Announces Innovations in Project Team Collaboration, Immersive Review, Workface Planning, and Hypermodels, plus New Partnerships

PHILADELPHIA – Be Together: The Bentley User Conference – May 24, 2011 – Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure, today announced at this annual gathering of infrastructure professionals that it is extending its leadership in design/build and integrated projects with its introduction of breakthrough V8i software innovations that bring continuity to the “hand-off” between design and construction – making it a “hands-on” process. Bentley’s design/build credentials include its unique experience gained among EPCs as the leading software platform provider for plant creation, project collaboration, and construction simulation; and its long-standing commitment to interoperability endeavors such as its leading participation in the iRING consortium for “virtualizing construction,” and new partnerships it is announcing today. As building and civil integrated projects have increasingly gained marketplace momentum, Bentley’s offerings have become a major enabler.

The Bentley innovations being introduced help construction enterprises benefit from information modeling and well-managed access to project information across distributed teams by providing:

• dynamic collaboration, design synchronization, and iterative project review empowered by ProjectWise for Construction and ProjectWise for Revit Users packaged offerings that include Bentley Navigator V8i;
• construction workface planning with open interfaces to the major plant engineering applications, now fully leveraging ProjectWise V8i and Bentley Navigator V8i, through the newly released ConstructSim V8i;
• hypermodels – the revolutionary innovation to interact with required drawings in their appropriate 3D context, navigating callout links to enhance and clarify the 3D model, which serves as a spatial index;
• apps for mobile devices (such as the iPad) to immersively access – now from anywhere – design and construction model information, and to provide synchronized feedback of markups and field status;
• integrated fabrication workflows enabled by Bentley’s newly released ProConcrete software and Integrated Structural Modeling (ISM) apps;
• demonstrations of real-time standards-based information exchange, including manufacturers’ content from specifications and construction through commissioning, across systems achieving the ISO 15926 requirements of the iRING user community, such as Bentley’s OpenPlant V8i products;
• tighter “hands-on” workflows among design, engineering, and construction through new partner agreements with Norconsult, Motion Computing, SMART Technologies, Synchro, Tekla, Vela, and Vico.

Bentley Systems CEO Greg Bentley said, “Owner demands for improved project performance continue to increase reliance on integrated projects and resulting design/build approaches to delivery that improve project economics. At Be Together, we are presenting innovations furthering the ‘V8i advantage,’ that transform the traditional ‘hand-off’ between design and construction into the ‘hands-on’ immersive process integrated projects were meant to be.”

He continued, “Consider the disappointing state of practice in building and civil projects, where constructors routinely accept the need to create new 3D models themselves, because the design team’s work has been fragmented between incomplete ‘information models’ and the disconnected digital legacy of legally prescribed paper drawings. The early adopters of our hypermodel innovation (and anyone else who sees it!) have hailed it as the breakthrough they’ve been waiting for – so that the design team’s full and best work can finally be delivered and relied upon by contractors and owners. Incidentally, hypermodels offer these integrated-project benefits regardless of the project delivery method. Accordingly, the construction ‘hand-off’ can now be ‘hands-on!’ And for ‘immersive review’ anywhere, our users will soon have job site ‘cloud’ access to ProjectWise managed, synchronized, and secure content through our new iPad apps.”

The V8i advantage that enables Bentley and its users to work smarter together is inherited by Bentley’s broad portfolio of products from the MicroStation V8i desktop platform and ProjectWise collaboration and work-sharing platform. The V8i advantage includes intuitive modeling, immersive design, intrinsic 3D, and incredible performance, along with interoperability that supports software choice, data reuse, and Bentley’s compatibility commitment to its users.

Dynamic Collaboration and Immersive Review

ProjectWise for Construction and ProjectWise for Revit Users are new packaged offerings from Bentley that help construction teams and users of Revit software quickly, easily, and cost-effectively take full advantage of ProjectWise V8i, as well as Bentley Navigator V8i dynamic collaboration software for iterative and immersive project review. Navigator V8i can be used by construction teams to interactively view, analyze, mark up, and augment project information on multiple devices with ensured continuity. These devices can include the newest intelligent devices such as SMART Boards, laptops (including web viewing via the Navigator web part), Motion Computing tablet PCs, and soon, the iPad. Among Bentley Navigator V8i’s newest innovations is markup synchronization, which enables every markup to be timely, reviewed, and tracked.

