a publication of intergraph process, power & marine 2010 ... · pdf filea publication of...

A publication of Intergraph® Process, Power & Marine 2010

SmartPlant® Foundation

A Special Focus of

IBERDROLANeste OilPBMRSNC-Lavalin NuclearGrenland GroupSamsung Heavy Industries

2 Insight

Case Studies 4 IBERDROLA Realizes the Power of Integration

6 Fabricom Suez Improves Data Quality with SmartPlant® Foundation

8 Neste Oil Takes Steps for a Cleaner Future

10 PBMR and SNC-Lavalin Nuclear Find SmartPlant Enterprise Is the Right Solution for Nuclear Power Plants

12 PTTEP Creates Enterprise Engineering Hub

14 SCG Chemical Group Discovers the Value of Intelligent Data

16 Murray & Roberts Innovative Strategies Boost Productivity

18 Grenland Group Chooses SmartPlant Enterprise to Maximize Offshore Production

20 Linde Engineering Pulls It All Together at Snøhvit

22 Smooth Sailing for Samsung Heavy Industries

24 Worley Parsons Merging Cultures, Growing Success

Viewpoint 26 FIATECH Promotes Interoperability

Perspective 28 Intergraph Discusses the Tiers of Integration

Table of ContentsPage 4Realizing the power of integration

Page 12Creating an enterprise engineering hub

Page 14Discovering the valueof intelligent data

6Promoting interoperability

Page 28Navigating the tiers of integration

Intergraph, the Intergraph logo, SmartPlant, SmartMarine, SmartSketch, PDS, SIGRAPH.CAE, and INtools are registered trademarks and SupportModeler is a trademark of Intergraph Corporation. Microsoft, SQL

Server, Excel, and SharePoint are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. SAP and SAP NetWeaver are registered trademarks of SAP AG. Zyqad is a trademark of Aspen Technology Inc. ©2010 Intergraph

Corporation. 6/10 PPM-US-0084A-ENG

SmartPlant Foundation provides a complete solution for sharing engineering data and integrates document management with engineering tools.Salman Abdulla Vice President, Operations, Emirates Aluminum Co. Ltd.

Realizing the Power of IntegrationSmartPlant Enterprise helps IBERDROLA grow operations around the globe

n By David Joffrion

IBERDROLA Ingeniería y Construcción (Engineer-ing and Construction), established in 1995, has become one of the world’s leading energy engi-neering companies. With active projects in more than 25 countries and a project portfolio valued at more than US$3.3 billion, IBERDROLA is re-alizing increased activity from a strategy shift to target the creation of engineering and con-struction of power generation, distribution and control facilities.

Heavily involved in large nuclear and renewable energy projects, IBERDROLA’s services also include project management, engineering, sup-ply, construction and commissioning, turnkey projects and operational support. IBERDROLA has approximately 2,500 employees. Headquar-tered in Spain, the company has subsidiaries and branches in another 22 countries.

We specifically chose SmartPlant 3D because of its powerful global workshare and automation capabilities. Fernando Torres System Manager, IBERDROLA Ingeniería y Construcción

Integration is the keyIBERDROLA began implementing Intergraph solutions in 2003, when the landscape was ripe for expanding its business into new mar-kets. The company wanted to execute interna-tional EPC projects much like the ones it had in Spain, and the challenge was to do this while saving time and money in execution in spite of the distance and geographical distribution of its international customers.

To access international markets, IBERDROLA knew it must be more competitive. And, to be more competitive, it focused on one goal – integration. IBERDROLA understood the success of an EPC project depended in large part on the integration of all the components in the project. In effect, this meant coordina-tion between all the disciplines involved in the life cycle of a power plant, from engineering to commissioning.

4 Insight Insight: Special Focus

Case sTudy: IBERDROLA INGENIERÍA Y CONSTRUCCIÓN

Within each of its EPC projects, many groups are involved – subcontractors, engineering, procure-ment, logistics, construction and commissioning. Managing the data flow and information is criti-cal in this environment. All the groups have ac-cess to view and edit data, and with the Smart-Plant Enterprise solutions, the workflow operates smoothly and seamlessly.

The firm has also been able to avoid conflicts of information between disciplines, preventing duplication of data and guaranteeing modifica-tions are done in real-time and received across the entire workshare.

“We chose the Intergraph solutions because, as a company, it has provided us a secure implemen-tation with excellent technical support,” said Fer-nando Torres, system manager at IBERDROLA.

“Intergraph has helped us evolve our func-tionality toward a more user-friendly environ-ment, and we have experienced great per-formance in our engineering and 3D design efforts. We specifically chose SmartPlant 3D because of its powerful global workshare and automation capabilities.”

standardizing on smartPlant 3dFor its initial implementation, IBERDROLA chose Intergraph’s PDS, SupportModeler, SmartPlant P&ID and SmartPlant Instrumentation for its design and engineering functions. SmartPlant Review and SmartPlant Explorer were used to access information for visualization purposes. However, for its goal of system integration, IBERDROLA decided it made no sense to start that process while it was still using PDS and SupportModeler, so it began the migration from these solutions to SmartPlant 3D, Intergraph’s next-generation, data-centric design solution.

IBERDROLA completed implementation of SmartPlant 3D in early 2008, and continued its use of PDS and SupportModeler only on proj-ects that began before then. SmartPlant 3D provided increased functionality, design speed, and better performance on power plant design projects. In the latter half of 2008, IBERDROLA began the implementation of SmartPlant Foun-dation, and in 2010, it will begin the integration with the SmartPlant Foundation project docu-ment management tool.

Products usedn PDS®

n SupportModeler™n SmartPlant 3Dn SmartPlant P&IDn SmartPlant Instrumentationn SmartPlant Reviewn SmartPlant Foundation

Key benefitsn Short product learning curve; reduced

design times and reuse of designs

n System integration helps to prevent con-flicts of information between disciplines

n “Environment of engineering” enables all subcontractors and partner engineering companies to work within IBERDROLA’s templates, procedures and specifications

dual project environmentsIBERDROLA breaks down its EPC projects into two scenarios – Environment of Engineering and Project Management.

The Environment of Engineering contains almost the entire Intergraph SmartPlant En-terprise suite of solutions and its integration with SmartPlant Foundation. For IBERDROLA, the key is to keep the “know-how” within the company. This means all of the subcontractors and engineering companies work with their templates, procedures and specifications, and all the designs are made by remote access us-ing Citrix. Using the same systems, architecture and working models, everyone involved in the project will work with a common model. It is within this environment that SmartPlant Instru-mentation, SmartPlant P&ID and SmartPlant 3D are used for designing process diagrams, con-struction drawings, purchasing counts, design reviews and checking assemblies.

The Project Management environment is where IBERDROLA accesses and integrates all of the value-added products within the EPC projects. Connections to the enterprise and resource planning (ERP) system running SAP, the bill of materials system running BDU, the document

management system running SmarTeam, the planning system running Primavera, and the visualization system running SmartPlant Re-view all reside here. All are strategic disciplines in IBERDROLA’s EPC projects. For example, the integration between SmartPlant Review and Primavera empowers IBERDROLA to revise the main sequences of project construction sched-ules, correct mistakes and make improvements in the early stages of a project.

Internal group aids implementationTo help with the implementation of the Inter-graph solutions, IBERDROLA has an Architecture and Technology (ARTE) department responsible for, among other things, testing new software and configuring new products. When the prod-ucts are “developed and proven,” ARTE trains the respective business area within IBERDROLA on the new application and provides technical support, if necessary.

This methodology was quite helpful for IBERDROLA. As IBERDROLA added new prod-ucts during the software implementation pro-cess, the ARTE team received the training and then, in turn, provided it to the IBERDROLA application teams. One exception to this was for SmartPlant 3D, where the whole design application team received training together with ARTE.

To maximize software performance for the company’s implementation, some customiza-tion was required, such as adding properties to objects, creating libraries, configuring out-puts (reports, drawings, isometrics, etc.) and establishing a methodology to work with these tools for its projects. Once the customi-zation was complete, IBERDROLA quickly ex-perienced such benefits as reduced learning curves, expedited design times and the ability to reuse designs. These benefits, in turn, have resulted in increased productivity throughout the enterprise.

David Joffrion is a contributing editor for Insight and is based in Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.

www.iberdrolaingenieria.es

5InsightSmartPlant Foundation


Fabricom Suez is a leading supplier of mainte-

nance and modification services to the oil and

gas industry. With its main office in Stavanger,

Norway, Fabricom employs more than 1,650

people performing challenging engineering

work, executing projects and providing spe-

cialized maintenance services.

Fabricom selected Intergraph’s SmartPlant

Foundation to more accurately manage and

reuse engineering design data throughout the

life cycle of its projects.

Limitations of spreadsheetsBefore choosing SmartPlant Foundation, Fabricom

faced a number of limitations and disadvantages

with information storage. The company used

Microsoft® Excel® as its main tool for keeping

track of engineering data.

As its projects expanded in size and the amount

of tag information rose, Fabricom experienced a

number of problems:n Changes were difficult to trackn Data security was lacking

n A great amount of data was misspelledn Tags were copied several timesn Properties had invalid valuesn Not all information followed the engineering

numbering system.

Gaining flexibilityRealizing the disadvantages of spreadsheets, Fabricom evaluated several information management solutions and chose SmartPlant Foundation. This gave Fabricom a database solution that provides flexibility, efficiency and better quality data management.

The company has integrated SmartPlant Foundation with ProArc, its existing document management system. This enables Fabricom to make a tag-to-document relationship – keep-ing track of all the documents produced for each information tag and vice versa.

For initial solution implementation, Fabricom imported the information already created, mainly from Excel spreadsheets. Initially, 5,000 tags with

Fabricom Suez Improves Data Quality with SmartPlant FoundationEPC gains flexibility, efficiency and better quality data management

n By Øivind Hansen

Case sTudy: FABRICOM SUEZ

7Insight

Just one year after reaching the 200th customer mark, rapid in-dustry adoption of Intergraph’s SmartPlant Foundation has pushed sales past the 300th customer milestone with Suncor Energy Inc.’s selection of the engineering information management solution.

Suncor, a major North American energy producer and Intergraph customer, selected SmartPlant

Foundation to manage non-Intergraph data – Suncor’s legacy of 3D models – for oil and gas development projects. The sale marks a 50-percent growth rate for SmartPlant Foundation in a single year.

SmartPlant Foundation is the ISO 15926-compliant document and data management solution within SmartPlant Enterprise, an integrated solutions suite that provides full design, construc-tion, materials and engineering data management capabilities needed for the creation, safe operation and maintenance and capital project life cycle management (cPLM) of large-scale process, power, marine and offshore projects.

