Earlier, I shared some of Dassault Systemes’ views on the energy market and the potential for PLM to play an important role. This afternoon, I heard the same thing from some of our industry customers and partners. The afternoon sessions included presentations from ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), Entergy, Hydro-Quebec, NuScale Power and BCP Engineers.

Each presentation had its own interesting aspects and information, and BCP’s Chris Staubus gave some great perspective about the energy industry’s use of “PLM.” Chris gave a presentation about bridging silos of information (he also blogged about it here), in which he touched on the “P” in PLM. Most of us know PLM as Product Lifecycle Management, but in the energy industry they think about it as Plant Lifecycle Management, which I thought was worth noting.

Generally speaking, PLM in the energy industry is used to improve productivity and reduce risk for each phase of the plant lifecycle, and since a plant can operate for 60 to 70 years (or more), it brings a different set of challenges.

For example, some specific plant maintenance tasks may only need to be performed every 15 years, in which case the people that preformed it the last time may no longer be around the next time. And if the same people are still there, chances are they probably won’t remember exactly what they did anyway. PLM can capture how the maintenance was preformed, and better yet, a 3D simulation can demonstrate exactly how it was performed.

Well…off to see some more demos in the technology showcase, which continues to impress. Last post, I shared my experience with a pair of 3D glasses that put me in the middle of a virtual power plant. This afternoon I met a guy that seemed to have mini ping-pong balls strapped to his arms and legs – they were actually sensors. While I spoke with him, any movement he made was mimicked by the “virtual him” on the screen behind him. Pretty cool, and just another example of how 3D technology can be used for plant operations.

Kit

Everyone here at the Dassault Systemes 2009 Energy Conference is passionate about energy, and it’s easy to see why. Every day we read and hear about the world’s energy challenges in the news – from rising worldwide energy demand, to the complex challenges of carbon dioxide emissions – and we are here in Orlando to learn how 3D and PLM technologies can help meet those challenges.

Energy is not only top-of-mind on the world’s stage, but at Dassault Systems as well, as the industry has great potential to benefit from 3D products in the future. We learned from our EVP Philippe Forestier that the energy market will be a key priority for the company in 2009. Learning from design challenges in other industries such as automotive and aerospace, where we have a deep heritage, the customers that we’re hearing from have already applied technology to help plan plant extensions and revamps and increase project complexity, while accomplishing tasks in less time and with less risk than before.

Between sessions, I had the opportunity to put on a pair of 3D glasses and stand in front of an 8 foot screen which placed me inside a nuclear power plant – virtually, of course. But, the lifelike experience demonstrates how valuable such technology can be to plan and perform maintenance, for example. I’ve never set foot in a nuclear power plant, but now I have a better understanding of what it might be like. A trained engineer with this technology at his disposal could show up on-site being completely prepared to perform a specific task that he simulated earlier.

It made me think of this year’s SuperBowl commercials — if you watched, you’ll know that a couple of them were in 3D. Are we at a ‘tipping point’ where 3D will start to become mainstream? It seems that way. We’re learning from other speakers how technology used previously for consumer products like video games is now being applied to a work environment with tremendous value.

More to come from Orlando!

Kit