Boiler management in the metaverse

INDUSTRIAL VIRTUAL tours in an industrial environment can be used to enhance safety and training of plants and assets. Using state of the art 360 image capture technology and software, a bespoke 360° environment can be made of virtually any site. Hosted in a portal with private access employers can then share this with employees, visitors or contractors to access site/information from a safe remote environment.

The technology can flag key areas to bring specific information to the users attention. This could be such things as:

• Hazard/risk awareness 
• Safety information and PPE requirements
• Technical engineering information
• Efficient operation
• Manufacturers’ instructions

With countless opportunities to include information specific to site, this system becomes a useful tool across sectors of the business. With easy access form any device that has internet access the system can be used to support training, allowing staff to be trained remotely on site assets/features, with direct access to the information at their fingertips.

This can replace site visits as you can remotely share the tour with eternal parties (technical sales/contractors) and avoid any unnecessary physical visits. The 360° imagery can be used to demonstrate exactly what your requires are for prompt responses/quotations, saving time and effort for all parties and more importantly reducing the carbon footprint incurred through unnecessary travel.

Inducted from a safe environment

Site inductions are another possible use for the technology. Visitors/new employees/contractors can be inducted from a safe environment, at their own pace, allowing them to experience site exactly how it is. This allows familiarisation often not captured with a traditional induction. With key information embedded into the system, knowledge and understanding ca then be tested post completion, prior to allowing access to site.

Important asset safety information can be embedded into the tours to identify key risk, hazards and PPE requirements for specific areas. This useful feature aids in keeping operators safe and familiar with requirements at all times. COSHH data and treatment could be uploaded for example to ensure operators use chemicals safely.

And finally technical support can use the system to capture key technical information, operating parameters, safe limits or even service partner information for call outs and breakdowns. Insertion of common faults/fault finding information can be accessed at operators’/engineers’ fingertips in the field with no confusion over whether they are dealing with the correct asset and supporting information. 

The solutions can be tailored to the clients’ exact requirements to suit specific site needs. Once the imagery is captured, multiple tours can be created to suite different audiences (for instance contractors or operators). With a handy floorplan, users can jump direct to key areas to begin navigating into the finer detail specific to their exact needs.

Today's world of remote working

In today’s world of remote working being able to access your site, office, plant virtually can be a key tool in breaking down barriers, bringing assets to their fingertips, thus ensuring employees are feeling part of the business by virtual access to areas they cannot reach by home working.

Industrial Technical Solutions specialise in supporting industry with engineering solutions and plant/process optimisation. Our expertise comes from in-depth knowledge gained from various roles with the chemical, pharmaceutical, energy from waste and water treatment industries. We understand the challenges industries face from operations, engineering and maintenance and working with you find a solution to fulfil your exact requirements.

You can experience a basic demo of the system by following the link below where you can see the system capturing a steam boilerhouse and some of the potential it can offer.

Matt Schofield is a director of Industrial Technical Solutions

tec-sol.co.uk/360-virtual-tours

Tel: 07906 548201