Influential American research and advisory firm Gartner Inc. has featured SolidPlant in their latest list of Cool Vendors:

Why Cool: SolidPlant is cool because it packaged a solution for plant design at a much lower price point than competitors, it looks easy to use and it is 3D. This startup leverages SolidWorks, a popular 3D CAD offering, to offer detailed 3D plant design. SolidPlant first introduced its offering in 2010.

Both machinery design and design of the plant can be better integrated since both are designed with SolidWorks. Most mainstream plant design software is based on CAD geometry that is inconsistent with the CAD geometry used to design the mechanical equipment and machinery that goes into the factory. For example, many companies use SolidWorks to design the equipment that goes into a factory, while they might use plant design software from another vendor for the plant design. This means that the user cannot fully leverage the power of parametric design, which allows users to very rapidly manipulate positions of equipment or configurations of piping. Since SolidPlant allows engineers and factory designers to use the same design technology for both the equipment and the factory, equipment can be rapidly modified or repositioned in the factory.

SolidPlant also incorporated major specifications and standards commonly used in factory design (for example, piping and instrumentation standards). Additionally, SolidPlant includes templates for standard equipment to further speed factory design in 3D. The templates allow users to quickly specify dimensions and configurations of the equipment. Then, SolidPlant will automatically generate 3D representations of the designs. The low cost of SolidPlant applications, along with the product’s ease of use, shows strong potential for enabling digital twins of actual factories and digital threads that help trace design history and relationships across vital factory features.

Who Should Care: Managers responsible for IT used for facility design, manufacturing leaders and engineering leaders should take an interest in SolidPlant.

Source: www.gartner.com

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