EXTON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, today announced the immediate availability of 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.

Bentley’s new OpenPlant offerings also provide breakthrough value, with new Bentley subscriptions (www.bentley.com/subscriptions) typically costing less than the Unix-era maintenance fees of other vendors’ proprietary piping design systems. For example, with Bentley’s Designer for Piping Passport Subscription (OpenPlant), individual piping designers gain access to Bentley OpenPlant Modeler, Bentley OpenPlant Isometrics Manager, ProSteel Modeler, ProjectWise Passport, and ProjectWise Clash Resolution Visa – plus complete virtual training – for the single annual fee of $5,995. Value-creative pricing is also available to those acquiring Bentley OpenPlant products through perpetual licenses, which cost $7,295 for OpenPlant Modeler V8i, $25,000 for OpenPlant ModelServer V8i, and $6,500 for OpenPlant Isometrics Manager V8i.

Commenting on the new offerings, Bhupinder Singh, senior vice president, Bentley Software, said, “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. 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.

“Strategic initiatives such as these have been instrumental in making Bentley the number 1 provider of plant creation software to owner-operators, the number 1 provider of schematics software, and the number 2 provider of plant-creation software overall, as reported annually by Daratech.”

Today’s commercial release of Bentley’s new OpenPlant applications has been highly anticipated by Bentley users. Said Jeanine Hargis, CH2M HILL senior technologist, “CH2M HILL recently completed Bentley’s early access program for the new OpenPlant products, which I see providing opportunities to add value to the project delivery process. We are a global delivery firm focusing in six key markets, so having data-open software that’s compatible with the core tools used on multidiscipline and cross business group projects, such as PDS, AutoPLANT, and PlantSpace, is something we’re really looking forward to.”

Added Brent Mauti, CH2M HILL architect and BIM leader, “I’m impressed with the interoperability that OpenPlant products provide across platforms and business streams, and I will be implementing these products across my business group. As a multidisciplinary firm, our architectural, structural, civil, and piping disciplines and tools for any given project all have to talk to each other. With OpenPlant products, all the tools use the same platform, leverage the same dynamic views and data sources, and provide a single hub of information, helping to improve efficiencies.”

The versatile and productive OpenPlant Modeler V8i provides functionality for piping and equipment, and serves all of the other disciplines involved in real-world plant design projects through Bentley’s V8i intraoperable applications for civil, construction, environmental, building and HVAC, electrical, structural, instrumentation, and process design requirements. OpenPlant Modeler V8i offers infrastructure organizations the ability to:

• rapidly and easily create 3D models using the widely employed and highly intuitive MicroStation V8i user interface, making it the most productive and easy-to-learn “industrial-strength” plant design environment ever introduced;
• easily reuse corporate standards, including piping catalogs and specifications from PDS, AutoPLANT, and PlantSpace, facilitating faster project start-ups and continuity of design;
• review and augment existing PDS designs, through ISO 15926 protocols and/or i-models, to escape proprietary lock-in;
• cut IT costs and meet new budget imperatives.

OpenPlant ModelServer V8i can automatically migrate PDS models, piping catalogs, and piping specifications so data can be reused for design modifications. In addition, it lets infrastructure organizations around the world:

• empower individual users to easily check out the information they need to work on – wherever they are located – and maintain tight version control for all deliverables;
• quickly create reports from any and all project components, enabling the tracking and management of design work distributed to teams;
• simultaneously manage all files and components on a project, reducing both collaboration costs and errors;
• securely administer project contributions across disciplines.

OpenPlant Isometrics Manager V8i provides management control capabilities for pipe models and isometrics from OpenPlant, Bentley plant products, and PDS. It offers users:

• automatic versioning and global distribution of isometrics using ProjectWise;
• the ability to easily create intelligent isometrics that contain component information from multiple sources.

This powerful new functionality is valuable to not only designers and constructors, but also owner-operators, who can use it to automatically, and in real-time, generate required legal and useful documentation from as-built 3D models.

Bentley also announced today 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.

Bentley’s OpenPlant products are featured in the following Bentley Passport Subscriptions:

• Designer for P&ID Passport Subscription
• Process Engineer for Feed Passport Subscription
• Designer for Piping Passport Subscription (OpenPlant)
• Mechanical Engineer for Piping Passport Subscription (OpenPlant)
• Designer for Piping Passport Subscription (AutoPLANT) – includes Bentley OpenPlant PowerPID V8i
• Mechanical Engineer for Piping Passport Subscription (AutoPLANT) – includes Bentley OpenPlant PowerPID V8i

Bentley Passport Subscriptions offer named users an affordable alternative to perpetual license purchases. Through these “professional upgrades” in software toolsets and skills, individual practitioners quickly make their work more valuable. For additional information about these and other Bentley Passport Subscriptions, visit www.bentley.com/subscriptions.

For additional information about Bentley’s OpenPlant products, visit www.bentley.com/openminds. 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.

All prices noted are for the U.S. For global pricing information, please contact Bentley at www.bentley.com.

About iRING

iRING (ISO 15926 Real-Time Interoperability Network Grid) is a set of information interoperability and integration protocols and reference data that are compliant with ISO 15926, Parts 7, 8, and 9 standards, which builds and depends on ISO 15926 Parts 1 - 6.

The iRING User Group is an open online community of users, companies, and organizations that use, are considering using, or are developing or deploying iRING protocols. The iRING User Group is also responsible for the management, enhancement, and maintenance of iRING Tools and iRING Sandbox. For more information about iRING, go to www.iringug.org.

About Bentley Systems, Incorporated

Bentley is the global leader dedicated to providing architects, engineers, constructors, and owner-operators with comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure. Founded in 1984, Bentley has nearly 3,000 colleagues in more than 45 countries, $500 million in annual revenues, and, since 1999, has invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions.

For additional information about Bentley, visit www.bentley.com. To view Bentley’s May 2010 Annual Report, visit www.bentley.com/annualreport. To subscribe to an RSS feed of Bentley press releases and news alerts, visit www.bentley.com/rss/news. To view a searchable collection of innovative infrastructure projects from the annual Be Inspired Awards, visit www.bentley.com/yearininfrastructure. For information about Be Communities, a professional networking site that enables members of the infrastructure community to connect, communicate, and learn from each other, visit http://communities.bentley.com.

Bentley, the “B” Bentley logo, Be, MicroStation, ProjectWise, AutoPLANT, PlantSpace, and ProSteel are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. All other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

What Bentley software users are saying about OpenPlant

“I like the functionality of how it places the fittings as you route pipe. You can change components out pretty quickly.” – David Seivert, Regional CAD Coordinator, Carollo Engineers – Dallas

“I liked how easy it was in OpenPlant. It just filled in the fittings for me.” – Bobbie McIlroy, Project Designer, Foth Infrastructure & Environment, LLC

“It was pretty intuitive, and we were able to work on the examples here today.” – Rob Garrison, PE, Mechanical Engineer/Resource Leader, Hargrove Engineers + Constructors

“As the largest European manufacturer of boilers, RAFAKO is engaged on many projects working with many different owners and contracting organizations. With the new OpenPlant products, we believe we will be able to improve the collaboration we have with our partners and deliver even higher quality information and products.” – Zbigniew Harezlak, Engineering IT Manager, RAFAKO S.A.

For additional information about CH2M HILL’s experiences with Bentley OpenPlant Modeler as a participant in Bentley’s Early Adopter Program, view the Be Connected seminar presented by Karen Osier, CAD Manager and Piping Designer, CH2M HILL, at http://connected.bentley.com/viewSeminars.aspx?BEC_SS_ID=280.