SmartPlant Foundation’s life cycle data management also enables a smoother handover from EPCs to owner operators and for owner operators to more easily maintain, refurbish or modify their plants. The solution permits electronic management of all project and plant engineering information, integrating data on the physical asset, work processes and regulatory and safety imperatives to facilitate enhanced global decision-support capabilities.

Gerhard Sallinger, Intergraph Process, Power & Marine president, said, “We are pleased to recognize an industry leader such as Suncor as our 300th SmartPlant Foundation customer. The remarkable pace of the industry’s adoption of this solution demonstrates the value of its ability to accurately manage all aspects of a plant’s design, modification, upgrades and refurbish-ment, effectively managing the evolving plant configuration from front-end engineering design to plant decommissioning.”

David Joffrion is a contributing editor for Insight based in Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.

www.suncor.com

their associated properties and approximately 250,000 property fields were imported into the SmartPlant Foundation database.

Boosting data qualityThe data generated in SmartPlant Foundation is transferred daily to Fabricom’s customers’ plant information management (PIM) systems, with a status flag triggering the tags to transfer. In its recently completed pilot project, Fabricom has seen marked improvements in the quality of the data and the working environment. Every discipline is now able to find, view and edit information in one central place.

ease of useFabricom employees found that SmartPlant Foundation training was a very smooth process. Because of the software’s intuitive nature, employees quickly learned the basic functions. As time passes and they become more familiar with the system, they expect to become even more proficient in completing tasks and functions.

Of the 111 users created for the system, 25 percent have view access only and the rest are editors divided into different groups. Depending on their discipline and the functions they perform, editors are divided into either standard or super users. This gives Fabricom greater control over data integrity.

Building an enterprise solutionFabricom has been highly satisfied in its progress with the SmartPlant Foundation data management solution implementation and the team from Intergraph. In the future, the company plans to develop a comprehensive approach to meeting its enterprise engineering needs by modularly integrating SmartPlant Foundation with other solutions from the SmartPlant Enterprise software suite including SmartPlant Instrumentation, SmartPlant Electrical and SmartPlant P&ID.

Øivind Hansen is the SmartPlant Foundation system owner at Fabricom and is based in Stavanger, Norway.

www.fabricom.no

Suncor Becomes the 300th Intergraph SmartPlant Foundation CustomerSmartPlant Enterprise document and data management solution posts 50-percent growth in past year

n By david Joffrion

SmartPlant Foundation


Case sTudy: NESTE OIL

Neste Oil Takes Steps for a Cleaner FutureWorld’s largest renewable diesel facilities designed with SmartPlant Enterprise

n By Tuuli Kousa

Neste Oil is a refining and marketing company

focusing on advanced, cleaner traffic fuels. The

company’s strategy is based on growing both

its oil refining and premium-quality renewable

diesel businesses. Neste Oil’s refineries in Porvoo

and Naantali, Finland have a combined crude

oil refining capacity of approximately 260,000

barrels a day.

Growing energy demandsAs world energy demands continue to grow, new energy solutions are urgently needed. At the same time, Neste Oil believes that combat-ing climate change calls for immediate action. Minimizing environmental effects and ensuring sustainability are the company’s main business drivers in renewable fuel production.

To help face these challenges, Neste Oil has developed NExBTL technology. NExBTL renew-able diesel is the cleanest diesel in the world

made from renewable raw materials. NExBTL

technology is several years ahead of any com-

petitors in the renewable fuels market. It can

be produced in large volumes on an industrial

scale. NExBTL can be used in all diesel engines

and it significantly reduces both tailpipe and

greenhouse gas emissions.

Renewable fuelsRenewable fuels are Neste Oil’s fastest-growing business. Neste Oil produces and sells premium-quality NExBTL renewable diesel based on the company’s proprietary technology. A number of new NExBTL plants are currently under construc-tion and the company is continuing an active program of research and development on biofu-els and raw materials suitable for biofuel usage.

The demand for biofuels is growing rapidly. Neste Oil has set an objective to become the world’s leading producer of renewable diesel.

Growing production capacityWorldwide demand for diesel fuels is expected

to reach 750 million tons a year by 2015. Traffic

biofuels currently account for approximately

one percent of total global fuel production

according to the International Energy Agency.

Production capacity of conventional bio-

diesel and higher-quality renewable diesel in

Europe totaled around 16 million tons in 2008.

Consumption is projected to reach 13 million

tons per year in Europe by 2010.

Neste Oil has responded to this demand challenge

by launching a major expansion of its own capac-

ity. A plant commissioned at the Porvoo refinery in

2007 already produces approximately 170,000 t/a

of NExBTL renewable diesel, and a second plant of

equal size is due to be completed in 2009.

Neste Oil made a decision to build a 800,000

t/a NExBTL plant in Singapore in 2007. In 2008,


Neste further expanded with a similar-sized plant

in Rotterdam. Both plants are currently under

construction and are due to come online in 2010

and 2011 respectively. These will be the world’s

largest renewable diesel facilities.

engineeringTechnip Italy is performing the EPC work for

the Singapore and Rotterdam plants. The

information and communications technology

specification for the project included a require-

ment that Intergraph applications would be the

main engineering tools used for the project.

This requirement was put in place because

Neste Oil wants to maintain its plant data in

the native data format after commissioning.

Neste Oil also made this decision because the

majority of global engineering contractors use

Intergraph applications.

Intergraph’s global presence and support give

engineering companies the ability to make plant

modification and document updates to maintain

plant information over the plant life cycle.

document managementIn 2008, Neste Renewable Fuels was looking for

a document management system for its NExBTL

renewable diesel plants. Intergraph SmartPlant Foundation was chosen in 2009.

The main reason for Neste Oil’s selection of SmartPlant Foundation is that the product is part of the Intergraph SmartPlant Enterprise and is specifically designed for efficient plant document management. Plus, the system offers the potential to expand to manage plant data and 3D models.

SmartPlant Foundation will be linked to Neste Oil’s maintenance management system. Implementation began in February 2009. After the first phase, the system is now ready for docu-ment handover from Technip Italy’s document management system.

Technological pioneerNeste Oil’s NExBTL diesel is a major innovation that has been extensively tested and in commer-cial production since 2007. NExBTL renewable diesel offers a major reduction in both greenhouse gas and other harmful emissions. Measured over the product’s entire life cycle, its greenhouse gas emissions are between 40 to 60 percent lower than those of fossil diesel, depending on the raw material used. Blended with conventional diesel, NExBTL reduces overall emission levels in line with the proportion blended.

NExBTL diesel fuels have been studied extensively with cars, trucks and buses, and the results have all been very positive. In addition to lower greenhouse gas emissions, the fuel offers significantly lower particulate emissions than conventional diesel, as well as lower NOx emissions than conventional biodiesel. A clear reduction in tailpipe aldehyde emissions confirms that NExBTL renewable diesel burns cleanly.

Using NExBTL renewable diesel has a sig-nificant positive impact on emissions, as the fuel generates substantially less particulate and NO2 emissions than conventional diesel fuel. Test results show that NOx emissions are cut by around 10 percent and particulate emissions by around 30 percent compared to fossil diesel.

Research and developmentThe energy supply of tomorrow will be based on multiple technologies and feedstock. Very large volumes of renewable fuels will be called for in the next few years, and no one raw material or technology can meet this challenge alone. All current approaches will be needed, together with a number of new ones as well – which is why Neste Oil is working hard on finding and intro-ducing new raw materials and new solutions.

The company is committed to using only sustain-ably produced raw materials in the production of its renewable diesel. Significant new feedstock for transport fuels includes vegetable oils, tallow, wood residues, side products, and waste.

Neste Oil is working with more than 20 research institutions on six research initiatives aimed at identifying new raw material suitable for use as biofuel inputs. The research initiatives include jatropha, algae and microbes. A pilot project to demonstrate the use of wood residues is under construction in Finland.

Tuuli Kousa is a communications manager at Neste Oil and is based in Helsinki, Finland.

www.nesteoil.com

NExBTL renewable diesel capacity outlook

Location Capacity Investment Year Complete

Porvoo, Finland 170,000 tons US$135 million 2007

Porvoo, Finland 170,000 tons > US$135 million 2009

Singapore 800,000 tons US$735 million 2010

Rotterdam, The Netherlands 800,000 tons US$900 million 2011

Differences Between NExBTL and Conventional Biodiesel

NExBTL Renewable Diesel Conventional Biodiesel

n Can be blended up to 100 percent contentn Can only be used up to 5-7% content

(maximum allowed under European diesel standard)

n Compiles with the strictest quality standardsn Biofuel usage requirement cannot be

met without compromising fuel quality specifications

n Reduces tailpipe emissions n Increases NOx emissions

n Offers excellent storability n Must be used by a “best before” date

n Does not require and engine modifications n Can cause engine problems

10 Insight

SmartPlant Enterprise: The Right Solution for Nuclear Power PlantsData-driven, integrated and rule-based environment is vital for next generation complex nuclear power plant projects

n By Wayne Smith

Insight: Special Focus

The nuclear power industry is one of the most

regulated industries in the world. Traceability

of all data and documents that are generated

during the plant life cycle is fundamental in the

nuclear industry.

Data pass through various phases of the prod-

uct and plant life cycle, beginning from design

concept, basic engineering/FEED to detail design,

procurement, construction, licensing support,

pre-commissioning and commissioning, opera-

tions, refurbishment and decommissioning. For

this reason, it is imperative that information

integrity is ensured throughout a plant’s life cycle

reflecting the design basis.

Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) was seek-

ing a technology enabler to assist with the

engineering and management of plant data. The

technology enabler would allow PBMR to hand

over an integrated data model of the entire plant

to the owner operator ESKOM, one of the world’s

largest utilities.

Established in 1999, the PBMR organization

intends to develop and market small-scale, high-

temperature reactors both regionally and inter-

nationally. The 700-member PBMR team is based

in Centurion, near Pretoria in South Africa.

SNC-Lavalin Nuclear (SLN) has nearly 50 years

of experience in the design and construction

of nuclear power plants around the world that

includes project management and plant life

cycle support experience. While assisting in

other areas, SLN is primarily involved with the

engineering, procurement, construction and

management as an EPCM subcontractor for the

PBMR demonstration power plant at Koeberg,

near Cape Town in South Africa.

The PBMR plant design has undergone develop-

ment since 1993. The plant is scheduled to begin

construction in 2010, with the first fuel to be

loaded four years later in 2014.

