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High-tech smart glasses help EPCM and global clients collaborate during pandemic

March 1, 2021

When the global pandemic of 2020 brought international travel to a sudden halt, EPCM quickly pivoted to a high-tech solution that seems out of a James Bond movie: smart glasses that provide live eyes on any scene.

This meant that the EPCM team in Canada could see, in real-time, what the team at a mineral processing company in Peru was seeing during the commissioning of new EPCM equipment.

In pre-pandemic times, an EPCM crew member would travel to a mine site to assist in person with such projects, and even the best teleconferencing technology cannot replace the value of in-person support.

But thanks to the use of RealWear smart glasses, the team in Canada provided step-by-step expertise, able to see exactly what the workers saw while installing EPCM automation equipment at the Marcobre Mina Justa.

The goal was ambitious: to complete the construction and commission phase at the Peru copper mine with no delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thanks in part to the RealWear glasses – and the ingenuity of team members on two continents – the commissioning project was successfully completed.

It was a daunting task since EPCM had never previously commissioned a complex robotic system without key personnel on-site, but the project’s success demonstrates the importance of being nimble and creative.

The use of cutting-edge communications tools is one of the ways EPCM stays nimble to adapt to customer needs, even when the challenges are global in scale.

“Finding solutions to unexpected challenges is something we take a lot of pride in at EPCM,” said Gerard Foley, Project Manager, EPCM Automation. “Even when the world changes suddenly, we adapt so we can help our clients do the same.”

Read more about how EPCM overcame the obstacles presented by COVID-19 in our project summary. Contact us to learn how we can help you streamline processes and boost your bottom line with our end-to-end solutions.

About EPCM: 

Established in 1980, EPCM is a global engineering, procurement and construction management firm. We address our clients’ most difficult manufacturing and operational challenges by applying our bold thinking, industry insights, end-to-end services and global capability.