Harnessing Technology, Transforming Businesses: Session 2

Harnessing Technology, Transforming Businesses: Session 2

27 January 2021, Singapore – With COVID-19, digitalisation is no longer a matter of the future. Local Process Construction & Maintenance (PCM) companies are starting to adopt various digital tools in their everyday work to increase productivity and overcome challenges raised by the pandemic.

As such, ASPRI’s Digitalisation, Innovation & Technology Adoption (DITA) Workgroup announced a webinar series titled, “Harnessing Technology, Transforming Businesses” where ASPRI members are encouraged to come forward and share their insightful journey of implementing various digital solutions.

In the second webinar session of the “Harnessing Technology, Transforming Businesses” series, Mr Naresh Kumar Govindan, General Manager (BD & Corporate Affairs) and Mr Lim Chee Yong, Assistant Manager (IT & Digital Solutions) of JEL Maintenance Pte Ltd (JML), shared with us how the adoption of Virtual Reality (VR) technology has transformed the way their company operated during the pandemic.

Mr Naresh opened the webinar by giving an overview of his company. One of the projects that JML oversaw was a Flare Seal Replacement. Mr Lim explained that JML was tasked to replace the flare seal for one of its refinery plants located in Singapore. The particular flare, standing at 150 metres high, is one of the highest flares in Singapore. JML was required to replace 16 tons of the flare seal at the height of 150 metres and install the necessary piping related to the replacement works using a 600 ton crane.

Several challenges were identified in the planning stages, prior to the execution of the actual work. One of the challenges was the limited access to survey the work place due to the live flare. As a result, JML had to conduct the project planning activities to identify modifications to existing platforms and critical processes which included the dismantling of the existing flare seal, disconnecting pipes at height, installing new seal and thereafter reconnecting the pipes, during the plant shutdown window which left us with very little room for errors and re-work. Traditionally, workers would need to climb the seal, which introduced the risk of falling from height and also exposing them to the high heat.

Because of the challenges faced, JML decided to adopt the latest digital technology to ease their workload. Initially, drones were flown to record video footage of the flare. With the video footage, JML managed to employ VR technology to create an immersive flare environment. This enabled them to simulate work steps and study the scope in greater detail to ensure efficiency. Workers were then able to monitor the live footages through mobile devices when necessary.

After JML’s presentation, the attendees were given the opportunity to ask both Mr Naresh and Mr Lim questions regarding their adoption of VR technology.

ASPRI would like to thank our members and both Mr Naresh and Mr Lim for making the second session of this webinar series possible. Stay tuned for session 3 of the series in the near future!