SA Power Networks links some CAD designers to PLM system

SA Power Networks is linking backend industrial systems to feed into a broader effort to reduce outages and improve safety when working with zone substation infrastructure.

(L-R) CAD specialist Leigh Menzel and Applications Platform Manager Saloni Upadhyay.

The utility is integrating Bentley Systems’ MicroStation computer-aided design (CAD) software into an existing product lifecycle management (PLM) process and system used by engineering teams and other downstream users.

PLM-CAD integration is a goal in many industrial organisations. In part, it is viewed as a way to keep all teams involved with an asset - as well as associated designs, data and documentation - unified and in sync. 

CAD specialist Leigh Menzel told last month’s Bentley Illuminate conference in Sydney that SA Power Networks “has to be very good at what we do” to limit electrical infrastructure outages.

“If we don’t get it right, we can incur millions of dollars in [penalties],” he said.

Zone substations are a subset of the electrical infrastructure that SA Power Networks operates, albeit a “pretty important” one.

Menzel said that substation and SCADA system designers used Bentley MicroStation software for their work, but that by integrating with the PLM system, those same people “can [now] help us maintain our 400-plus substations”.

The integration is also about creating “freedom for CAD designers”, allowing them to “choose the engineering tools that best suit their needs”, applications platform manager Saloni Upadhyay said.

That will particularly benefit CAD designers working on newer greenfield zone substations, which account for the largest volume of design work today.

Menzel said there were still some outstanding technical issues around the integration that were being worked through.

These included the ability of SA Power Networks to upgrade to newer MicroStation versions in future, while still staying plugged into the PLM system; a plug-in supplied by the PLM vendor has specific versioning requirements.

Menzel said that safety around working with substations had “massively increased because we’re going through the same lifecycle process with every type of document.”

In addition, he estimated productivity benefits from the integration in the region of “11 days of engineering time per month”.

Ry Crozier attended Bentley Illuminate 2024 as a guest of Bentley Systems.