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At Engineering & Inspection Services (EIS), we are constantly looking for ways to solve the technological challenges in the petrochemical industry by researching and implementing new and emerging technologies that fit the industry's needs.
Virtual job planning benefits any industrial facility
Virtual job planning is one of these tools that benefits all parties involved in the job.
In today's virtual world, utilizing reality capture and digital twins makes job planning safer and more efficient. Immediate and prolonged benefits of virtual job planning start after capturing the physical data and turning it into digital data. Post-reality capture, a web viewer is used to start virtual planning of the job scope through collaboration tools such as measurements, annotations and sharing.
Some key benefits of virtual job planning are:
- Elimination of field exposure. Safety is always the No. 1 priority. By creating a digital twin of the jobsite, you eliminate exposure to the field elements such as unsafe conditions, temporary structures and equipment, manual tool usage and weather-related elements.
- Reduction of on-site personnel and field hours and the elimination of bid walks. Cost reduction is a key component of a successfully executed project. By creating a digital twin through reality capture and with the help of virtual job planning tools, you eliminate the need for field visits and re-visits, contractor bid walks and, ultimately, reduce the number of on-site personnel needed. Through collaboration tools, on-site personnel and contractors can do a virtual walkthrough of the jobsite that will help them visualize and experience the plan prior to execution. Cost savings also come in other forms, such as eliminating the use of manual measurement tools and other tool usages, eliminating delays due to weather conditions or site access, and the speed of data capture alone compared to manual data capture.
- Improved job scope definition. Fully understanding the job scope is a key driver of a successfully executed project. In general, plants are loud environments that may have certain restrictions that will make job planning harder at times. Visualizing the jobsite in a safe and comfortable digital environment increases retention of comprehensive site data and improves job scope definition for all parties/ trades involved.
- Improved job planning between departments. Once a digital twin of the facility is available for all personnel to use, it allows for increased collaboration between the different departments. Whether the collaboration is between the engineering and maintenance departments or maintenance and operations, having a digital twin of the facility used by all departments allows for ease of collaboration.
- Improved inspection planning. All industrial facilities rely on their respective inspection departments to help determine which assets need to be inspected during the next turnaround (TAR). Understanding accessibility requirements prior to these events is critical, especially when large equipment, such as cranes, is required. A digital twin of the event allows for planning of the specific location where the crane will be placed, as well as the development of critical lift procedures far in advance of the TAR.
- Improved FEED planning activities. Whether a greenfield or brownfield project, having a digital representation or twin of your assets is a huge advantage. This is especially the case as many facilities are becoming more reliant on engineering support from overseas. Communicating with folks halfway around the globe via a digital twin improves communication, especially when there are language barriers as well as time zone differences.
- Improved execution. Once the digital twin of a facility is created, animation can be developed to show how critical equipment will be removed during a TAR. Animation is becoming commonplace, as it allows planners to see in detail how a job will be executed prior to a TAR.
For more information, visit www.eisllc.net or call (504) 837-3310.