Comprehensive solutionTogether with SNC-Lavalin Nuclear, PBMR’s

plant and product realization and engineering

groups have implemented Intergraph’s SmartPlant

Enterprise suite as the engineering solution for

the PBMR demonstration power plant to be

constructed at Koeberg. PBMR is focused on using

SmartPlant Foundation’s infrastructure and cen-

tralized repository for maintaining all plant data

and documents.

“PBMR is a complex and first-of-a-kind project,”

said Aaron Bukhari, a consultant to PBMR and the

chief information officer at SLN. “Our primary rea-

sons for looking at the Intergraph products were

traceability within a data-driven and integrated

environment that will enable PBMR to deliver a

plant with all intelligent data and documents.”

Case sTudy: PBMR AND SNC-LAVALIN NUCLEAR

11Insight

embrace an integrated mindset for working with the fourth generation of engineering. SmartPlant Enterprise is very pivotal to solidify this integrated mindset with the associated work methods.”

“We know that to develop an architecture and environment for distributed engineering, we want everyone to draw from the same centralized data-bases,” Bukhari said. “From this viewpoint, we envision that use of the SmartPlant Foundation repository will increase even more.”

From beginning to endPBMR’s vision is for a technology that covers the entire life cycle of a nuclear plant, beginning with conceptual engineering and continuing through to operation and eventual decommissioning. Intergraph’s market-leading technology supports plant life cycle effort. According to Kotzé, PBMR will continue to expand its use of SmartPlant Enterprise as more products are designed and developed.

“PBMR believes that Intergraph’s product range supports its vision and strategy 100 percent,” Kotzé said. “This is confirmed by the products we see coming from Intergraph and through much discussion of this topic.”

“A successful roll-out of any plant life cycle information management system, from design to decommissioning, requires business process-centric operations – policies, procedures, work instructions, workflows, reports, specifications, catalogs, rules and processes – along with a stable technology base,” said Bukhari.

“These are exciting times when vendors such as Intergraph can deliver a vision and align their products with business requirements for the plant life cycle.”

Both Bukhari and Kotzé see SmartPlant Enterprise leading the way into a new dimension of what they call the “ERP of engineering.”

Wayne Smith is a contributing editor for Insight based in Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.

www.pbmr.co.za www.snclavalin.com www.slnuclear.com


Bukhari confirmed that SNC-Lavalin Nuclear has used Intergraph technologies from the early days of PDS to the current SmartPlant Enterprise suite. He noted that the savings in man-hours and engi-neering effort using SmartPlant Enterprise will be dramatic over the course of a plant’s life cycle.

“When the owner operator chooses SmartPlant Enterprise, the plant data handover can be an integrated process that should reduce the overall plant operating cost,” he said. “Using Intergraph tools enables concurrent engineering from multiple locations that translates into significant efficiency and dramatic savings.”

With basic engineering (PFDs and P&IDs, including mechanical datasheets) enabled by SmartPlant P&ID and AspenTech Zyqad™ PFD software, these tools can integrate and share information through SmartPlant Foundation.

The ongoing task involves the creation of refer-ence and model data to be used when and where required. For example, five complete line specifications were created within five days using the SmartPlant Reference Data tool. Typically, this would require weeks of painstaking work. A significant time and cost savings was realized by capitalizing the standard ASME piping database add-on.

SmartPlant Electrical and SmartPlant Instrumenta-tion also contribute toward an integrated envi-ronment. SmartPlant 3D plays a pivotal role by maintaining the repository of the master model for all phases of the plant life cycle.

SmartPlant Enterprise’s integrated, data-driven environment is helping PBMR to manage data such as the life cycle of tags, datasheets and workflows, and to integrate data from third party tools such as AspenTech and Tekla. Meanwhile, the constructability team is busy combining data from various sources such as scheduling and SmartPlant 3D tools into SmartPlant Review.

award-winning effortsAt the Intergraph 2007 International Users Conference, PBMR received one of Intergraph’s inaugural Icon Awards for using SmartPlant Enterprise solutions to integrate the plant life cycle environment for its next generation reac-tor design. The award is Intergraph’s highest

customer distinction for product innovation, part-nership and proven results.

Bukhari remarked that the vision behind SmartPlant Enterprise was a major factor in PBMR’s decision to choose Intergraph for its advanced technology nuclear power plant design.

One of the immediate benefits to PBMR involves data and document organization. SmartPlant Foundation enables the creation of data fields which can be assembled into documents and presented in reports.

SmartPlant Enterprise enables a complete data set to be provided, while reflecting any changes. “Traceability is one of the key capabilities we were looking for in the product, to ensure that everything is captured and nothing will be lost. SmartPlant Enterprise’s traceability, control and workflow management are among our greatest assets,” said Bukhari.

ImplementationAfter PBMR chose the Intergraph solution, the software was implemented through a combined effort by the PBMR product realization software team, the PBMR engineering software team and SLN’s plant systems team, with support provided by Intergraph team members and partners in South Africa, Europe and the U.S.

Reduced cost is another key benefit of SmartPlant Enterprise for this unique project. “There is no other product that can reasonably cover all the cost areas of construction, operability and main-tainability, and provide a cost benefit,” Bukhari said. “The Intergraph solution can deliver this cost benefit over the long-term.”

Employing Intergraph’s SmartPlant Enterprise suite of tools will significantly reduce the time it takes for PBMR to bring reactors to market and to deliver plants to owners and operators complete with all data and maintenance information.

PMBR considers its relationship with Intergraph a true success story, as it implements its next gen-eration nuclear plant technology.

“A broken process results in broken technology,” said Anton Kotzé, the product realization software systems manager at PBMR. “We work very hard to recreate our business processes, workflows and procedures, and to encourage EPC managers to


PTTEP Creates Enterprise Engineering HubSmartPlant Enterprise investment for greenfield project offers safety benefits and significant ROI

n By Jana Miller

Petroleum producer PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Ltd. (PTTEP) is a dynamic Thailand-based exploration company. It has invested in exploration and production activi-ties in a variety of countries, including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Oman, Egypt, Algeria and New Zealand.

PTTEP recently implemented an enterprise engi-neering hub powered by SmartPlant Foundation. The platform serves as a single point of reference for information on the Arthit asset and will result in cost savings in terms of time and resources no longer wasted searching for information in numerous databases.

“Maintaining accurate information that can be used effectively until the end of an asset’s life is a real challenge,” said Suchart Srivaranon, integrated planning engineer and data handover team lead of the Arthit Project at PTTEP.

The Arthit Project represents the company’s first exploration project as operator. Covering more than 4,000 sq km in the Gulf of Thailand, the

Arthit petroleum fields are located approximately 230 km off the coast of Songkhla province. The area includes natural gas and condensate.

safety first“For an exploration and production business like us, the safety of field staff on projects like Arthit is of paramount importance,” said Srivaranon. “As a result, information used by engineers and field staff must be accurately prepared using an efficient ‘housekeeping’ system.”

To do this, the company has invested in engineer-ing data warehousing – a global platform that can house data, integrate numerous applications and enable multiple users across the enterprise to access information.

By ensuring that data are accurate and con-sistent, staff members can reduce errors and improve personnel safety on-site.

data flowDuring the design and construction phases of the Arthit Project, the housekeeping system

previously used to manage and maintain the

extensive information generated was limiting.

Ongoing use of the system was deemed a “mis-

sion impossible” by engineers.

The project team needed a system that could

house a vast amount of complex data within a

global, process-based framework, ensuring the

efficient and seamless delivery of contextual and

role-based information to all necessary parties.

“Communication of approval and changes of

‘as-built’ drawings and general engineering

business processes between engineers can take

weeks – or even months,” said Srivaranon.

“To revolutionize the process, engineers need

to be able to make changes, send the changes

directly to drafting via an intelligent system and

manage approvals using an automated workflow

process integrated with the e-mail system.”

a sound investmentIn theory, powerful data warehousing would allow

a large volume of information to be managed.

Case sTudy: PTTEP


“Arthit is a greenfield project and we have a good opportunity to shorten implementation processes by using data conversion and manipulation tech-niques,” Srivaranon said. “Once information is integrated using the same application platform, we could possibly initiate information standards to be used among various engineering disciplines. That really would be a big return on investment for us.”Jana Miller is editorial director of Insight.

SmartPlant Enterprise is used by the majority of leading companies within the energy and petroleum industry and was widely recommended.suchart srivaranon Integrated Planning Engineer and Data Handover Team Lead of the Arthit Project, PTTEP

But the project team realized that integrating their chosen data warehousing solution with a range of applications would be challenging.

The benefits of such integration would ensure less time spent on change control processes. That would maximize profits returned, as proven by global research group IDC (Steven Graham, A Study of the Financial Impacts of Data Warehousing, special IDC report).

Typically, field staff and engineers spend almost 30 to 40 percent of their working time finding, verifying, re-formatting, changing or trying to understand the information gathered about an asset. An IDC survey found that 90 percent of companies investing in an engineering data warehouse solution had a three-year return on investment of more than 40 percent.

Comprehensive solutionPTTEP’s search for a data warehousing solu-tion led it to Intergraph’s SmartPlant Enterprise solutions. SmartPlant Enterprise offers a pow-erful portfolio of best-in-class applications to ensure an open, independent data storage sys-tem that improves project execution, handover and plant operational efficiency.

“SmartPlant Enterprise is used by the majority of leading companies within the energy and petroleum industry and was widely recom-mended,” said Srivaranon.

Within the suite, SmartPlant Foundation is the key to centralizing, incorporating and manag-ing well-organized orders for data. It also enriches intelligent cross-referencing between various types of engineering information without boundaries. To maximize the efficiency of the enterprise engineering hub, PTTEP will integrate SmartPlant Foundation with

SmartPlant P&ID, SmartPlant Instrumentation and SmartPlant Electrical.

Birth of the hubBy using SmartPlant Foundation as the platform for its hub, PTTEP expects to benefit from:n A single engineering portfolio with seamless

data accessibilityn Greater accuracy and consistency, faster pro-

cessing of engineering information and more efficient change management

n Standardization in engineering documentationn 10 to 15 percent OPEX reductionn 80 percent reduction of volume and cost of

equipment documentation for operation.

SmartPlant Foundation will also send an e-mail alert to parties involved to follow up on the work required for the designed workflow. This shortens normal processing time to days or a few weeks. The goal is to have all applications working to-gether from the enterprise engineering hub – the information gateway through which users can connect to all of the information they require.

As well as being used as an engineering handover tool and an application integration tool, the hub will also be used as an engineering companion to asset tracking software Maximo. Maximo serves as a supplier gateway for technical information and as a client and regulatory review portal.

