Supporting Innovations to Reduce Risk for Critical Infrastructure Essential Workers
Innovation amid confusion and chaos
Across the world, individuals, communities, and businesses are struggling with changing regulations imposed to counter the COVID-19 pandemic. From lockdowns followed by the easing of those measures to renewed restrictions as new infection rates spike, a hodgepodge of rules and guidelines are creating confusion on how businesses should resume operations, and “who’s allowed to do what”.
Fortunately, this same set of conditions is inspiring rapid and important changes on a global scale. Amid this environment, SAP.iO has been delving deep to support startups that can help businesses and the world adapt. We’ve been building a space for collaboration to back relief efforts for COVID-19. And we’ve been amazed and humbled by the incredible amount of creativity and good work we are witnessing.
Alleviating risks for essential workers
One of the efforts we are excited about stem from HyBird, a startup we are supporting as part of the SAP.iO Foundry Singapore Industry 4.0 program. Its platform, Clarity, helps alleviate health and safety risks for critical infrastructure workers.
Why is this important?
The critical infrastructure sector — including utilities, telcos, and other government facilities — have had to continue operations amid this global health crisis while working to ensure the safety of their workers. Considering the scale of essential services and the sheer number of workers they are dealing with; this has been challenging.
Some countries like Singapore have put in place measures such as proactive screening and isolation of essential workers to distinguish between those who can continue with work, and those who need healthcare attention. In Europe, critical infrastructure responders are also prioritized for testing during the pandemic to ensure the continuity of essential functions. Other countries such as U.S.A are allowing their critical infrastructure workers to continue work following potential exposure to COVID-19 provided they remain asymptomatic and additional precautions are implemented to protect them and the community.
Despite these measures, essential worker risks remain higher than those working in non-essential sectors simply because most of them have to be present at the frontline.
How is HyBird helping?
HyBird’s platform, Clarity, tackles this head-on by allowing workers such as engineers in water treatment facilities and power companies to continue deliver essential services remotely. Until recently, there has been no way for remote workers to interact with their physical work sites or equipment. Fortunately, Industry 4.0 technologies is changing that.
Dampening COVID-19 risks for front-liners.
Clarity empowers critical workers with the ability to digitally visualize their physical environment and assets. They will also be able to remotely interact with these assets to ensure safe and efficient operations. By doing so, these workers can continue to deliver essential services away from the frontline — which significantly reduces the risks of exposure to COVID-19.
By combining the data from various sources eg. aerial images, camera images in real-time to Clarity, a photorealistic 3D digital model called a “digital twin” is produced. The digital twin can be analyzed by specialist engineers offsite — who can then deliver industry-standard inspection reports, anytime anywhere. If defects are identified, they are produced as work orders for maintenance engineers to resolve.
Artificial intelligence and analytics can further empower asset operators and service providers by helping them predict failures early and implement corrective actions. These insights are digitally pushed to users, for work orders to be readily completed.
Radically cut man-hours to supercharge efficiency.
This new process radically cuts the time it takes to inspect a complex facility — from several months to as little as one day.
It also speeds up the time to plan and complete repairs, which increases asset availability and decreases maintenance costs — all while maximizing personnel safety. Heightened efficiency and cost reduction also mean extra funds that can be redirected into business-critical areas — an important consideration during this challenging period.
Reducing dangers from high-risk environments.
By enabling digital collaboration between workers and assets, Clarity can also be employed to reduce the dangers of operating in high-risk environments. For example, working-at-height for powerline inspections. Or maintaining hazardous wastewater storage and processing tanks.
Moving forward intelligently
SAP has many customers in the critical infrastructure sector globally. Many of them can benefit from remote collaboration between workers and assets. By integrating HyBird’s solution with SAP’s digital core platforms, we can help customers move forward intelligently in the new reality of business that we now face.
Hybird’s Clarity platform now integrates fully with SAP Intelligent Asset Management (IAM) suite. Its AI-powered computer-vision algorithms are streamlining and automating traditionally labor-intensive processes, delivering staff efficiency increases of more than 80% and reducing unplanned downtime by more than 60%.
Together, HyBird and SAP are demonstrating how a digitally empowered workforce can optimize asset management and personnel health and safety — while reducing operating costs. Outcomes that are critical for businesses today.
