Bentley Systems upbeat on Indian market

PUNE: When Volkswagen (VW) starts production at Pune next year, it will be one of its fastest built factory. The German carmaker built its facility using virtual 3D tools developed by Bentley Systems, the US-based infrastructure software solutions company. Bentley is betting big on the Indian market, with its executives recently meeting executives of auto and auto component companies in Pune.

Like VW, many European auto makers are using simulation and visualisation tools developed by the likes of Bentley to have a virtual trial run of their factories prior to the actual construction. Volkswagen���s new facility at Russia, which became functional last year, was built using Bentley Systems��� tools. ���We were able to significantly reduce costs and time-to-market as the facility was designed and constructed faster, unlike the conventional method,��� VW Project Leader, R&D, digital factory planning systems, Horst R��hl pointed out.

Bentley Systems, Solutions Executive Factories, Torsten Rohrlack, said, ���3D intelligent modelling for factories has solved many problems for auto manufacturers as they need an extremely short time-to-market and their models change very fast.

Companies wasted a lot of time and money in modifying factories to suit the manufacturing of newer models, while the time-to-market also increased significantly. Many have therefore shifted to the use of simulation and visualisation tools.��� He added, ���Our software products allow companies to design and develop fully-working model of their facilities virtually before even a single hole is dug into the ground.���

Our software integrates with product designing software like Catia and Delmia (from Dassault Systems), which allows companies to see their products being manufactured virtually,��� General Motors built its plants 25% faster and 10-15% cheaper using Bentley���s software, Mr Rohrlack said.

The $500 million company is partnering with universities and engineering colleges in the country to run training programmes vis-a-vis its products. It is also looking at providing software solutions to Indian auto companies and infrastructure projects.

Bentley Systems (India) managing director and vice president Christopher Liew said, ���The Mumbai Metro was designed on our products. We are talking to infrastructure companies and expect a significant business from this sector. Our European partners, including VW, GM and Renault-Nissan, use our products for constructing their Indian facilities. So we are targeting a significant business from Indian auto companies. Our growth depends on the GDP growth of the country and we expect to grow at thrice the GDP growth rate.���