Next stepsExpanding the hub to cope with surface and sub-surface engineering applications and relat-ed information will be the next big challenge for PTTEP. Like other leading owner operators and exploration and production businesses, PTTEP views the hub as a way to effectively maintain and collate information for the duration of the Arthit Project’s life cycle.

Enterprise engineering hubTo build its enterprise engineering hub, PTTEP chose the following Intergraph SmartPlant Enterprise solutions:n SmartPlant P&IDn SmartPlant Instrumentationn SmartPlant Electricaln SmartPlant Foundation

About PTTEPPTTEP was established in 1985 in response to the government of Thailand’s desire to streng-then the nation’s energy stability and minimize costly petroleum imports. The Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) established PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) to explore, develop and produce petroleum reserves to maximize the country’s highest possible benefit from energy resources.

As PTTEP’s business operations expanded dramatically, both domestically and interna-tionally, the company decided to reduce the government’s administrative and financial responsibilities. So PTTEP registered as a publicly traded company in 1992, becoming PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Ltd., and currently has a registered capital of US$105 million.

www.pttep.com


Case sTudy: SCG CHEMICAL GROUP

Discovering the Value of Intelligent DataSCG Chemical Group puts data handover standards into action with SmartPlant Enterprise

n By Surachate Chalothorn

The Siam Cement Group (SCG) has been a leader

in the Asia-Pacific region since its founding under

the Royal Decree of His Majesty King Rama VI

in 1913. It was Thailand’s first cement producer,

and has played a key role for nearly a century

in the growth and modernization of the country

and the region.

Today, SCG has diversified into a number of

industries, becoming the largest and most

advanced industrial conglomerate in Thailand,

with five strategic business units: Petrochemicals,

Paper and Packaging, Cement, Building Products

and Distribution.

SCG entered into the petrochemical business 15

years ago when its first petrochemical industrial

plant was developed. Since then, SCG Chemical

Group has grown about tenfold to become a

fully integrated, leading petrochemical producer

in the Southeast Asian region.

data handover problem

SCG Chemical Group’s first world-scale ethylene

complex, built by Toyo Engineering Corp., began

operating in 1999 with an annual production

capacity of 600,000 tonnes of ethylene and

300,000 tonnes of propylene. Due to a rapid

growth in demand for the products, we retrofit-

ted the plant in 2001 to increase capacity to

800,000 tonnes of ethylene and 400,000 tonnes

of propylene per year.

For the plant retrofit project, the engineering

contractors had extensively made use of intelli-

gent IT solutions to collate and manage the

engineering data. However, the information

was not handed over in an intelligent format

that could then be re-used for operation and

maintenance throughout the life cycle of the

plant. The data was instead provided mostly

in scanned image format. This meant we had


to direct a large amount of resources toward incorporating the scanned images into our operation and maintenance systems.

Intelligent data To help bridge this data gap, the SCG Chemical Group turned to Intergraph’s SmartPlant Enterprise solutions to create intelligent plant engineering information.

We first chose INtools®, now known as SmartPlant Instrumentation. SmartPlant Instrumentation helps us design, manage and maintain our instruments throughout the life cycle.

We next implemented SmartPlant P&ID, which creates intelligent piping and instrumentation dia-grams and builds a comprehensive data model.

We were able to handle the conversion to SmartPlant solutions with our internal resources. Staff members only needed a month for training and preparation. Our team of six drafters and one junior engineer converted more than 300 P&IDs in just seven months – a remarkable achievement!

Managing informationAfter SmartPlant Instrumentation and SmartPlant P&ID went live, our group adopted SmartPlant Foundation as an engineering document management system. SmartPlant Foundation also enables a tight integration with SmartPlant Instrumentation and SmartPlant P&ID. The system streamlines data entry, identifies and resolves inconsistencies and presents data in the format that best meets the need of a specific task. SmartPlant Foundation helps us plan for maintenance, expansions and modifications, as well as any shutdowns.

In addition, SmartPlant Foundation helps us prove compliance with governmental regulations. International protocols, national laws, insurance requirements and local authorities all require increasing detailed technical documentation. Non-compliance could result in significant costs or, in the worst case scenario, a shutdown.

setting the standardThanks to our implementation, we now realize the value of using intelligent engineering

software systems for plant operation and mainte-nance and the ability to interchange data among plant applications.

We are currently planning a second ethylene complex. The project consists of a world-scale naphtha cracker and downstream polymer units. There will be multiple contractors from different locations involved in the project.

Because of our experience, we are now defin-ing the approach for handover of documents and data for this project. EPC contractors, subcontractors and vendors must provide data in formats that can be populated and loaded into our existing SmartPlant Foundation system.

By using SmartPlant Enterprise, the tremendous amount of data prepared during the EPC phase becomes very useful for operation and main-tenance throughout the life cycle of the plant. Data can be accessed efficiently, minimizing the effort to re-input the data after the plant is handed over to the operations team. Also, if this data is available in an intelligent format, it can easily be re-used for plant modifications and de-bottlenecking.

The road aheadOur company prides itself on being a pace-setter in the introduction of new technology and new skills to Thailand. It’s no surprise, then, that we are continuing to work with Intergraph to develop and implement additional tools, particularly in the area of operations and maintenance.

Intergraph has helped us develop our “road map” with a step-by-step approach to achiev-ing full benefit from the invested asset. By fully taking advantage of SmartPlant Enterprise intelligent software solutions, we can continu-ously improve our plant’s productivity and performance. We will follow this road map on our path toward operational excellence.

Surachate Chalothorn serves as olefins research and technology manager for the SCG Chemical Group in Thailand.

www.siamcement.com


Case sTudy: MURRAY & ROBERTS

Innovative Strategies Boost ProductivityMurray & Roberts manages their engineering data more efficiently with SmartPlant® Foundation

n By Pat Thomson

We knew that we needed an engineering data

warehouse,” explains Hannes Marais, corporate

engineering manager at Johannesburg-based

Murray & Roberts. “It would be a place where

we could capture and control all our engineering

data, and that would also become a knowledge

base for repeat business and repeat engineering

processes. We had an in-house system, but real-

ized that it would take too much time and money

to update.”

The company looked for a commercial solution

from the open market that would fit its business

processes. Following a period of research, Murray &

Roberts chose Intergraph’s SmartPlant® Foundation

engineering information and workflow manage-

ment software and services provided by the

distributor Intergraph Systems Southern Africa

(Pty) Ltd.

“We found that while there was no worldwide

shortage of tools for data warehousing, the

Intergraph option was by far superior and offered

a lot more than just data storage,” said Richard

Genade, CAD manager at Murray & Roberts.

“It gave us a ready-made interface to engi-

neering data design tools, such as Intergraph’s

SmartPlant® P&ID, SmartPlant® Instrumentation

and SmartPlant® Electrical, as well as non-

Intergraph tools. The ability to plug these tools

in and out was attractive.”

Implementation is a team effort

This core requirement was just one part of the

picture. For the solution to function effectively

as the company’s central engineering data

“hub,” it would have to be able to interface at

an intelligent level with document management,

materials management and procurement – and

ultimately, non-engineering business systems.

Murray & Roberts and Intergraph worked

together to find the best implementation plan for

17Insight

About Murray & RobertsWith a strong presence in southern Africa and a focus on the construction economies of the developing world, Murray & Roberts is a group of engineering, design and con-struction companies serving primarily the mining and metals, building and infrastruc-ture manufacturing and steel industries in South Africa and more than 50 countries around the world.

www.murrob.com


SmartPlant Foundation. “We used our functional

requirements specification as the guideline for

our minimum requirements, but beyond that we

began with an open mind and an open vision,”

recalls Jacques Struwig, SmartPlant Foundation

systems administrator.

Struwig and his colleagues are quick to compliment

Intergraph Systems South Africa for their partner-

ship during the SmartPlant Foundation implemen-

tation. They also stress the support of Murray &

Roberts’ senior management, which they say has

been essential to the success of the project.

The development process was broken into a series

of phases with subsequent site acceptance tests:

– Project determination and budget signoff

– Functional specification

– Development of a class library structure

These were followed by engineering datasheet

development, document control and workflows.

Murray & Roberts’ SmartPlant Foundation user

community of about 200 members includes

both engineers and document controllers. “We

prefer to think of it as one project team,” Struwig

explains. “We like SmartPlant Foundation because

it is an integrated system that does not really

distinguish between the different disciplines – it

is really all one structure. We think of SmartPlant

Foundation as a project tool that everyone on the

project should be using.”

How have the users responded? “It is a big

challenge, not technically, because it is user-

friendly, but in terms of new working practices,”

says Genade. “Acceptance will not happen

overnight, but it is a goal that we need to

strive for. The challenge is not unique to Murray

& Roberts – the global workforce is aging, and

in South Africa many engineers are now 50-plus.

There is a tendency to ‘blame the system.’”

Owning the data, becoming enabled“Because a system like SmartPlant Foundation is developed around your business processes and procedures, it forces the user to comply with those rules and regulations,” Marais says. “But at the same time, it also gives the user full ownership of the data. Once people begin to experience that, they also begin to see how much more they can get out of the system – how it can work well for them as an enabler rather than a regulator. For example, they understand how they benefit from

better traceability and revision control.”

Using an exchange tool, Murray & Roberts

now feeds all the P&ID data into SmartPlant

Foundation’s Microsoft® Windows® environ-

ment, allowing the project team to pull interac-

tive equipment, line and valve lists into an Excel

spreadsheet. Group members agree that gaining

fully interactive datasheets has been a great

engineering advantage – different disciplines

having access to the same data at the same time

boosts accuracy and productivity. Engineering

data integrity is also assured.

Murray & Roberts’ latest step has been

to implement Intergraph’s SmartPlant Materials,

interfacing it to SmartPlant Foundation and feed-

ing equipment data into SmartPlant Materials to

enable the procurement process. The company

is currently an Intergraph PDS user but plans

to migrate to SmartPlant 3D, Intergraph’s next-

generation, data-centric and rule-driven solution

for streamlining engineering design processes.

Meanwhile, SmartPlant Foundation/ERP work-

flows have been prepared in anticipation of

Murray & Roberts’ new PeopleSoft system,

shortly due to go live.

ending the paper nightmareProject handover has been transformed by the new engineering environment, which is 100 per-cent digital. “Performing the final handover has always been a paper nightmare,” says Genade, “but with SmartPlant Foundation, the time it takes to gather the data has been considerably reduced.” Genade’s experience is supported by industry-wide research, which shows that a “digital engineering” handover can cut costs by as much as 60 percent.

