Bentley launches OpenPlant system

At the 2008 daratechPLANT show in Houston, Bentley Systems launched its OpenPlant software products system based on the ISO 15926 data model. Company officials touted the release as a way to share data throughout the plant. “These advances reduce downtime, increase plant safety, and deliver greater flexibility and productivity – stimulating innovative engineering and operations for sustaining infrastructure,” the company said in a press release.

“I pointed out at daratechPLANT last year that I had observed a change in the projects we serve towards more creative and productive distribution of work through digital work packages, which increasingly involve industrial solution suppliers,” said company CEO Greg Bentley at a daratech PLANT press conference. “Driving this change is the reality that global engineering resources are not growing quickly enough to otherwise meet today’s project demands.”

“Bentley’s commitment to this pragmatic development was driven by our ingrained belief that project data belongs to users, not software vendors,” said Rob Whitesell, vice president, Bentley Plant, Building, and Structural development. “Now that plant software datasets can be open – by adhering to ISO 15926 data models – there is no excuse not to guarantee plant owner-operators and creators unimpeded access to, and unlimited leveraged reuse of, their information investment. By enabling distributed teams to connect and work instantaneously, and federate their data and work packages seamlessly, OpenPlant compresses project schedules and time to market for improving profitability and sustainability.”