CAD Schroer releases version 4.0 of MPDS4

CAD Schroer Group (CSG) today announced the release of version 4.0 of MPDS4, its flexible Plant Design and Factory Layout system. New tools and enhancements focus on client collaboration, data integration, and even quicker design editing and visualisation. The star of the release is MPDS4 REVIEW, a new tool for easy collaboration on plant designs: MPDS4 now generates very compact plant models, which can be e-mailed to partners or clients, who then conduct collaborative reviews or walk-throughs on any machine with the tool installed.

CAD Schroer’s flagship MPDS4 Plant Design and Factory Layout product suite is targeted specifically at project engineers working for process plant contractors (EPCs), system integrators or owner/operators who are looking for a flexible system which easily manages complex design tasks in a multi- user environment, and handles extremely large amounts of data with ease.

Many of them struggle with 2D drafting or 3D product modelling systems when trying to create large industrial layouts with hundreds of thousands of components and significant mechanical content. MPDS4 integrates existing 2D plans and 3D CAD model data to quickly produce impressive 2D or 3D layouts, with the ability to work in either design environment, with all the traditional plant design disciplines, from piping to steel to electrical design. Its relational database approach handles huge amounts of data in a multi-user environment.

"Among many other enhancements, MPDS4 version 4.0 sees the introduction of intelligent architectural components in the MPDS4 FACTORY LAYOUTT product, allowing users to easily integrate standard elements, such as doors, walls and windows, into their designs, with detailed control over their behaviour," explains CAD Schroer’s Product Line Manager, Mark Simpson. "A new multi-replace tool in the MPDS4 PIPING DESIGN module allows users to automatically and intelligently change a whole series of connected components simultaneously, based on the change to any one component. And a new Pipe Fall Tool is ideal for creating the natural pipe falls for effluent pipes, for example."

MPDS4 version 4.0 also introduces a new Texture Tool, enhanced drawing and equipment management capabilities, and a new Data Comparison Tool, allowing users to compare tables of external data with data in the MPDS4 database.

The release sees significant enhancements in terms of speed, quality and file size delivered by the STEP, IGES and 3D DXF interfaces, regularly used by customers to include third party CAD models in their designs, or exchange data with clients.