Organizations across sectors—ranging from oil & gas and petrochemicals to power, marine, and pharmaceuticals—are under constant pressure to deliver high-quality designs faster, more efficiently, and with greater accuracy in today’s industrial landscape. The demand for smarter engineering tools that foster collaboration, optimize workflows, and seamlessly integrate with the wider digital ecosystem is growing rapidly.
Enter AVEVA E3D Equipment—a core module of AVEVA’s Everything 3D (E3D) suite. It empowers engineers and designers to create detailed and intelligent 3D equipment models, ensuring that industrial assets are accurately represented and integrated within the plant design. This blog explores the significance, features, benefits, and future scope of AVEVA E3D Equipment online training.
Introduction to AVEVA E3D Equipment
AVEVA E3D Equipment is part of AVEVA E3D Design, the next-generation plant design solution that replaces traditional 2D methods and older 3D tools with an advanced, data-centric, model-based approach. It focuses on equipment design—the creation and management of mechanical components such as vessels, pumps, compressors, heat exchangers, tanks, reactors, and custom-engineered machinery within the digital plant model.
The tool enables designers to model equipment in true 3D using intelligent objects with parametric properties, associating them with the overall project database. The result is a fully coordinated and accurate equipment layout that reduces errors, facilitates change management, and supports efficient project execution.
The Importance of Equipment Design in Plant Engineering
In any industrial facility, equipment forms the heart of the plant. Pumps circulate fluids, heat exchangers transfer energy, tanks store liquids, and reactors enable chemical transformations. Poorly designed or misplaced equipment can result in costly issues—ranging from operational inefficiencies and downtime to safety hazards and regulatory non-compliance. Thus, precise and intelligent equipment design is critical for:
- Ensuring correct spatial allocation
- Integrating equipment with piping, structure, HVAC, and electrical systems
- Facilitating maintenance and operability
- Meeting safety and regulatory requirements
- Reducing fabrication and installation costs
- Improving overall project quality and lifecycle management
AVEVA E3D Equipment is purpose-built to address these challenges in a modern, integrated way.
Key Features of AVEVA E3D Equipment
Let’s delve into the powerful features of AVEVA E3D Equipment:
1. Parametric Modeling of Equipment
Engineers can create parametric equipment models—such as pressure vessels, tanks, pumps, compressors, and exchangers—using standard templates or custom configurations. Parameters like diameter, length, nozzle orientation, flange size, support details, and insulation can be easily adjusted.
2. Custom Equipment Modeling
Not all equipment fits predefined templates. AVEVA E3D provides advanced modeling tools (primitives, surfaces, extrusions, revolutions, sweeps) for crafting bespoke equipment—perfect for unique machinery or vendor-supplied equipment.
3. Integration with AVEVA Catalogue and Specifications
Equipment components can be automatically validated against project catalogues and engineering specifications, ensuring design consistency and standardization across the project.
4. Full 3D Visualization
Designers can visualize equipment in full 3D with realistic representations, enabling spatial checks, clash detection, and fit-for-purpose review with other disciplines (piping, structural, electrical).
5. Smart Nozzle Management
Nozzles can be added and intelligently managed, with precise positioning, orientation, and association to connected piping. Changes to nozzle orientation automatically propagate to connected pipework.
6. Data-Rich Models
AVEVA E3D Equipment generates data-rich models with embedded attributes—such as equipment tag, manufacturer, size, material, inspection data, weights, and installation status—enabling seamless handover to operations and maintenance.
7. Interoperability with Other E3D Modules
Equipment models are fully interoperable with piping, structural, HVAC, cable trays, and instrumentation modules, enabling truly multi-disciplinary collaboration in a unified digital environment.
8. Change Management and Revision Control
Integrated change tracking and revision management features help maintain design integrity even in fast-evolving projects. Equipment changes automatically update associated documents and linked objects.
9. Automated Deliverables
From the equipment model, engineers can automatically generate 2D drawings, GA views, isometrics, BOMs (Bill of Materials), equipment lists, and clash reports—significantly reducing documentation time.
10. Seamless Data Integration
Equipment data can be shared with Enterprise Asset Management (EAM), Digital Twin, simulation platforms, ERP, and procurement systems, supporting Industry 4.0 initiatives.
Workflow in AVEVA E3D Equipment
Here’s how a typical equipment design workflow unfolds in AVEVA E3D:
- Requirement Gathering – Receive equipment specs from process and mechanical teams.
- Preliminary Layout – Create equipment layout using parametric templates and primitives.
