Invensys Joins Intergraph SmartPlant Alliance

Published 3rd June 2009

Invensys Process Systems (IPS), a global technology, software and consulting firm, has joined the Intergraph® SmartPlant® Alliance, integrating its software with Intergraph’s SmartPlant Enterprise engineering solutions to enable highly automated project execution and improve the transfer of data from engineering, procurement and construction companies (EPCs) to plant owner operators.

“Aligning with SmartPlant Enterprise will help IPS meet our objective of changing how control system engineering is approached,” said Neil Holden, IPS vice president of global processes and systems. “By compressing design and build schedules to make critical data available whenever it is needed, we can help improve our clients overall manufacturing, installation, construction, commission and training operations.”

As a SmartPlant Alliance technology member, IPS has developed complementary interfaces between Intergraph’s SmartPlant Instrumentation, SmartPlant P&ID, and SmartPlant Foundation with IPS’ industrial automation solutions. These include Foxboro® field devices and control systems, Triconex® critical safety systems, SimSci-Esscor™ simulation software, Avantis® enterprise asset management software, and the world’s first truly open enterprise control system, InFusion™. IPS engineering solutions are interfaced with SmartPlant Enterprise to offer a unique approach to design, installation and the commission of control systems that reduce costs, schedule timelines and risks.

Intergraph SmartPlant Enterprise is an integrated suite of solutions for EPCs and owner operators to design, construct, safely operate and maintain a plant throughout its entire life cycle. The interfaced IPS and Intergraph solutions will enable all parties to work with a common engineering solution to better manage plant information for enhanced plant safety and efficiency from design through decommissioning. The two solutions are ideal for ongoing maintenance operations, as plants and assets are continually changing and being revised after handover to the owner operator.

“Many of our customers have standardized on SmartPlant Instrumentation and SmartPlant P&ID as their single environments for managing field instrumentation and process layout,” Holden said. “The combination of IPS technology and SmartPlant Enterprise offers a unique and powerful solution, and SmartPlant’s intelligent, rule-based design capabilities make project execution much faster and efficient. This complementary interface enables our clients to access valuable information quickly and easily, helping them to reduce downtime, optimize operations and improve their overall return on plant assets.”

Patrick Holcomb, executive vice-president, Intergraph Process, Power & Marine, said, “We are pleased to welcome IPS to the SmartPlant Alliance and to offer our customers new and innovative solutions that improve their productivity and competitive edge. This alliance will significantly shorten the engineering cycle, provide consistent data and enable owner operators to execute plant control modernization projects faster and with less risk.”