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Japanese Consortium and Bentley Bring Plant EC Efforts to aecXML
PlantXML Schema Supports Standards for Representation of Data Throughout the Plant Life Cycle Houston, TX, Daratech Plant - January 30, 2001 - Bentley Systems, Incorporated (Exton, PA) and a consortium of Japanese governmental, academic and plant industry leaders, IMS-VIPNET (Intelligent Manufacturing Systems - Virtual Production Enterprise Network), have combined efforts to bring the work of Japan’s Plant Electronic Commerce (Plant EC) initiative forward into the Plant Working Group of the aecXML organization. These efforts have resulted in an XML schema for the electronic exchange and communication of plant life-cycle information. The goal is to have these standards adopted as a PlantXML Schema under the Plant Working Group of the aecXML organization within the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI). Dr. Toshiaki Yoshinaga, Chairman of Japan Plant EC and Senior Chief Engineer of Hitachi Plant Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd., said, "The Plant EC began work in 1997 to address the issue of fragmented standards for the representation of data during the life cycle of a facility from schematic to detailed design to construction and through to operations and maintenance. This work was started using existing data standards such as AP227, AP221 and POSC/CAESAR. The results of our efforts enable plant owner-operators to more effectively manage their valuable information assets and get more value from the data at each stage of the plant life cycle." Yoshimi Oota, Leader of IMS-VIPNET consortium and Senior Engineer of Hitachi, Ltd., said, "Via Web collaboration, plant information can be shared across borders and around the world instantaneously. To realize this ‘Virtual Production Enterprise Network' (VIPNET), the development of aecXML to accumulate, share and utilize plant information and knowledge becomes extremely important. With it, plant specific information is seamlessly communicated throughout the plant life cycle from research and development to production and through to operations and maintenance." "The collaboration between Bentley and IMS-VIPNET is an excellent example of our support of the efforts by the Plant EC and our support for information standards," said A. B. Cleveland, senior vice president and general manager, Bentley Software. "More importantly, it reiterates our commitment to actually deliver on the grander vision of the plant owner-operator community to fully exploit the value of their plant data." Joe Morray, program manager for the Owner-Operator Forum, a strategic focus area of FIATECH, stated, "A predictable method to share information over the Web is a key objective of the Owner-Operator Forum in that it fosters the advancement of standards for sharing data between dissimilar systems and between owners and suppliers, all at different points during the life cycle." Duane Barrett, vice chair aecXML domain committee, added, "We are extremely pleased to incorporate this effort within the aecXML Plant Working Group. It not only sets the stage for enhanced productivity among Owner/Operators worldwide, but also validates our technical framework strategies for accommodating international participation." About IMS-VIPNET IMS is an industry-led program providing a framework for international collaboration by industry, academia and government to find solutions to common problems facing manufacturing industries in advanced industrial nations. IMS-VIPNET is a Japanese Domestic Project supported by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and led by Hitachi, Ltd. The goal of VIPNET is to construct the Technology Information Infrastructure that will enable accumulation, sharing and reuse of knowledge and information. IMS-VIPNET is a successor of the Japan Plant EC (Electronic Commerce) initiative for establishing the Integrated Plant Data Warehouse and performing the verification tests on Inter-Corporate Electronic Commerce (EC) based on the Data Warehouse. About aecXML Initiated in August 1999, and now being developed within the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI), aecXML is an industry-standard extended markup language (XML) vocabulary designed to facilitate communications and e-commerce among the various organizations involved in A/E/C projects. These include architects, engineers, contractors, owner/operators, estimators, consultants, materials suppliers, building-product manufacturers and others. It removes the current barriers to exchanging A/E/C-specific information in electronic business-to-business conversations. For more information, visit www.aecxml.org. About Bentley Founded in 1984, Bentley Systems, Incorporated is a premier technology supplier dedicated to improving the process of designing, building and operating permanent assets such as buildings, roadways, manufacturing facilities and utility and telecommunications networks. The professionals who use Bentley technology include architects, engineers constructors and owner/operators. Bentley's MicroStation® and Viecon technology and services make Bentley the leader in the engineering, construction and operations (E/C/O) market. Bentley's annual revenues exceed $190 million, and its reach spans the globe, serving more than 300,000 professionals and over 20,000 companies and organizations. More than 200,000 Bentley users participate in the Bentley SELECT® technology and service subscription program. For more information on Bentley, please contact the company at 1-800-BENTLEY, +1 610-458-5000 (Americas), +31 23-556-0560 (Europe, Middle East, Africa), +61 3-9699-8699 (Asia/Pacific), through E-mail at Rachael.Schroeder@Bentley.com or by visiting www.bentley.com. Bentley, the "B" Bentley logo and MicroStation are registered trademarks; Viecon is a trademark; and Bentley SELECT is a registered service mark of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or Bentley Software, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.
William G. Beazley, President Information Assets, Inc. |