Schneider Electric, AVEVA and ETAP Join Alliance for OpenUSD

Schneider Electric, a global energy technology leader, AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software, and ETAP, the industry and technology leader in power system design and operation, announce their membership in the Alliance for OpenUSD (Universal Scene Description). The companies join companies including NVIDIA, Pixar, Adobe and Autodesk in advancing interoperable digital twins and simulation-ready (SimReady) 3D assets.

The announcement was unveiled during Schneider Electric’s Innovation Summit North America in Las Vegas. 

The announcement reinforces the companies’ commitment to advancing open standards for industrial simulation, collaborative design and Gigawatt-scale AI infrastructure. OpenUSD is a high-performance framework and ecosystem that enables interoperability between software tools and data types for building virtual worlds and advancing industrial digitalization. 

Joining the Alliance signals Schneider Electric, AVEVA and ETAP’s alignment with NVIDIA’s vision for scalable, physically accurate and real-time digital twin environments, engineered to simulate buildings, manufacturing factories, data centers, and AI infrastructure systems of the future. 

Advancing Open Standards for Industrial Simulation

By adopting OpenUSD as a shared standard, the companies are working closely with NVIDIA  for:

• SimReady Asset Development: Creating interoperable, simulation-ready models of physical infrastructure components, like power and cooling systems, that can be orchestrated within industrial digital twins that leverage NVIDIA Omniverse libraries.
• Digital Twin Collaboration: Enabling unified views of complex systems, such as data centers, energy grids and industrial facilities that are integrated with Schneider Electric’s platforms, like EcoStruxure, AVEVA and ETAP. 
• Accelerated AI Infrastructure Deployment: Leveraging the NVIDIA Omniverse DSX Blueprint and NVIDIA Omniverse libraries to codesign gigawatt-scale AI factories with reduced risk.

Schneider Electric’s SimReady assets are used alongside applications with integrated NVIDIA Omniverse libraries, enabling physically accurate, detailed simulations across industries, and accelerating digital twin development. From manufacturers optimizing assembly lines, to data center operators enhancing AI factory design and operations, the adoption of OpenUSD and digital twins is driving improved energy efficiency, sustainability and resiliency.

“OpenUSD is more than a file format, it’s a virtual bridge between industries,” says Jim Simonelli, senior vice president and chief technology officer for Data Centers at Schneider Electric. “Joining the Alliance allows us to contribute to a shared digital language that empowers collaboration, simulation and innovation across the AI ecosystem. It’s a natural extension of our work with NVIDIA, allowing us to build AI infrastructure that’s not only powerful, but intelligent, sustainable and future-ready.”

“To efficiently design and operate complex systems like AI factories, industries need a robust, simulation-ready foundation,” says Rev Lebaredian, vice president of Omniverse and Simulation Technology at NVIDIA. “Schneider Electric's expertise in energy management, hardware and software, combined with NVIDIA Omniverse libraries, will accelerate the creation of the AI factories and intelligent grids of the future, paving the way for a new era of AI-driven efficiency and sustainability.”

Continued Innovation

Schneider Electric, AVEVA and ETAP joining the Alliance for OpenUSD (AOUSD) builds upon milestones the companies have shared to accelerate digital twin and AI factory development. 

The companies are co-developing reference architectures, integrated infrastructure and software solutions that will power and cool the next generation of AI factories, and working on projects that leverage NVIDIA Omniverse libraries to simulate and improve energy efficiency in real-world environments.

At GTC DC, Schneider Electric was named as a power, cooling and energy technology partner contributing to the NVIDIA AI factory Research Center in Manassas, VA. Powered by the NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform, the center was built to support breakthroughs in generative AI, scientific computing and advanced manufacturing and to serve as a foundation for the Omniverse DSX Blueprint for gigascale AI factories.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.