Bentley Showcases First Commercially Available Products to Support Two-Way Interoperability With ISO 15926

Demonstrates at FIATECH 2011 Real-Time Sharing of Plant Lifecycle Data and Information Among its Own Applications, Bechtel, Hatch, and Emerson Process Management.

CHANDLER, Ariz – Bentley Systems has announced that it is showcasing this week at FIATECH 2011 the first commercially available products to support two-way interoperability with ISO 15926. Bentley is presenting a live demonstration of the ease with which component data and information can be shared with systems deployed by iRING user community members Bechtel, Hatch, and Emerson Process Management, as well as among Bentley’s ISO 15926-based AXSYS.Process V8i conceptual design application, OpenPlant PowerPID V8i application, and Instrumentation & Wiring V8i design software. All of the read/write information exchanges being demonstrated are seamlessly accomplished using the same interface. Moreover, they require only a one-time, simplified mapping, allowing multiple reuses and repurposing of data by making it unambiguous. In real-world projects, these data exchanges lead to lower administration costs, higher quality data, increased productivity, and reduced project and business risk.

Bentley also announced that Bentley senior software engineer Keith Willshaw received a FIATECH Superior Technical Achievement Award (STAR) last night at the conference. Willshaw was recognized for his leadership in advancing ISO 15926-based interoperability meeting the primary goals of the iRING user community for real-time sharing of plant lifecycle data and information across organizations.

Commenting on the FIATECH demonstration, Ken Adamson, Bentley vice president, Electrical, Piping, and Plant, said, “With our OpenPlant products, which natively use the ISO 15926 reference data, we have always had the capability to empower two-way, real-time interoperability among different applications. This week at FIATECH, we are demonstrating this same high level of interoperability among our other design tools, as well as with our partners in the iRING community. This success validates our decision to embrace the ISO 15926 standard – not only to achieve seamless interoperability among the Bentley applications our users employ, but also to enable interoperability with third-party software and systems using a single standard interface. At the same time, we can provide our users with full and open access to their plant data without the need for a particular software provider’s application.”

Through the ISO 15926-based interoperability now available with Bentley AXSYS.Process, Bentley Data Manager, Bentley Instrumentation & Wiring, OpenPlant PowerPID, OpenPlant Modeler, and OpenPlant ModelServer products, control system vendors such as Emerson Process Management can benefit from error-free read/write data and information exchange. As a result, they can, for example, import all instrumentation data from Bentley’s P&ID applications, as well as add and export their control system data, which Bentley applications can then automatically acquire.

Added Adamson, “This level of interoperability means any supplier, EPC, or other infrastructure organization can be brought into a project at any phase, and if its software and systems have ISO 15926 interfaces, it can begin sharing information with other project participants immediately because all of the data is in a common standard format.”

The support of ISO 15926 that Bentley products ensure currently includes compliance with:

Part 4 – Initial Reference Data – clear definition of terms so no interpretation of data is required;
Part 7 – Templates – a pattern of information that conveys the structure of the data using units of information built from a clear definition of terms;
Part 8 – Web Ontology Language (OWL) Representation – a standard specification for representing ISO 15926 information.

Robin Benjamins, corporate engineering automation manager, Bechtel, said, “The iRING community has achieved significant progress that moves the process industry forward. We are seeing this progress showcased at the FIATECH event and I look forward to further continued cooperation.”

Peter Blake, director, Project Delivery Group at global EPCM firm Hatch, said, “The iRING community has shown great commitment and cooperation in helping users solve the challenges of interoperability between systems. For Hatch, we see this as a valuable way of helping us better serve our clients, and cooperate with our vendors and clients on the projects we execute around the world.”

Duane Toavs, director of Emerson Process Management’s Human Centered Design Institute, said, “We have made tremendous progress over the past year working with Bentley and other consortia partners in the iRING community to deliver quality information to our clients through improved interoperability and information sharing.”

Keith Willshaw Receives FIATECH STAR

Bentley senior software engineer Keith Willshaw was instrumental in helping Bentley achieve the leading-edge support of ISO 15926 in its applications. Willshaw is the proud recipient of a FIATECH STAR for 2010. The award was established, says FIATECH on its website, “to recognize the personal contributions of FIATECH members who have given immensely of their own time and energy to help FIATECH achieve its vision. Each year, FIATECH honors those individuals whose leadership, commitment, participation, and sacrifice of personal time have advanced our goals and benefitted the capital projects industry. Without these people, FIATECH would not be the internationally recognized and respected organization that it is today.”

Willshaw has been heavily involved with the FIATECH/PCA and iRING User Group initiatives, especially within the ISO 15926 Modeling and Geometry Special Interest Group. Through his engineering experience and expertise, he has provided valuable feedback to this cross-industry group and helped solve critical modeling issues. All of these efforts have helped to substantially accelerate the implementation of ISO 15926 on real projects.