ProjectWise for Construction and ProjectWise for Revit Users provide affordable, standard pricing for either the on-site or online turnkey installation of ProjectWise V8i and Bentley Navigator V8i. In addition to software, setup and configuration services are provided by Bentley’s professional services team, as are live on-site or online training and 24/7/365 support by phone, email, and web.

Huw Roberts, Bentley global marketing director, said, “These packaged offerings are priced to accommodate today’s tight budgets and keep software administration quick and easy. For example, the Bentley Navigator component provides much greater capabilities at as much as a 75 percent cost savings over other review software, such as Autodesk Navisworks. Bentley Navigator V8i was first released in October 2009 and has already been adopted by 21 of the ENR Top 25 Design/Build Firms.”

Workface Planning

ConstructSim V8i is the leader in virtual construction simulation for detailed and automated workface planning. It provides for the development and management of installation work packages, automatically generating a detailed work task database for all construction activities. The benefits include reduced project risks, increased project control and safety, site management time savings, increased on-site productivity, reduced wait time, and fewer cost and schedule overruns.

The new release leverages i-models (containers for open infrastructure information exchange), the ProjectWise project team collaboration platform that empowers construction teams to reuse broader design content and gain new business value, and SQL Server processing that lets users work with even the largest models while providing exceptional performance.

Specific new features of ConstructSim V8i include:

• the ability to coordinate across multiple 3D models using i-models with Bentley Navigator V8i enabling large-scale dynamic review;
• the ability to publish i-models from ConstructSim; enables dynamic collaboration between engineering and construction, facilitates the review of construction status and priorities in engineering, and leverages shared markups, notes, and annotations in the 3D model;
• more flexible management-by-exception reporting tools;
• support for a broader range of disciplines, including civil engineering, electrical and instrumentation, as well as piping structural and equipment.

Integrated Fabrication Workflows

Bentley’s ProConcrete is ideally suited for modeling, detailing, and scheduling reinforced cast-in-place (in situ) and precast concrete structures. It delivers 3D data to seamlessly integrate and connect engineering design data all the way through to fabrication. This, in turn, provides the ability to link all design data into one integrated model in which data can be cohesively shared among not only CAD platforms, but also other engineering disciplines.

iRING: “Virtualizing Construction”

ISO 15926-based interoperability achieving the requirements of the iRING user community is now provided in a number of Bentley’s V8i plant information modeling products. Through the iRING, project participants, including control system and other equipment vendors, can benefit from semantically rich information exchange, enabling globally “virtual” sourcing. Beyond sequential “EPC” workflows, both engineering and construction can be intelligently procured.

Bentley is presenting a demonstration of this at Be Together this week (in the “Collaboration” LIVE Zone). It shows the ease with which component data and information, including manufacturers’ content, can be shared with systems deployed by iRING user community members Bechtel, Hatch, and Emerson Process Management, and among Bentley’s AXSYS.Process V8i conceptual design application, OpenPlant PowerPID V8i application, and Instrumentation & Wiring V8i design software.

Tighter “Hands-on” Workflows

The goal of the following new Bentley technology partnerships is to provide tighter “hands-on” workflows among design, engineering, and construction in support of integrated projects and design/build approaches to project delivery:

• Norconsult – This partnership makes PDMS 3D models (geometry and data) available for visualization and collaboration to non-PDMS software users. Norconsult’s importPDMS software application, in conjunction with MicroStation V8i, reads native PDMS.RVM graphics files and associated attribute data, produced as the output from a PDMS design modeling session, for direct conversion into an i-model. The resulting i-models with the converted PDMS data can be opened and viewed using MicroStation V8i, Bentley Navigator V8i, or Bentley View V8i.
• Motion Computing – Motion delivers integrated mobility solutions designed for real-time, point-of-construction computing, improving productivity, collaboration and quality while lowering costs. Running Windows 7, the company’s rugged tablet PCs are ideally suited for often harsh mobile work environments, and seamlessly integrate ProjectWise Explorer and Bentley Navigator (in cooperation with Adobe) for use by construction teams at the jobsite.
• SMART Technologies – SMART Boards combine an interactive whiteboard with computer technology, enabling users to easily access and share digital content. Bentley and SMART Technology are working together to provide an interactive visual collaboration solution enabling infrastructure professionals to share ideas and mark up designs in real time using Bentley Navigator V8i and the SMART Board, whether project teams are in the same room or located across the globe.
• Synchro Ltd. – Synchro offers an enhanced visual simulation approach to the management of construction projects by synchronizing design, planning and scheduling, supply chain management, risk management, and earned value measurement. This partnership will result in an integration between the Synchro construction project management products and ProjectWise, followed by i-model read and write support for Synchro products and a Synchro plug-in for Navigator.
• Tekla Corporation – Tekla Corporation, a software provider and driver of digital information models to the construction, infrastructure, and energy industries, and Bentley today announced a joint collaboration to further advance the interoperability of software within Building Information Modeling (BIM) workflows. The two companies are improving interoperability between the Tekla Structures BIM software and Bentley’s Integrated Structural Modeling (ISM) methodology.
• Vela Systems – Vela provides field management software for construction.  As part of a larger strategy to extend the use of i-models into the field, the integration of Vela Systems and Bentley ProjectWise will streamline project review, inspection, commissioning, and handover to operations.
• Vico Software, Inc. – The Vico Office suite analyzes and tracks cost and schedule implications of design changes by satisfying the contractor’s requirements for bill of quantities, cost estimating, project scheduling, and production control in an integrated environment. Together, Bentley and Vico will integrate i-models within the design/build workflow, allowing construction teams to add and track their business data alongside the design team’s data and resulting in a comprehensive and integrated view of the project.

For additional information about ProjectWise for Construction, visit www.bentley.com/IntegratedProjectDelivery/specialoffers.

For additional information about ProjectWise for Revit Users, visit www.bentley.com/IntegratedProjectDelivery/projectwise+revit.

For additional information about ProjectWise V8i and Bentley Navigator V8i, visit www.Bentley.com/DynamicCollaboration.

For additional information about ConstructSim V8i, visit www.bentley.com/ConstructSim.

For additional information about ProConcrete, visit www.bentley.com/Products/ProConcrete.

For additional information about Bentley’s OpenPlant V8i products, visit www.bentley.com/openminds.

About Be Together: The Bentley User Conference

Be Together: The Bentley User Conference, taking place this week at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, enables the architects, engineers, constructors, geospatial and operations professionals, and CAD managers who regularly exchange ideas virtually on the Be Communities professional networking site to connect, communicate, and learn from each other in person. In addition, guided by Bentley product experts, attendees acquire knowledge crucial to the adoption of information-modeling best practices as they earn Bentley Institute Learning Units to maximize return on time invested in professional development. The conference hosts nine tracks: Roads and Bridges, Structural, Water, Geospatial, Utilities and Communications, Building, Plant, AssetWise, and MicroStation and ProjectWise. For additional information about the conference, visit www.bentley.com/BeTogether.

About Bentley Systems, Incorporated

Bentley is the global leader dedicated to providing architects, engineers, geospatial professionals, constructors, and owner-operators with comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure. Bentley’s mission is to empower its users to leverage information modeling through integrated projects for high-performing intelligent infrastructure. Its solutions encompass the MicroStation platform for infrastructure design and modeling, the ProjectWise platform for infrastructure project team collaboration and work sharing, and the AssetWise platform for infrastructure asset operations – all supporting a broad portfolio of interoperable applications and complemented by worldwide professional services. Founded in 1984, Bentley has grown to nearly 3,000 colleagues in more than 45 countries and $500 million in annual revenues. Since 2001, the company has invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions.

Additional information about Bentley is available at www.bentley.com and in Bentley’s annual report. For Bentley news as it happens, subscribe to an RSS feed of Bentley press releases and news alerts. To view a searchable collection of innovative infrastructure projects from the annual Be Inspired Awards, access Bentley’s Year in Infrastructure publications. To access a professional networking site that enables members of the infrastructure community to connect, communicate, and learn from each other, visit Be Communities.

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