The response from owner/operators has been very positive. As Marais explains, “Three of our clients are now considering switching to SmartPlant Foundation after receiving the projects we have completed for them. They can see the value.”

Pat Thomson is the Power, Process & Marine di-visional manager for Intergraph Systems South-ern Africa (Pty) Ltd., an Intergraph distributor.

We like SmartPlant Foundation because it is an integrated system that does not really distinguish between the different disciplines – it is really all one structure. We think of SmartPlant Foundation as a project tool that everyone on the project should be using.Jacques struwig SmartPlant Foundation systems administrator, Murray & Roberts


Grenland Group Chooses SmartPlant Enterprise to Maximize Offshore ProductionIntegrating huge amount of data in tight timeframe

n By Terje Tvinnereim

Grenland Group needed to be able to deliver all engineering and manufacturing information for the Low Pressure Modification Project at the Oseberg field in the Norwegian part of the North Sea. The project involved two offshore platforms connected by a bridge.

Owned and operated by StatoilHydro, the Norwegian oil and gas company, the enormous and complex Oseberg field modification effort required 170,000 engineering labor hours. The project deadline was also extremely tight.

Meeting the challengeAt Oseberg, the project goal is to be able to produce more oil from the wells as the field

enters the final portion of its life cycle. Low

pressure modification means that, with a lower

pressure production method, StatoilHydro will

maximize the amount of oil it can extract dur-

ing the end-of-life of these wells.

The project is a huge challenge with great

potential gain. To succeed will require a monu-

mental effort in integrating disparate data,

including manual drawing information, existing

3D models converted from PDMS, use of new

3D laser scanning technology and new model-

ing data. The modification project also demands

new process information and instrumentation

tasks to be generated, in addition to the update of existing P&IDs and instrumentation.

The company faced extreme difficulty when it routinely used a wide variety of design engi-neering applications. The various applications did not work together, compounding workflow problems. As the company and its business grew, design engineering system activities became increasingly harder to support and more expensive to manage.

desired integrationGrenland’s new integrated design engineering system had to deliver information as clash-free 3D models and structural, piping, equipment,

Case sTudy: GRENLAND GROUP


P&IDs. Generally speaking, the internal design control workflows and acceptances will be per-formed inside SmartPlant Foundation. SmartPlant Enterprise and SmartPlant Foundation have great potential to be the key information source for the entire project’s development and completion.

“Intelligent tools on a common platform are feeding the main information into a single data source,” said Ørbeck. “That means you get control of your design and can achieve your project goal on time and within budget.”

Quick trainingAfter Intergraph’s initial implementation and educational services, Grenland took over the ongoing training and project implementation. Grenland now has the ability to manage huge, multidiscipline projects in a reliable and easy-to-use manner on a common platform.

“Our business requires many contractor resources. It’s crucial that training be easy for these people,” said Ørbeck. “They won’t have SmartPlant Enterprise experience, but we must get them productive in the project as soon as possible.”

Proven technology“SmartPlant Enterprise has proven to us that this will work. It’s intuitive and easy to learn,” said Ørbeck. “This is a really big plus for Grenland.

“SmartPlant Enterprise is a great project tool. Of course, you must have excellent IT people on the front end to prepare for, adapt and implement this platform. But the reward comes for the general user who can learn the system quickly and put it to work right away.”

Terje Tvinnereim serves as senior vice president of the Technology Centre at Grenland Group. He is based in Sandefjord, Norway.

www.grenlandgroup.com

SmartPlant Enterprise met and even exceeded our expectations.

Terje Ørbeck CAD manager and 3D coordinator, Grenland Group

support and raceway modeling elements, as well as structural assembly and manufacturing draw-ings, all the way down to the cutting details.

The system would be expected to routinely and rapidly produce piping isometrics, P&IDs, instru-ment loop drawings and materials take-off data – all while maintaining a seamless connection with the purchasing system. On top of that, Grenland’s system would be required to act as the central source for all engineering information, integrating data from several other systems.

To support multidiscipline projects in the onshore, offshore and marine markets cost-efficiently and on time, Grenland needed an integrated design system that used traditional 3D models and 2D CAD drawings as a design basis. The desired system would act as a single platform for all engineering information, espe-cially in large-scale projects.

Putting it all togetherThe timeframe for StatoilHydro’s project completion is very critical. This puts a heavy burden on Grenland to be able to automate the information flow to avoid delays. The project’s financial success, both for client and owner operator, depends on this.

“SmartPlant Enterprise is essential to achiev-ing our goal,” said Terje Ørbeck, CAD manager and 3D coordinator at Grenland Group. The major requirements influencing the com-pany’s selection of SmartPlant Enterprise, and SmartPlant Foundation in particular, included the following:n An integrated system for all design disciplines

that uses a common user interfacen Modern system architecture that can be built

upon for the future

n An “easy to learn” user interface with modern graphics

n A serious supplier with depth of experience in the plant design market

n A local, knowledgeable support team with sufficient resources to follow through.

setting the standard“To put it mildly,” Ørbeck admits, “there was a lot of very different engineering software in use at Grenland.” Information had to be integrated from general drafting systems, like AutoCAD and MicroStation 2D drawings, and from 3D model-ing, such as from PDS, PlantSpace and PDMS. There was a need for standardization in order to minimize costs and maximize resources.

Grenland chose the SmartPlant Enterprise suite, including SmartPlant 3D, SmartPlant Foundation, SmartPlant P&ID and SmartPlant Instrumentation.

“SmartPlant Enterprise met and even exceeded our expectations,” says Ørbeck.

Approximately 20 designers in the Oseberg project use the system for 3D modeling, struc-tural design, piping and equipment design and raceway design. Layout and structural fabrica-tion drawings, piping isometrics and spools are all extracted from the system. In addition, seven process engineers and five instrument engi-neers perform design work using SmartPlant Enterprise. SmartPlant Foundation is used as the information source for a wide range of people who need access to project data.

straight from the sourceThe use of SmartPlant Foundation as the main design engineering data source for the project will be further extended to also include publish-ing of drawings like layout, manufacturing draw-ings for structural design, piping isometrics and


Linde Engineering Pulls It All Together at SnøhvitSnow White is a fairy tale success project where concurrent engineering dreams really do come true

n By Jana Miller

TeChNOLOGy aT WORk: LINDE ENGINEERING

For large-scale projects, concurrent engineering offers synchronized development across companies and sites. In coping with complexity, suitable IT infrastructure and sophisticated updating management are critical.

Despite the success in developing alternative energy sources, the burning of fossil fuels still accounts for a large part of energy consumption. Whether for coal, natural gas or petroleum, the easily accessible deposits have been exhausted for quite some time. Oil and gas producers must drill ever deeper to reach the highly sought-after organic hydrocarbon compounds.

In the middle of the 19th century, drillings to a depth of less than 50 meters often yielded success. However, today’s producers must generally drill a few kilometers down into the ground in order to discover natural gas or crude oil. Depths of more than 6,000 meters have been reported – and only a small fraction of explorations carried out eventually find worthwhile deposits. A rule of thumb is that only one in eight oil test drillings are actually successful. If one is successful, then the laborious production process can begin.

snow White brings pioneer spiritOne of the latest natural gas projects is Statoil’s Snøhvit (Snow White) project. Beginning in 2006, a newly developed field is expected to yield about 5.67 billion cubic meters of lique-fied natural gas (LNG) for export. According to current estimates, production might last for some 30 years.

However, the natural gas fields Snøhvit, Albatross and Askeladd covered by the Snow White project are below the seabed of the Barents Sea, some 150 kilometers northwest of Hammerfest, Norway. The technical term for this approach to petroleum and natural gas production is “offshore production.” It is considered to be as expensive as it is technically demanding. Even though up to 400 offshore plants are already located in the North Sea alone, this industry is characterized by innovation.

For example, Statoil created for the Snow White project Europe’s first remote offshore develop-ment. A total of four wells, as well as many kilometers of pipelines, are monitored and operated from a control station on the island

of Melkøya. The processing facilities, which are also located on Melkøya, are used to liquefy the natural gas before it is shipped to Europe and the U.S. in special container vessels.

Linde engineering plans gas liquefying plantSince early 2002, many engineering firms have participated in the EUR 6.5 billion (approxi-mately US$8 billion) project. One of those firms is Linde Engineering, which was awarded the contract for the gas liquefying plant. A division of Linde AG, Linde Engineering has annual sales of EUR 1.58 billion (approximately US$2 billion) and a staff of more than 4,200. Headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, the group specializes in the planning and construction of plants for air fractionation, natural gas processing and olefin and hydrogen production.

In order to meet the deadline for engineering this large plant, which includes more than 15,000 loops and a demanding process control system, Linde Engineering joined forces with more than 30 engineering partners and suppliers. These subcontractors use a variety of IT systems and tools for planning and operation. This meant that special

Photo courtesy Helge Hansen / Statoil


attention had to be paid to suitable IT integration concepts for the project.

Concurrent engineering for efficiencyFor large-scale projects, concurrent engineering offers synchronized development across companies and sites. In coping with complexity, suitable IT infrastructure and sophisticated updating management are critical.

Concurrent engineering yields significant benefits of enhanced overall efficiency, which can only occur when a continuous workflow across disciplines and partners is achieved. Without control over the exchange of the extensive project data and documents, there is no way to organize this magnitude of collaboration. Experienced project managers know that in this context, data update management is the key.

In theory, this is quite simple. As early as the 1980s, approaches were discussed which defined the optimal sequence for various work-flow activities. Each stage was characterized by specific activities, methods and techniques, and by the required tools and results, labeled as milestones. In this ideal model, project, quality and document management are considered as the integrating functions across phases.

In practice, however, it is a quite different matter. Although the various phases are theoretically separated in terms of time, they actually overlap. Therefore, not all milestones of one phase have to be completed and accepted before the next phase can be started. However, this approach does require that subsequent activities are based on released milestones.

In concurrent engineering, this requirement is abandoned as well. The next phase can start even before the milestones of the previous phase have

been released. With this approach, planning time is drastically reduced, yet some redundant work may take place. Also, it must be possible to revert to a previous phase. This working method, however, can only work with a high-performance data update management system.

With the data update management system, changes, errors and problems, as well as sug-gestions for improvement, are logged, managed and submitted in the form of up-dating requests. The update itself is performed according to internal procedures or customer specifications.

Interdisciplinary perspectiveAnother major aspect is the interdisciplinary perspective. Usually, updates not only impact one discipline, but other disciplines as well. Suppliers and contractors must also be involved in updating management. Therefore, the IT infrastructure must go beyond the company itself.

