Next Wave Software, a member of Next Wave Holdings recently announced its mySAP.com integration package. Distributed and sold by Bentley Systems under an exclusive Distribution Agreement, the Bentley Connector for mySAP.com is aimed at improving the design and estimating process, connecting Bentley Microstation design objects to the applicable SAP business data objects.

These business objects can now be accessed directly by the designer without leaving the familiar Microstation environment. Similarly, the properties of the Microstation graphical elements can be changed from within the SAP solution. Bills of Material can be generated from Microstation and passed to the SAP solution for procurement and reservation purposes.

"The power of the new solution is unrivalled, and represents a quantum leap in the mySAP.com/CAD integration environment," says Tex van Deventer, managing director of Bentley Systems Africa.

Werner Simpson, Next Wave Holdings, CEO, explains further. "Our intention is to improve the entire design process by integrating Microstation design elements with the SAP R/3 Enterprise and mySAP.com worlds. In the past, design engineers used Microstation to build sophisticated 2D and 3D engineering models. These were then printed out as drawings, from which estimators physically counted the number of valves, flanges, nuts, bolts and other pieces of equipment on the drawing. But these elements already existed in electronic form in the original model, as well as materials and equipment within the mySAP.com solution.

"What we have done is to bind the design and procurement worlds together. And, as designers tend to be infrequent SAP system users, they can now access SAP Materials Management directly from within Microstation," says Simpson. "This means higher efficiency and drastically reduces the errors encountered through counting items on a drawing manually."

The Bentley Connector for mySAP.com provides Microstation users with a direct link to the SAP solution that can be switched on and off as required. This allows local changes to be made that do not affect the SAP solution, as may be required before the model is approved. When the SAP system connection is re-established, object links to SAP materials are re-established, allowing Bills of Material to be generated.

"When we began to plan the design of this product we needed to understand the problems encountered by Bentley and SAP R/3 customers," says Simpson. "Our primary aim was not to build yet another complex and difficult to maintain interface into the SAP system, but a product that would add real value to the customer. Our design team is familiar with the practical problems involved with working in two disparate environments where it is necessary to keep swapping between them to accomplish the desired results. We designed the solution to address the practical problems associated with CAD integration, including BOM Management and reference file management.

"We have therefore designed an easy to use solution that addresses both the needs of SAP users and the Microstation design engineers," concludes Simpson.

Bentley Connector for mySAP.com is a comprehensive package that includes the following features:

* Access the full functionality offered by the SAP document management system.

* Make full use of the SAP CAD Desktop functionality, providing amongst others for the management of reference files.

* Enhanced object linking and the management of the linked objects.

* Fully automated bill of material management.

* Providing for dynamic cost modelling during design.

"The Interface is so easy that most Microstation users can start to reap the benefits after less than a day's training," says van Deventer. "And as most of the larger organisations in the world use both Microstation and SAP systems, this product is ideally positioned to offer great benefits on a global scale."

Russell Damerell-Moss, chief technology architect at Next Wave Software comments, "The product provides exceptional integration capabilities between the two product suites. A whole new class of users can now benefit from the information liberated by this technology. This kind of integration allows the benefits to extend beyond the boundaries of a company. External design and development partners can now also contribute towards the creation of rich engineering content, benefiting plant and facility owners."

However, because of Bentley's unique capability to manage other CAD system formats, even AutoCAD users can benefit from the Bentley Connector for mySAP.com.

For more information contact Bentley Systems, 011 462 5811 or Next Wave Holdings, 011 791 7298, info@next-wavecbs.com