TÜV SÜD improves efficiency and safety by deploying more than 100 RealWear HMT-1 Devices for remote inspections
14 December, 2021 – London, UK – RealWear, the world’s leading provider of assisted reality solutions for frontline industrial workers, today announced that TÜV SÜD, a trusted partner of choice for safety, security and sustainability solutions has deployed RealWear assisted reality devices across its nuclear business. The international company with its headquarters in Germany is using the devices, running remote expert support software oculavis SHARE to remotely test, inspect and certify technical systems, facilities and objects of all kinds to minimise hazards and prevent damages.
The Nuclear Power and Decommissioning Business Line of TÜV SÜD, which has roughly 500 experts, has been providing support to the nuclear industry and innovating within the nuclear science field for more than 50 years. Under its remit, the division is tasked with inspecting the components for nuclear plants and its overall operations and decommissioning of nuclear facilities. The division continually inspects power plants and facilities throughout their entire life cycle.
When travel restrictions brought on by the pandemic impacted the firm’s ability to perform its traditional inspection process, it hoped to carry out inspections remotely. Its innovation management team researched a variety of smart glasses solutions before approaching oculavis, a German software vendor who works closely with RealWear on an integrated solution. TÜV SÜD selected a fleet of RealWear HMT-1 assisted reality devices due to its rugged, durable design. The selected software, oculavis SHARE, enables remote guidance for visually connecting experts and technicians and provides self-guided augmented reality workflows and step-by-step instructions to make technical knowledge directly accessible to the wearer, without the need to call an expert.
“The pandemic was a major accelerator for the adoption of wearables for our division, as we quickly realised the value that it bought to our entire operations,” commented Christoph Gatzen, Head of I&C and Electrical Division and of the Inspection Body according to DIN EN ISO/IEC 17020 at TÜV SÜD Energietechnik GmbH. “For TÜV SÜD, it’s important that we ensure our customers know we are up to date with the latest technology. We are a modern company that continually looks to invest in digital transformation for the benefit of our end customers.”
Because the nuclear industry is highly regulated for both personnel and environmental safety, it is only allowed to use specially qualified nuclear equipment for safety-related components. An inspection – conducted by TÜV SÜD – to assess the safety and quality of a newly built nuclear power plant prior to the deployment of RealWear would typically involve costly travel to various factories involved in the production process, as plants are stationed all over the world and the number of nuclear experts is limited. As a result, a formal inspection requires time-consuming travel.
“TÜV SÜD has always had a mission of protecting people from technology-related risks and now it is using technology to allow it to continue working in a safer, more sustainable way,” says Christoph Gatzen.
oculavis SHARE on RealWear’s assisted reality solution enabled TÜV SÜD to offer a remote inspection service. Distance no longer became a barrier as global experts could view what an onsite inspector, wearing RealWear’s HMT-1, was seeing from anywhere in the world. The HMT-1 also provides the ability for videos and pictures to be taken by the wearer and shared with an expert.
Since deploying the technology TÜV SÜD’s nuclear business has witnessed significant benefits. A recent project using remote collaboration saved seven intercontinental flights alone. The cost and environmental benefits for both TÜV SÜD and the end customer were significant, saving roughly 11 hours of travel time and approximately four thousand euros per flight. The technology has also offered safety benefits in that it can be operated hands-free, ensuring that the wearer is not distracted whilst carrying out an inspection.
“Now that TÜV SÜD is familiar with assisted reality, it sees a number of possible benefits for it and its customers,” said Jon Arnold, Vice President of EMEA, RealWear Inc. “In particular the ability to be directly connected with an expert and solve a problem, all via a simple phone call.”
“Remote inspections are a top application for RealWear and oculavis SHARE. After thorough market research, TÜV SÜD also decided in favour of oculavis, confirming our position as a market leader with our Enterprise Remote Assistance solution oculavis SHARE,” said Markus Große Böckmann, Founder & Managing Director, oculavis.
As part of its continued digital transformation plans, TÜV SÜD is looking to define further use cases for the solution. In addition to using the technology for remote inspections within its nuclear division, the company has deployed 100 devices to date across a number of its business lines including automotive, windmills, medical, real estate, oil & gas, rail and chemical services.
About RealWear
RealWear® is the world’s leading provider of assisted reality wearable solutions that engage, empower, and elevate the modern frontline industrial worker to perform work tasks more safely, and with increased efficiency and precision. RealWear gives these workers real-time access to information and expertise, while keeping their hands and field of view free for work. Workers use voice-controlled commands – even in high noise environments – to collaborate with remote experts or navigate through workflows. RealWear offers the only assisted reality wearable solutions fully supported by the world’s leading video conferencing applications. RealWear is compatible with worker PPE, purpose-built for industry and enterprise, and features the only “all shift” battery in its category. RealWear is field proven with world-class customers, including Shell, Goodyear, Mars, Colgate-Palmolive, and BMW, who use it to improve workplace safety while delivering unprecedented ROI.
RealWear is headquartered in Vancouver, Washington in the United States, with local offices in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands, and Korea, along with a new customer experience center in Dubai. RealWear’s number one position was further strengthened with triple (3X) year-over-year growth in 2020. The company has shipped wearable devices to more than 5,000 unique enterprise customers worldwide in a range of industries, including Energy, Manufacturing, Food & Beverage, Automotive, and Telecommunications.
For more information, visit realwear.com.
About TÜV SÜD
Founded in 1866 as a steam boiler inspection association, the TÜV SÜD Group has evolved into a global enterprise. More than 25,000 employees work at over 1.000 locations in about 50 countries to continually improve technology, systems and expertise. They contribute significantly to making technical innovations such as Industry 4.0, autonomous driving and renewable energy safe and reliable. www.tuvsud.com
About oculavis
oculavis is redefining the way humans, machines and processes are interacting. With the multi-award-winning software solution oculavis SHARE the digital transformation of cross-locational processes in maintenance, customer service or quality tasks becomes reality. Industrial-grade augmented reality technology, remote support and workflows for standard work are united in one innovative platform. The core value of the solution lies in the efficient implementation of processes that globally connect people, knowledge, and machinery & equipment. oculavis SHARE enables fast service, increased machine availability, reduced travel costs and empowers machine builders to establish innovative digital business models in service. Visit oculavis at https://oculavis.de and connect with us on LinkedIn or follow us on YouTube.