In addition to the 30 sub-suppliers’ various tools, Linde Engineering itself uses a number of different planning systems. Intergraph’s PDS is one of the core systems for process engineering. In the Snøhvit project, PDS 2D is used to prepare P&IDs for revision and substitution.

Basic planning and instrumentation for process control and electrical engineering in the gas liquefying plant were performed with Intergraph SIGRAPH.CAE®. Documentum is used for proj-ect document management.

Instrumentation data integrationStatoil expects planning results to be in the Intergraph SmartPlant Instrumentation format. Therefore, the SIGRAPH.CAE data is imported to SmartPlant Instrumentation. Linde has successfully used this market-leading software since 2003. SmartPlant Instrumentation offers data-based

representations of the areas of measurement, which provides a variety of benefits:

n No need for graphic dialog knowledge

n Highly standardized loops

n Support for batch processing, which clearly enhances effectiveness.

Some contractors carry out their planning using SmartPlant Instrumentation. To obtain a holistic data model from the large number of results, two methods are used. Various SmartPlant Instrumentation databases are merged, or the team works directly on the SmartPlant Instrumentation master database at Linde Engineering.

In the future, this integration work could be supported by Intergraph’s SmartPlant Enterprise solution. With its open architecture, SmartPlant Enterprise enables convenient integration of third-party software, including internal appli-cations and business system applications. In addition, SmartPlant Enterprise provides service-oriented concepts for implementation of optimal industrial processes.

A member of the SmartPlant Enterprise, SmartPlant Foundation offers efficient information management for the process, power and offshore industry worldwide. The SmartPlant Enterprise permits effective sharing of information and controlled communication and data exchange between tailored development tools. Furthermore, it provides a platform which integrates information flow between applications. Data only needs to be entered once, and can be reused again and again.

Statoil has already used a similar Plant Information Management system based on SmartPlant Foundation. By effectively optimizing the inventory of plant information, significant time and cost savings can be achieved throughout the plant life cycle of the Snow White project.

Jana Miller is editorial director of Insight and is based in Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.

www.linde-engineering.com

www.statoil.com/snohvit

Photo courtesy Helge Hansen / Statoil

Photo courtesy Eiliv Leren / Statoil


Smooth Sailing for Samsung Heavy IndustriesSmartMarine® 3D cuts design errors and boosts productivity

n By Jana Miller

Case sTudy: SAMSUNG HEAVY INDUSTRIES

The second largest shipbuilder in the world, Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. (SHI) is strongly focused on the shipbuilding and off-shore markets. The South Korean company has almost 11,000 employees and sales totaled US$8.5 billion in 2008.

SHI designs and constructs high value-added vessels such as LNG carriers and large pas-senger ships, as well as drill ships and shuttle tankers, for which it is globally ranked No. 1.

The company operates eight overseas facilities, including a ship block factory in China. SHI holds three international quality standards – ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 – and is internationally recognized for its quality, safety and environmental awareness.

seeing resultsSHI’s Geoje Shipyard began using Intergraph SmartMarine® 3D in production in 2004 and it has already yielded measurable results that have impacted SHI’s bottom line.

“Since choosing SmartMarine 3D, we’ve made a remarkable reduction in the amount of design errors and material costs. We’ve also improved construction productivity,” said Yeong Soo Bae, executive vice president of Shipbuilding Design at SHI.

“With SmartMarine 3D, we have reduced design errors in half. We have also improved productivity by about 10 percent.”

smartMarine 3dSHI uses SmartMarine 3D for designing and building the structure and outfitting of ships (see table). The solution helps SHI manage a Microsoft SQL Server® database with 1.1 terabytes of active data.

SmartMarine 3D supports concurrent engineer-ing and a front-loading workflow. The solution provides a large amount of production informa-tion to easily interface with ERP systems, and SHI is working to take advantage of this by developing an interface.

Integrations with third party solution Enest, a

structure nesting program, along with several

in-house solutions, have proved very beneficial.

“These integrations translate into a large reduc-

tion in design labor hours at SHI,” said Bae.

across the enterpriseSHI recently chose SmartPlant Foundation,

Intergraph’s information management solution,

to improve its productivity. This marks the first

implementation of SmartPlant Foundation in the

shipbuilding industry. SmartPlant Foundation

forms a central data warehouse and engineer-

ing and manufacturing data change channel for

large and complicated ship design.

As shipbuilding projects grow larger while project

schedules become shorter, an integrated product

and engineering information management system

represents a key success factor. The shipbuilder can

exchange quality design information and manufac-

turing information during the project and deliver


as-built information to ship owners at the same time the project is completed.

SmartPlant Foundation will be used as a standard-ized data warehouse in the shipbuilding division as a first step. SHI has plans to use Intergraph solutions for the entire design process, in both shipbuilding and offshore plant projects.

In addition, SHI will standardize its basic CAD format corporate-wide to Intergraph’s SmartSketch®. This SmartSketch standardiza-tion will extend to SHI’s offshore plant division and its subsidiary shipyard in China.

In-depth servicesSHI’s experience has shown that SmartMarine solutions require far less training than previously used software solutions and its employees can be fully productive in far less time – in a matter of months instead of a year or more. Training includes basic courses such as a seven-week course for structural users, and a three-week course for outfitting users.

“Intergraph supports our management team with valuable services,” said Bae. “The Intergraph staff has also helped us with a number of customization efforts, including catalogs, rules, specifications, drawing labels, plus standards data migration.”

Proven experience“We chose Intergraph because they have adopted the most advanced, state-of-the-art architecture,” said Bae. “Intergraph is a steady and promising company, with strong experience in developing both plant and shipbuilding CAD software.”

SHI looks forward to even greater success in the future, and is looking at possibly expand-ing its enterprise solution by adding Intergraph SmartPlant P&ID to its solution mix.

“One thing we plan to achieve in the upcom-ing year is to reduce design cost,” said Bae. “SmartMarine 3D will be used for at least the next 10 years for all of our projects as our main CAD tool.”

Jana Miller is editorial director of Insight.

www.shi.samsung.co.kr

samsung heavy Industries is using Intergraph technology for a variety of high- value marine structures:

Through the Workflow

SHI takes advantage of SmartMarine 3D for a variety of shipbuilding tasks, including:

Ship structure design

n SmartMarine 3D molded formn �Structure detailingn Structure manufacturingn �Planningn Drawing

Ship outfitting design

n SmartMarine 3D pipe routingn SmartPlant Structuren Equipment placementn �HVAC routingn Cableway routingn Cable routingn Planningn Hole managementn Hanger and supportn Weight and CGn Interference checkn Drawing

Other Intergraph solutions used

n SmartPlant 3D n SmartPlant Foundationn SmartSketchn SmartPlant Markup Plusn PDS

Complementary solutions used

n Enestn EzHULL

Project Implementation Area Delivery Date

97,000 tonnes drill shipAft E/R (excluding forward M/C

room, thruster room)2008

96,000 tonnes drill ship E/R 2009

950,000 bbls FPSO All area 2009

910,000 bbls FPSO All area 2010


Merging Cultures, Growing SuccessWorleyParsons selects best practices to meet increased demands

n By Robert Gibson

Case sTudy: WORLEYPARSONS

WorleyParsons is a leading provider of professional services to the energy, resource and complex process industries. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, the company currently employs more than 14,000 people in 94 offices located in more than 30 countries. The firm provides technical, project and operational support services to the hydrocarbons, minerals and metals, infrastructure and power industry sectors.

The global company is the result of several successful mergers. One of the original companies which would become part of WorleyParsons was Wholohan Grill and Partners, an Australian structural engineering consultancy founded in Sydney in 1971. Worley was established in the United States in the 1960s and expanded to the Asia-Pacific region in the 1970s. In 1987, Wholohan Grill and Partners purchased Worley Engineering (Australia) Pty Ltd. and the combined company changed its name to Worley.

As part of its successful growth strategy, Worley, and now, WorleyParsons, forms partnerships and alliances with both customers and other

project services providers. In fact, WorleyParsons is considered a leader in setting up and execut-ing alliance-style contracts to provide clients with complete solutions for projects or to sup-port facility operations. One such alliance was between Worley and Parsons E&C of Houston, Texas, U.S. In 2004, Worley acquired Parsons E&C Corporation and the company became WorleyParsons Limited.

Navigating the transitionThe merger of Worley and Parsons E&C created the same challenge that many of our clients face: the successful integration of corporate cultures, data and systems. The merger enabled us to experience first-hand what many of our customers currently are going through.

When Worley and Parsons E&C merged, we established communities of practice (sometimes referred to as best practices committees) based around our engineering systems.Our first objective was to put together roadmaps of the systems used by the major centers. Basically, we needed to know who was using what system at what level.

After reviewing these roadmaps, the decision was made overwhelmingly in favor of continuing to use the Intergraph SmartPlant Enterprise suite. The products were, and are, our preferred engineering, information and material control solutions.

As manager of engineering and design systems for Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, I work closely with other regional and group-wide representatives for project delivery, engineering, procurement and construction management systems to ensure efficient and consistent use of the integrated systems. The company has major design centers located in the United States, Canada, Europe, Middle East, China and Australia. Using a variety of solutions, WorleyParsons performs conceptual design, front-end design, detail design, procurement, construction management and asset services.

setting the global standardTwo years ago, WorleyParsons signed a multi- year Global Alliance Agreement covering the SmartPlant Enterprise suite of engineering applications, including SmartPlant Foundation,


SmartPlant Materials, SmartPlant Instrumentation, SmartPlant 3D and PDS.

This agreement enables us to increase productivity through core engineering and materials control tool standardization, streamlined work processes and a consistent training methodology. SmartPlant Instrumentation is a standard across most of our projects. We’re using PDS in many offices, and SmartPlant Review is used for all of our PDS projects. SmartPlant Foundation and SmartPlant Materials are global standards for us and we plan to use SmartPlant 3D on a major project next year.

Common tools meet varied needsWe work through all five phases of an asset’s life cycle, customizing our services for each sector. To maintain WorleyParsons’ leadership role, we must develop solutions for our clients that can be deployed locally and globally. Our execution centers rely on having common engineering and design systems, collaboration technologies, techniques and practices.

In today’s world, our clients need to get into production as quickly as possible to meet market demand. Often, this makes projects schedule-based rather than cost-based. The engineering and design tools we use must be able to meet the necessary flexibility required for all of our different client needs.

Intergraph devotes a great deal of resources talking to the major companies about best practices technology, so they understand the challenges of our industry. The engineering world is bursting at the seams. Our company has to be ready to execute projects from any-where at any time.

