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New Autodesk Initiative Sets Sights on Plant Design
excerpted from
by Randall S. Newton
October 27, 2006
Autodesk moved one step closer to being a CAD vendor with a
specific product for the fast-growing process and power plant
design market this week, when it released AutoCAD P&ID 2007 for
an open beta test period. The 2D piping and instrumentation
diagramming product is the first from a new initiative inside
Autodesk:- Plant Solutions.
The new team is tacit acknowledgment from Autodesk that,
despite steady sales over the years to users in process and
power plant design, it has been a follower instead of a leader.
"Process and power plant design is the third largest design
software market," says Mark Strassman, veteran Autodesk
executive in charge of the new effort "Ten percent of the
AutoCAD user base is in process and power using 2D CAD to create
non-intelligent P&ID’s."
AutoCAD P&ID 2007 is "AutoCAD with a
workspace."This is
a good time for Autodesk to enter the plant design market. Both
owner/operators (O/Os) and engineering procurement and
engineering firms (EPC’s) are stretched to their limits; most
EPC’s are turning away work. Autodesk’s new rivals in plant
design are all doing gangbusters business. The recent news that
Intergraph will be taken private in a leveraged buyout was
motivated in part by strong sales and projections from the
company’s process and power division. UK-based AVEVA saw its
stock price surge 56% in September based on what it said was
“unprecedented demand for its products and services.” Privately
owned Bentley also reports strong sales for its plant division.
Autodesk has registered third-party developers in the plant
market, including COADE and Flow Logic International, and it has
a strategic partnership with AVEVA. So why is Autodesk moving
into the market? “We have been getting requests for an
Autodesk-branded product,” says Strassman. “Users are seeking
better integration of their various plant-specific tools. We
will continue to partner,” Strassman adds, “so that other
vendors can integrate their databases and tools into our
products.” There is also no doubt Autodesk management was tired
of leaving money on the table in the plant design marketplace.
“Construction firms throw time at problems,” a chemical engineer
and plant design consultant once told me. “Plant firms throw
money at problems.”
Data interoperability with spreadsheets and
databases is a high priority for the new AutoCAD P&ID 2007
More drafters are trained on AutoCAD than on any other product,
Strassman reminds, and AutoCAD P&ID 2007 will make them feel
right at home. Strassman also stressed access to data as a key
development goal. “AutoCAD P&ID is about intelligence more than
geometry.” Strassman stresses that “interoperability” will be a
key technology driver not only for the P&ID but for all future
plant products. “Data flexibility is important to us.”
Autodesk P&ID 2007 is now available as a free download for
beta testing. Visit
http://myfeedback.autodesk.com and use the code word
“Guinness” to sign up.
The
full article is available for a fee at
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