deliver significant benefit to EPCs and plant operators in the
process industries. It's an exciting development and we’ll be watching with
interest to see industry adoption.”