Intergraph’s new generation design tools facilitate virtual teaming and global workshare, which are crucial to our success. We are interested in new technology with modern programming techniques that allow more integration to take place and make the information more readily available.

For WorleyParsons, as well as for our clients, adopting common systems and work methodologies creates cost benefits by reducing setup, training and support costs, while also removing duplication of efforts.

Of course, 80 percent of aligning, developing and deploying systems is about the people. You must have an environment of ongoing training and knowledge sharing to succeed.

doing more with lessWe are endeavoring to do more with fewer people. This requires ongoing implementation of productivity-improving technologies.

We appreciate the professionals from Intergraph, representing different products, who become imbedded in the WorleyParsons community of

practice. This strong partnership allows for faster, more successful training and better understanding of each other’s directions and requirements.

Improving handoverA major issue for WorleyParsons’ clients is documentation and data handover from the project execution team to the operations and maintenance teams. Clients know they must be mindful of the different engineering and project services systems for ongoing use by their asset services contractor.

Clients are much more educated in understanding what kind of support they need, the value of the data and how much money they save with a successful handover. They’re not as concerned about the technology used as they are about the quality of the information that is handed over.

Ideally, our clients involve us at the beginning of the process rather than at handover. The most important element is communication. We get everyone together to work on the issues, going from handover backwards. When you build those relationships at the start, it makes the process much easier for everyone involved.

In the future, we will be able to undertake work using any of our well-established systems and then hand over the data in the format required to populate the clients’ systems. The authoring tools become less important than the actual format of the data created to pass on to the client.

engineering integrationMoving forward, I predict that the project services industry will continue to move toward more common integrated systems around the world, with support coming from fewer locations.

Engineering is all about people, processes and technology. WorleyParsons is putting in place the best people, and with Intergraph’s help, equipping them with the best processes and enabling technology available.

Robert Gibson is manager of Engineering & Design Systems ANZ & AMEA for WorleyPar-sons and is based in Perth, Australia.

www.worleyparsons.com


The first is that interoperability has become

a topic of discussion in the boardroom and at

the highest management level in our industry.

Top executives understand that interoperability

is an opportunity for vendors and users alike,

and that we can work together to develop new

business models to achieve it. Software vendors

will have to invest to create more interoperability

capabilities in their software, and users will have

to invest to implement new work processes that

take advantage of that.

The second major change is that the technology

of software interoperation has improved with

the widespread use of XML as a tool for sharing

information. More and more software developers

can share information this way, and more and

more users are developing XML files to be shared

in this way.

Costs of inadequate interoperabilityWhat we don’t know is what the shift to

interoperability will cost. Obviously, we need

As director of FIATECH, an Austin, Texas-based

not-for-profit consortium, I am focused on find-

ing ways to accelerate development and deploy-

ment of technologies to improve substantially

how capital projects are designed, engineered,

built and maintained.

I regularly sit at the table with some of the

finest minds from the construction and build-

ings industry, including EPC companies, O/O

companies, hardware and software developers,

universities and research organizations like the

National Institute of Standards and Technology

(NIST), to identify industry challenges and work

on solutions. One of the key issues we discuss

is interoperability.

Coming to the forefrontAlthough the concept of software interoperability has been around for quite a while, it’s only in recent years that things have changed in a way that gives us greater confidence we will achieve it soon.

vIeWPOINT: FIATECH

Promoting InteroperabilityEverything has now come together – let’s get moving

n By Dr. Richard H. F. Jackson

new technology and staff training, as well as

a new focus on how we do business. What we

can demonstrate, however, is how much money

and productivity are currently being lost because

most systems are not interoperable.

Some years ago, while I was a senior execu-

tive at NIST, I commissioned a study of the US

automobile manufacturing industry supply chain.

We discovered that more than US$1 billion were

wasted each year due to poor data communica-

tions, miscommunications, data duplication and

the cost of recovering from errors due to bad or

inaccurate information. This was (and still is) a

huge number and it got people’s attention.

Not long after I moved from NIST to FIATECH,

we worked with NIST to do a similar study for the

construction industry. That study showed that the

losses due to inadequate interoperability were

conservatively placed at US$15.8 billion in 2002.

Among industry stakeholders, O/Os bore the

highest share of these costs, and 85 percent of


About FIATECHFIATECH provides global leadership in identifying and accelerating the development, demonstration and deployment of fully integrated and automated technologies to deliver the highest business value throughout the life cycle of all types of capital projects.

FIATECH envisions a future in which capital projects are executed in a highly automated and seamlessly integrated environment across all phases and processes of the capital project life cycle.

Membership in FIATECH offers the opportunity to be in the driver’s seat, identifying critical technologies to improve the opera-tions and bottom-line results for capital facilities. FIATECH delivers the following benefits to all of its members:n Program management experiencen Leveraged fundingn Technology needs identificationn Knowledge base of technical expertsn Industry partnershipsn Networking and team buildingn Anti-trust protectionn Widespread implementation

and accessibility.

Members of the FIATECH board of direc-tors include representatives from:n Bechtel Corporationn Fluor Corporationn Burns and Roen Intergraph Corporationn Center for Housing and Urban Develop-

ment, Texas A&M Universityn KBR n Peter Kiewit Institute, University

of Nebraskan CH2M HILLn Procter & Gamblen Consolidated Contractors Groupn Smithsonian Institutionn The Dow Chemical Companyn Target Corporationn DuPontn Zachry Construction Corporation.

their expenses were incurred during operations and maintenance due to time spent finding and verifying facility and project information.

Working together on solutionsO/Os understand what interoperability is and what it’s costing them not to fix it. A common myth in the interoperability debate is that O/Os must take the leadership role, or else the problem will never be adequately addressed. That’s not entirely true anymore. While O/Os are certainly vested in the success of this issue, they do not have exclusivity over the vision, nor the sole means to achieve it.

Another common myth is that EPCs will only do what owners tell them to do, and then only if owners pay for it. We’ve already seen EPCs streamlining their own work processes and creating interoperability inside their own companies, because they see the value in it and need solutions today, to run projects today.

A third myth is that software developers can’t lead, won’t work together, and want to slow down interoperability to protect captive markets. In truth, the real leaders and visionaries in the software industry (most of whom are members of FIATECH) understand that interoperability is a train whose progress may be slowed, but whose eventual destination is unmistakable. They want to satisfy their customers and remain profitable, and they understand that those who embrace change and adjust their corporate strategy will thrive in the new interoperable world of the future.

The big challenge is finding incrementally profitable steps to take toward our longer term vision. All parties have to come together to determine these steps and drive us forward.

Navigating changeDespite the community of professionals who are ready to take action, industry experts agree that a lot of hard work and troubled waters lie ahead. It’s not yet known what the total costs will be, what the most immediate opportunities are, nor the long-term return on investment. But we’re getting a lot closer to understanding all of this.

Change is often challenging, and it doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes hard work and

perseverance from everyone involved. Users will need to be realistic when it comes to implemen-tation. They must ensure that their interoperabil-ity is built for a purpose, and that they expect to gain profit from it.

EPCs and O/Os will certainly face some confu-sion in dealing with different vendors and work-ing out system interoperation issues. The act of creating standards requires having agreement on the common work processes, rules and data ownership. It also means realizing what is not common and treating that as customization.

Technically, it requires writing queries, which is difficult, and data mapping, which is also difficult. Staff training will be required, and productivity may temporarily decrease while the new systems are put into place. This new business model also represents a tremendous change in how we think about and protect intellectual property.

Captain the shipFIATECH members are pooling resources, knowledge and experience with the goal of accelerating the achievement of interoperabil-ity. We hope to make the journey toward our goal as smooth as possible for all concerned, and we’re working in all parts of the industry to produce the tools, mechanisms and justifica-tions for the process.

I believe the day is coming when O/Os will be ready to demand interoperability, the EPCs will say they can make it happen and the vendors will be prepared to provide the necessary tools. As we look to that day, we can imagine a perfect world where all project information will be available to those who need it, when they need it, where they need it, in the form the need it and at an afford- able price.

Ric Jackson is director of FIATECH and is based in Austin, Texas US.

www.fiatech.com


PeRsPeCTIve: INTERGRAPH

n Costn Timelinessn Qualityn Statusn Changen Milestonesn Contracts.

Effectively, I&I are as much concerned with information management as with business process automation.

Intergraph identifies five different forms of integration – referred to as tiers to indicate increasing levels or steps of capability – evolving as suits the business (Figure 1). While the following solutions are situation-dependent, the product platform, tools and architecture deployed support a wide range and mix of these options. This is a requirement if they are to address more than one problem in a given business.

Effectively, an “enterprise” strategy needs to embrace several or all of these options. Selecting a common technology platform, such as Intergraph’s SmartPlant Enterprise, solves the issues of how the tiers inter-relate or evolve from one to another.

Integration and Interoperability (I&I) are recurring themes for business improvement. Indeed, research projects have indicated that benefits accrued from I&I can yield up to an 8x benefit to that derived from automation alone.

But many organizations find it difficult to describe what I&I actually means to them. This makes it hard for these organizations to describe to an IT vendor what they want – or for them to understand what the IT vendor is offering.

This is not surprising, since the predominant engineering IT focus in recent history has been applied to automation. Automation can be defined as the optimization of productivity from an application by reducing the time it takes to accomplish a specific task.

It’s also a general truism that I&I are more about the boundaries between disciplines and business functions (the automation tasks), and so the very transference and management of information are affected by things that are not directly functions of I&I themselves, such as:

n Ownership (of the information and the integration task)

Tiers of IntegrationTaking steps to integrate the enterprise

n By Ewan Botterill

variety is the spice of lifeIt’s a given today that any two products can

be “integrated” together using any one of a

wide variety of technologies and techniques to

deliver equally varied levels of “interoperability.”

Software vendors, as a cost of doing business,

expend significant resources to support a wide

range of integration technologies and standards,

both de facto and international, and Intergraph

is no exception.

It is also important that one should define the

integration in the context of the work process

that is being undertaken to select the most

appropriate technical approach. Focusing on one

methodology to the exclusion of all others can

not only have a detrimental effect on the bottom

line of the business, but can equally blind one to

the opportunities of the “quick win” that could

potentially fund the next integration goal. The

remainder of this article will describe some basic

integration concepts in terms of tiers so that

these descriptions can be used in subsequent

business discussions.

step upOne of Intergraph’s goals has been to establish

a framework and methodology for I&I. There

are two primary reasons. First, hundreds of

applications are used during the life of a process

plant. Integrating all of these and managing the

resulting information in a point-to-point fashion

would not only be daunting, but also would be

a costly and never-ending task. Secondly, process

plant data are highly inter-related and inter-

dependent, and as such, a common language for

exchange and sharing is clearly advantageous

between data-centric applications.

