DMT achieves project milestones amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
DMT International’s Chief Commercial Officer, Francois Huberts, explains 2020 has been a success for the biogas upgrading technology supplier despite the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“It’s been a challenge but DMT has continued its commissioning activities and technical support to projects around the globe. The main offices in Joure, Holland and Portland, Oregon have proven that DMT can quickly adapt in order to meet our customers’ priorities. We won four projects in Europe and the U.S while also commissioning four dairy-to-biomethane systems in Wisconsin for Nacelle Solutions and US Gain. Our projects in Denmark, Texas and Minnesota also remain on track with commissioning expected to close at the end of the fiscal year.”
Francois Huberts, CCO of DMT International
Commissioning Activities and Daily Operations
On March 11, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic with both Europe and the U.S. instating travel bans shortly after. On July 1, the European Union and other European countries began welcoming non-essential travel from a list of selected countries who had the COVID-19 pandemic sufficiently under control. The U.S. was not on the list. Such continuous travel restrictions leave organizations with global operations unable to resume business as usual models, creating business disruption as well as supply chain challenges.
“We have had to quickly adapt our day-to-day operations, such as working from home, and acclimate to the more challenging issues, such as travel ban restrictions and managing the supply chain. DMT’s hardworking team was already used to operating as a global company, working with experts in different time zones. Working remotely is daily business,” said Huberts.
Francois Huberts
When overcoming the more difficult issues, DMT looked to tele-remote solutions, such as head-mounted, PPE-compatible glasses with high-resolution micro displays fitting just below the viewer’s line of sight. These glasses offer hands-free, voice control options and can be used for remote mentor video calling, document navigation, guided workflow, mobile forms and industrial IoT data visualization.
“Physical support from our Joure office has not been possible for our U.S. projects. We’ve adapted to using innovative solutions, such as these clever computer glasses, which were already being used in the field for our customers with 24/7 service site support. Now our team wears them, allowing colleagues unable to travel to see through the eyes of those in the field. Engineers can collaborate, easily cast instructions to each other, assist when logged into the system, or provide insight on the SCADA system.”
Robert Lems, general manager of the Portland office
Supply Chain and Technical Support Solutions
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, DMT applied the same approach to improve visibility across the end-to-end supply chain. They used these computer glasses to perform remote Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) with their suppliers, enabling clients and global engineers to be present for an important project milestone. This solution proved so successful that DMT plans to continue this model for all projects, thereby, increasing collaboration, expanding knowledge transfer, and reducing travel costs.
“Expertise is a precious commodity these days. Sometimes there isn’t enough to go around. Previously, we would send out two to four specialists in the field but now we can send our global organization, so to speak, with just our local team. Given our vast distribution of new biogas upgrading and gas desulfurization plants, it costs DMT both time and money to send specialists to sites, not to mention the downtime from travel fatigue upon arrival. Remote support makes the world a smaller place and that spells benefits for both DMT and our customers.”
Francois Huberts
Leveraging advanced technologies, such as these head-mounted devices, help companies adapt and anticipate future challenges. Whether it is an event like COVID-19, regulatory change, sudden spikes in demand, or labor dispute, organizations like DMT will be ready to deal with the unexpected.
Author: Missy Lee