- Detailed Modeling – Add nozzles, supports, platforms, insulation, annotations.
- Integration – Place equipment in the plant model, integrate with piping/structural systems.
- Clash Detection – Run clash checks to resolve interferences.
- Review Cycles – Conduct 3D model reviews with stakeholders.
- Deliverables Generation – Produce drawings, reports, equipment lists.
- Data Handover – Deliver enriched equipment data to downstream systems.
Benefits
Implementing AVEVA E3D Equipment offers numerous advantages to project stakeholders:
- Parametric, data-rich modeling ensures equipment designs are accurate, compliant, and consistent across the project.
- Automated clash detection, deliverables generation, and revision management accelerate engineering cycles, enabling faster project execution.
- Reduces fabrication rework, minimizes on-site modifications, and optimizes installation through early clash resolution and accurate BOMs.
- Realistic 3D models help construction teams visualize installation sequences, reducing field uncertainties and promoting smoother execution.
- Enables multi-discipline collaboration across geographically distributed teams with a centralized project database.
- Delivers structured equipment data to digital twin, asset management, and O&M systems, supporting the entire asset lifecycle.
- Handles both standardized and bespoke equipment, providing flexibility for diverse project requirements.
Industries Leveraging AVEVA E3D Equipment
AVEVA E3D Equipment is used extensively across:
- Oil & Gas (Upstream, Midstream, Downstream)
- Petrochemicals & Chemicals
- Power Generation (Thermal, Nuclear, Renewables)
- Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences
- Food & Beverage
- Marine & Shipbuilding
- Mining & Metals
- Water & Wastewater Treatment
Any industry that involves process facilities or complex engineered plants can benefit from its advanced equipment modeling capabilities.
Comparison with Other Tools
When comparing AVEVA E3D Equipment with other tools like traditional CAD-based software (AutoCAD, SolidWorks) or legacy 3D plant design platforms (such as PDMS or Intergraph Smart 3D), the advantages of E3D Equipment become clear. Unlike CAD tools, which create "dumb" geometry lacking embedded intelligence, AVEVA E3D generates data-rich, parametric models where every equipment object carries attributes such as tag numbers, dimensions, material specifications, and vendor data. In contrast to PDMS, which had limited 3D visualization and basic parametrics, E3D Equipment offers advanced parametric templates, smart nozzle management, and seamless integration with piping, structural, and electrical disciplines within a single database. Moreover, E3D’s automated clash detection, revision control, and deliverables generation surpass older tools that relied heavily on manual processes. Compared to Smart 3D, E3D Equipment’s openness and interoperability with other AVEVA products (and third-party systems) make it ideal for integrated project execution and digital twin initiatives. Additionally, E3D’s cloud-ready architecture facilitates collaboration across global teams, an area where many traditional tools still struggle. Ultimately, AVEVA E3D Equipment offers a holistic, future-proof solution that supports modern engineering workflows and digital transformation far better than older or isolated tools, driving higher efficiency, quality, and project success.
Future of Equipment Design with AVEVA E3D
As the world moves toward digitized engineering and Industry 4.0, the role of intelligent equipment models is expanding:
- Future releases will leverage artificial intelligence for design optimization, predictive maintenance modeling, and automated code compliance checks.
- AVEVA is moving towards cloud-native platforms—enabling real-time multi-site collaboration and integrated project execution.
- Models will increasingly embed IoT-ready tags and support real-time performance monitoring during operations.
- Expanding interoperability with PLM, EAM, ERP, BIM, and simulation tools to drive true end-to-end digital continuity.
Training and Skill Development in AVEVA E3D Equipment
To fully leverage AVEVA E3D Equipment certification, organizations must invest in training and skill development. Engineers, designers, and project managers should learn:
- Parametric modeling techniques
- Custom equipment creation
- Integration with other disciplines
- Clash management best practices
- Data management and reporting
- Change management processes
Formal AVEVA E3D Equipment training courses can significantly boost productivity and design quality.
Conclusion
AVEVA E3D Equipment is revolutionizing equipment design and engineering in process, power, and marine industries. Its intelligent, data-driven approach empowers teams to create accurate, consistent, and fully coordinated equipment models—accelerating project delivery while reducing costs and improving quality. As digital engineering and smart manufacturing continue to evolve, tools like AVEVA E3D Equipment will be at the forefront, enabling future-proof, sustainable, and efficient industrial facilities.
For organizations embarking on complex projects or digital transformation journeys, investing in AVEVA E3D Equipment and associated skills development is not just beneficial—it is essential. Enroll in Multisoft Systems now!