Presentation integrationThe simplest tier of integration is presentation

integration. Data from multiple sources are

accessible and provided side-by-side within a

single interface, such as that of a Web portal, e.g.

Microsoft SharePoint® Portal or SAP® NetWeaver®,

though this is not the only technology to pro-

vide this capability.

SmartPlant Explorer is one such example of

presentation integration, presenting informa-

tion from the SmartPlant Enterprise engineering

Figure 1


tools. SmartPlant Foundation can also be used in this context. For example, a user could navigate from data within SmartPlant Foundation, such as a plant tag, to corresponding data in other sys-tems – e.g. to a maintenance procedure in SAP, to associated records in Documentum, or to real-time data in OSI-PI – and have it all presented in the same client interface to promote the decision support process.

Data from two source applications are presented side-by-side within the same interface (Figure 2). An action or selection of data in one system view may trigger a pre-determined response from the other system view. To the end-user, it appears that the data may in fact be integrated (supplied by one integrated system), when in reality it is not.

This type of integration is most beneficial to users for whom information creation is not their primary role, such as the managerial, clerical and manual workforce. In this illustration, SAP NetWeaver is providing the portal technology. The next version of SmartPlant Foundation will offer generalized portal capabilities and will supply “Web parts” for inclusion in a project portal. As we will see, this portal technology also provides vital under-pinnings for deploying composite applets.

data integrationThe second tier, data integration, is primarily about aggregating and consolidating informa-tion from different sources together into a single

common storage mechanism. Applications pro-vide the data as exports, either with the content already mapped to the receiving system’s data model during export, or via an external transfor-mation mechanism to then be loaded into the target system, a process of Export/Transform/Load (ETL). In this environment, the applications providing the data do not care, nor do they need to know, that the data integration (receiving) system exists.

A classic example of a data integration environment is document management. Documents, drawings, models, files and “containers” of all sorts are brought together and loaded into a common clas-sification indexing or librarian system for storage and retrieval. Intergraph’s solution for document management is SmartPlant Foundation.

Another more granular form of data integra-tion is that of the engineering data warehouse (EDW), also supported by SmartPlant Foundation. “Content” from multiple disparate applications is brought together and harmonized to form a single uniform view of the “truth.” This more granular data integration also forms the founda-tion of the other tiers of integration. It supports the uni-directional movement of data between systems and requires the data to be mapped to the data model of the target system.

In point-to-point integrations, this is invariably a direct translation. But when multiple systems are required to share the same common data,

pressures, temperatures, units of measure, etc., it is more advantageous to translate/map this data to a common intermediate applica-tion, agnostic and neutral in form, such as Intergraph’s SmartPlant Schema, thereby reduc-ing the number of transformations required to support “enterprise integration.”

SmartPlant Foundation manages these two dif-ferent levels of data granularity containers and contents simultaneously: documents (contain-ers) define the boundary condition/scope for exchanges and provide the deliverable record, while the data (content) is extracted and aggre-gated together with that from other exchanges.

Clearly, if data are being brought together from multiple sources, it is possible that some duplications exist. If they don’t have information management capabilities, most tools importing data simply overwrite the existing data. Some may have revision management capabilities for this new data, but it is not common.

Therefore, as well as providing a common lan-guage for the exchange, the information manage-ment capability associated with data integration must also deal with this duplication – consider it a process of enforcing consistency on a project – correlation, aggregation, consolidation, etc.

Additionally, data integration should also deal with the provenance, status and security of the data. It is for these reasons that such capabili-ties are considered essential for the project data handover application of a data warehouse.

The benefits of data integration include the same benefits as presentation integration, plus the abilities to:

n Aggregate/consolidate the data such that overlaps are removed, providing a cleansed, high-integrity exchange/store of data

n Neutralize the data to a common form for ease of access, such that the source/originat-ing applications (which could be many) are not required for the information consumer to install, learn or indeed pay for and support, and the data appears as a seamless whole.

application integrationApplication integration extends the data inte-gration capabilities by adding transportation of the data to the correct location for the receiving

Figure 2


PeRsPeCTIve: ARC ADVISORY GROUP

Figure 3

application, and then importing it via an applica-tion-specific protocol.

This is different from data integration, because the data integration mechanism does not assume that any thing more than a “file parser/loader” capability exists for the receiving system – which results in reduced time and cost of deployment, but requires that the tool supports some form of validation (correctness) of the data.

Many tools today provide sophisticated Application Programmatic Interfaces (APIs) or other method-ologies for data acquisition which ensure quality and integrity of the resulting data. But they do require more effort to deploy (Figure 1). Typically, this route is chosen if the applications are going to exchange data bi-directionally, on a frequent basis, and the user is engaged in the export and import process. Such examples include high-value, high-frequency point-to-point exchanges – for example, between a 3D design tool and a stress analysis program.

Another key difference is in the scope of the content being exchanged as represented by the data overlaps (Figure 3). The circles represent the content of data within three different applica-tions. The primary goal for data integration is to remove the overlaps so that the receiving system has the total sum of the data – or, in other words, to “enforce consistency.”

Conversely, the primary goal for application inte-gration is to exchange only the common/shared data between the applications. So the goal is to manage the data overlaps – or, in other words, to “manage inconsistency.” This latter aspect of application integration is provided in the SmartPlant Enterprise via SmartPlant Foundation and SmartPlant Adaptors to the tools.

Why are these two methodologies different or required? To answer that question, one needs to look at the business process being executed. Consider two examples:

1. The engineering data about an instrument have been checked and approved. The data are pushed to the procurement system for purchasing.

2. A dialogue is going on between a process engineer and an instrument engineer during the definition of an instrument.

In the first example, there is no dialog – it is non-negotiable. In the second, there is a back- and-forth exchange of evolving data. It is this negotiation, the iterative refinement process, which is the substance of engineering – the essence of SmartPlant Enterprise.

Business process integrationBut application integration on its own takes no account of the business process involved –

pplication integration can be set up, the user can push the “integration” button and data flows from application A to application B. It can be executed in a point-to-point fashion. This works fine if one of the following apply:

n There are only two applications involved.

n Integration occurs in a small workgroup where interpersonal communication is good.

n Milestones between disciplines can be aligned for the exchange to occur.

But a business process integration is normally required when one of the following occurs:

n The user has to interact with the data externally to their working application to decide what to accept or reject.

This would be a negotiated transaction – engineers want to be notified of change, but may decide not to accept for many reasons.

n The projects extend beyond a workgroup (enterprise or extended-enterprise).

n Milestones between disciplines or partners do not neatly align. For example, engineering is not a real-time activity.

n There has to be some control, distribution, notification and management of the integration.

This requires an electronic workflow execution, involving the actions to notify, store, deliver, consume and move on.

Therefore, you need to establish business process integration when you:

n Cannot determine or predict the synchronicity of processes, exchanges and tasks between business functions

n Need to control the flow of the data between these functions and understand progress

n Need to notify and warn of change, but allow the process to continue unabated.

For this to be successful, not only are data integration and application integration required, but you also require:

n Modeling and execution of the workflow pro-cesses between disparate business functions

n Identifying the timing and scope of the handover/ exchange tasks


Figure 4

Figure 5

n Interjecting into the application itself or providing a notification mechanism to warn the user of potential change

n Storing the change until the user is ready to receive and absorb the change (an information messaging bus for real-time data exchange is a distinct liability here)

n Delivering the change (after applying data and application integration, of course).

Optionally, you could enable the user to choose what to retrieve now, what to retrieve at a later date, and what to reject. This may sound like a lot of effort, but it is necessary to provide true con-

currency of project execution tasks without the

anarchy of data changing “under the feet” of the

end-user (a recipe for disaster).

Composite applet implementation

By this point, we have understood the data flow-

ing through our business, presented the data where

appropriate, consolidated the data to remove/

manage duplication, and harmonized language for

portability. We have also provided mechanisms to

transport the data between applications, as well as

to control the route and timing of distribution. Now

we know enough to go to the next integration tier.

The final tier of integration offers the ability to create entirely new applications (or applets) that may or may not have a data store of their own, and that utilize the high-quality, high-integrity data stores that have been integrated together in the previous tiers.

For example, a SAP NetWeaver portal can host “Web parts” (iViews) from Intergraph, Meridium and SAP simultaneously – all communicating with each other as part of a “role-based” application (Figure 4). In this example, a reliability engineer is browsing engineering data, maintenance data and failure data simultaneously, querying each application as if they were one, and then executing a new task which is not part of the three integrated systems, but of the new “composite applet.”

evolutionary changeSome of you may be asking why you should make all of this effort to segregate out integration techniques, methodologies, approaches and implementation strategies. The answer is simple – cost of ownership. When considering the methodology for I&I, one should think beyond the cost of initial development of the integration to the whole life cost (Figure 5).

There’s a lot of theory out in the industry today. Going from a document-centric world to a data-centric world represents a huge jump for many people. Most of the old ideas don’t translate.

We realize that you have a job to do and can’t wait for technology to catch up with theory, which is why we offer pragmatic change.That is the benefit of the SmartPlant Enterprise approach. It is flexible and offers many ways to integrate data.

Ultimately, “where you’re going to be” is revolu- tionary. But you can’t put revolution into a project that’s executing. It just won’t happen, due to both cultural and contractual issues.

So change has to be evolutionary. That’s why Intergraph offers pragmatic steps along the way to achieve this change.

Ewan Botterill is director of global business development for information management at Intergraph Process, Power & Marine.

www.intergraph.com

keeping it real Integration and interoperability are continuous themes for business improvement. Indeed, research projects indicate that their benefits yield up to an 8x improvement over that derived from automation alone. Intergraph’s information management solution, SmartPlant® Foundation, can be the single source of access for the engineering reality of your plant – its structure, tags, equipment, data, and documents. SmartPlant Foundation also offers you flexible approaches to integration through modular, incremental deployment options.

Real-time decisions must be made based on reliable information. We know your engineering information is profuse, complex, and dynamic. SmartPlant Foundation keeps it current, synchronized, readily accessible – and keeps it real.

Learn more at www.intergraph.com/go/foundation.

Intergraph, the Intergraph logo, and SmartPlant are registered trademarks of Intergraph Corporation. ©2009 Intergraph Corporation. 11/09

Your Single engineering SourceSmartPlant® Foundation