Social distancing is the order of the day. Shops, restaurants, hotels… everyone is taking precautions to be able to continue their business. But what if your business involves working in confined spaces? Or specialised projects abroad? How do you then meet the regulations ánd safeguard the health of your employees, without extraordinary investments or compromising on quality?

Digitalisation to improve safety and efficiency

Since more than 13 years now, when we released our VISICS solution for digital confined space monitoring, it has been our mission to offer industries full-service mobile solutions to accomplish safe and efficient shutdowns and turnarounds. We believe digitalisation is an added value to all of our daily businesses. It is not an end in itself but a means to improve safety and efficiency. A means to act quickly and stay ahead of the competition.

Catalyst Handling Project in China vs. COVID19 travel restrictions

In previous projects, where we deployed our VISICS for safe and efficient turnarounds, we got acquainted with Mourik Industry. And they with us. Knowing our core business and our solution-oriented approach, they contacted us last April: in the next month, Mourik Industry had to perform specialized catalyst handling activities in China. Travel restrictions however, made it impossible to send their specialized project leaders over to manage this delicate project. What could they do?

The solution: VISICS smart glasses

As we are always looking for ways to improve efficiency and adhere to the digital turnaround, we already had been investigating means to facilitate remote activities: VISICS smart glasses. These augmented reality (AR) glasses – also available with Atex zone 1 certification – consist of digital microphones, a camera and micro display. Voice controlled, 100% handsfree, with the ability to easily record and share the surroundings, while specific instructions are displayed. This could be the perfect solution for Mourik Industry to still perform their activities in China, despite the travel restrictions.

Where initially several project leaders were supposed to manage the project on site, now only two pairs of VISICS smart glasses and several cameras were sent to China. With pre-installed software and a clear instruction video, the local subcontractor was able to prepare the smart glasses for direct use and install the cameras. At the same time, VISICS prepared a monitoring room at Mourik Industry premises in The Netherlands with direct connectivity to both the smart glasses and cameras. The VISICS C3 support centre was standby 24/7 in case of issues.

In this project, VISICS enabled the Mourik Industry project leaders to monitor, guide and manage the necessary handlings, without actually being onsite in China. With our VISICS smart glasses, cameras, monitoring room and extensive knowledge of data and internet connectivity, the local contractor was able to execute the job: meeting the quality standard, finishing the project even two days earlier than planned.

About Mourik Industry

The bar in industry is set higher than almost anywhere else. Not just when it comes to safety, but also in terms of efficiency. Your factory must be capable of operating 24/7. Shutdowns and turnarounds cost money. In this domain, Mourik is a world player. They are active on every continent and for most of the major chemical and petrochemical companies. They work with above-average qualified people and with their own high-quality equipment.

• High pressure and vacuum cleaning

• Cleaning of storage tanks and sewers

• Chemical cleaning

• Blasting and painting

• Waste container services

• Working in inert and toxic atmospheres

• Asbestos clean-ups

• Plant shutdowns

More information about Mourik Industry and catalyst handling: https://www.mourik.com/industrie/catalysthandling