By BLAIR NIELSEN, Digitization Manager, Scovan & Gemini
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of digitalization? Online brochures? Converting paper file storage to PDF file storage? Although these things are useful and necessary in our increasingly digital culture, digitalization can be so much more and provide opportunities for increased efficiency across all aspects of an organization’s workflow. Utilizing digital technologies also has significant potential in helping a company achieve their goals in ESG, increased safety, and have positive impact on culture. Any opportunity to reduce or eliminate the 3 D’s (Dangerous, Dull, Dirty) in a workplace will result in increased satisfaction and productivity. Across our group of companies, and specifically at Gemini Fabrication, we see the process of digitalization as a mindset and way of life, rather than a single process. We believe that a more digital environment means higher quality and faster decisions translating to an increase in transparency, collaboration and efficiency. We are focused on innovation and implementing new digital technology to improve the safety, productivity, reliability and quality of our work.
It goes beyond doing things better, faster and cheaper. It’s about being deliberate in disrupting for the better and adopting game changing improvements across the supply chain and full project cycle. Digital technologies will continue to evolve, and it is necessary to adopt a culture that is focused on growth and innovation to not only keep up but lead the way.
The current landscape of digitalization is huge. It ranges from operational technologies such as CNC and robotic solutions, to how the flow of information is handled along the progression of a project. Digitization in our group of companies includes:
3D Intelligent Models – leveraging the intellectual capabilities of our 3D-Models to increase its functionality and playing an integral role in our list of engineering deliverables. The result is a reduced amount of time spent detailing drawings as well as a reduced amount of engineering deliverables required on a project.
Automation – working smarter and deploying efficiency from all angles. We are relentless in finding opportunities to automate information input and output resulting in increased efficiencies in the generation of deliverables, quality control and an overall increase in productivity to our day-to-day activities.
Project Controls – focused on proactive project controls and processes, we employ technology that allows real-time access to project performance, progressing methods, change management, budgets and variance to baselines.
Digital Control Center – a one-stop shop for live transparent digital project status and reporting – this is our reality from engineering, to design, to project management, purchasing and fabrication.
Developing Technology – our integrated group takes on the challenge of staying ahead of the curve in innovation and technology. We apply our new technology to create an outstanding client experience. This includes model reviews in virtual reality and, drawings in augmented reality that literally jumps off the page.
One of the digital technologies that Scovan and Gemini are developing is the use of Digital Twins. A Digital Twin is a virtual replica of a physical asset (think of it like the backup file of your cell phone). As a digital replica, information and data can now be linked to it across many platforms and disciplines. This creates a single source of truth that can be referenced by all stakeholders and create transparency across all stages of the project. Some examples of the information that could be tied to this digital twin would be inventory status, construction status, safety information, and quality control data. The idea is to utilize this digital twin technology through the manufacturing (factory) process and then utilize it as a single source of information that can be turned over to the customer upon project completion.
The benefits of implementing digital strategies can be profound both tangibly (increased efficiency, productivity, margins, etc.) and intangibly (culture, satisfaction, mindset, etc.). We are looking forward to the future, and the opportunity to work with all of our stakeholders to meet and exceed all of our goals.
Originally published in Scovan’s IGNITE Vol. 4