• Hello, I run an Autoplant forum and had a few questions regarding PDMS.  Bentley reported in a publication that they held more than 200,000 seats world wide.  I see far greater activity here than I see at my forum which leads me to believe one of two things:

    a) Bentley is intentionally steering people away from my forum because they are scared I will aquire 51% control in a hostile take-over.

    b) Bentley lied in thier publication and PDMS is quite a bit more popular (superior product) than Autoplant.

    I'm going with b

    This is not a "who is better" thread, just wondering if the makers of PDMS have statistics that contradict Bentley's findings.  Thanks all.  You can find the thread here

    http://www.davetyner.com/forum/general-comments/t-whos-number-one-244.html/?highlight=PDMS
  • Sorry Dave, you are comparing rifles to cannons.  

    Autoplant is 3D want-to-be, PDMS is 3D, I see no comparisons.  I am happy to see your forums but...  

    How many $5B projects onshore or offshore has Autoplant done?  I have worked on one and on the other now.

    Of course Aveva probably will tell you that hundreds of billions worth of project is done in PDMS and PDS will do so too.  I know nothing about PDS, but have talked to pipers who know both systems and they like PDMS better because it is object oriented.  I also know pipers who worked on Autoplant and the admin on that job is still in therapy :D

    New smart plant 3D is making some noises and headway now, but in order to be a mature product, it needs to be tested on a few real life projects.  

    I have yet to see the real non-pilot projects being done on SP3D.  Please correct me if you have better data.

    And welcome to the forum!
  • I have been a user/administer of Rebis aka Bentley AutoPLANT for about 6years and using since the days of ADEV Designer & Pro-Pipe before they merged into AutoPLANT in 97.  Rebis is a good package and now that Bentley has it, it is stil not bad but it appeals to a different demographic of engineering client.  Smaller firms, smaller projects, AutoCAD based environments as this you know.  I am know a user/administer of PDMS for 2yrs.

    On the other hand, PDMS is in a different classification.  It appeals to huge corporations like Shell, Cheveron, Akerkvaerner, DuPont, Amec, Halliburton...  These companies use PDMS due to its robust power, flexibility and customization and extreme true multi-user environment.  Companies still use smaller packages for small budget projects so its not one program fits-all.

    My personal opinion is that PDMS is far superior to AutoPLANT for allot of reasons but PDMS price tag prevents them from appealing to the smaller shops.  1 seat of PDMS "sticker price" is approx.  $40k and AutoPLANT for less than $10k for comparable functionality.

    Also, my opinion is that any company that is willing to try PDMS even though the price is more will make the switch.  PDMS allows more work production with fewer people so what a company can do with 5 people in PDMS may take 10+ in other packages.  Calculate the total cost of software and then the cost of double payroll...  The cost is not that far off.
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  • Sorry Dave, you are comparing rifles to cannons.  

    Autoplant is 3D want-to-be, PDMS is 3D, I see no comparisons.  I am happy to see your forums but...  

    How many $5B projects onshore or offshore has Autoplant done?  I have worked on one and on the other now.

    Of course Aveva probably will tell you that hundreds of billions worth of project is done in PDMS and PDS will do so too.  I know nothing about PDS, but have talked to pipers who know both systems and they like PDMS better because it is object oriented.  I also know pipers who worked on Autoplant and the admin on that job is still in therapy :D

    New smart plant 3D is making some noises and headway now, but in order to be a mature product, it needs to be tested on a few real life projects.  

    I have yet to see the real non-pilot projects being done on SP3D.  Please correct me if you have better data.


    That's not bashing and besides, I bash Autoplant everyday. :)  Thanks for the information, it's nice to have user forums where the community can get together and discuss these things.  Autoplant does have it's quirks and downfalls and to be honest, I spend a lot of time administering projects.  Cleaning databases, removing errand tags, slapping around the users..etc.  How is the 2D side of PDMS, does it compare to Autoplant?
  • You surprise me every day with the funny post. Yes Aveva could have done this but just think of how many hours they would spend doing it.
  • To answer the original question about how has more seats out there, in the past, both Aveva and Intergraph would use figures that worked for them....such as....at one point there were more PDS seats out there than PDMS but the total value of plants designed in PDMS was more.  Both companies were claiming victory.  Bottom line is that as "seat count" comes from the sw company, accuracy may be an issue.  Maybe a better way to judge would be to look at the rate for a Sr PDMSer vs a Sr PDSer.

    And Chris,   I take it you now have the EDG tattoo?