ISO 15926

The ISO 15926 standard was born out of the need to integrate a vast and complex set of process facility life-cycle information. Before ISO 15926 there were many different cumbersome application programs used throughout the process industry and, as a result, the terminology for the different phases of plant and process life cycles varied widely. In the early nineties, a group of companies heavily involved in the process industry recognized the need for an industry standard and they went about the mammoth task of integrating industry life-cycle information. The result is ISO 15926, a stable platform that provides a common language for computer systems and creates a network of integrated information.

For details about Intergraph and ISO 15926 compliance, contact us today.

ISO 15926 promotes and simplifies the integration of data that supports the life-cycle activities and processes of enterprise facilities. The successful standard was originally designed for process plants and oil and gas refineries with large projects involving many different parties, and decade-long plant operations and maintenance projects.

ISO 15926 Effectiveness

On a broad scale, ISO 15926 is the standard because it specifically addresses asset information management issues. When its potential is utilized, ISO 15926 allows users to access reference data that defines standard terms with precise meanings and accurately express relationships between data. The system allows for the following:

• The retention of the full life-cycle history of enterprise data;
• The exchange of structured data in a standard format with a standard protocol;
• Automatic data collation from multiple external sources on demand;
• Fully defined deliverables suitable for inclusion in contract language.

In the process facility industry ISO 15926 has proven its value in a number of different areas. It has shown that it improves collaboration efforts between engineering procurement and construction companies and subcontractors. ISO 15926 smoothes the transition of data during handover between engineering firms and owner operators (O/Os) and it provides uniform classification throughout the O/O's enterprise. Vendors and distributors have also benefited from ISO 15926 as it improves the publication of specifications.

In addition to integrating and exchanging life-cycle data, ISO 15926 has shown that it is capable of most other relevant data definition and exchange applications. Its strengths are due in part to its foundation. The ISO 15926 standard has been built upon other well-supported open standards such as ISO10303-221 and STEPlib. ISO 15926 has also been proven valuable for data definition and exchange applications because users are able to incorporate ISO 15926 in pieces - it is not required to implement it in its entirety.

Proof of the continued relevance of ISO 15926 is that it continues to draw a substantial amount of investment from engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) companies, industrial process plant owners and operators, and software vendors. And as it continues to grow and expand, ISO 15926 remains the standard for information data and documentation.

ISO 15926 and SmartPlant® Enterprise

Intergraph has been involved with the use and development of ISO 15926 since its onset. Because SmartPlant® Enterprise supports ISO 15926 compliance, the SmartPlant® applications have the power to increase process plant efficiency, productivity and profitability.