D O W PETER VOORHANS Peter Voorhans (Global Improvement Leader): "Dow is a permanent partner of KicMPi. Every year we indicate what we are interested in. Robotics is high on our agenda, because as of 2025 we will no longer be able to have people work in enclosed spaces. So Smart Tooling was a project in which we were happy to participate". "You prefer to interrupt a continuous production process as little as possible. Nevertheless, our factories must be in optimum condition to guarantee safety for people and the environment, and to supply the desired products. Cleaning is usually a necessity for inspection. And many installations are difficult to access". "Our ultimate dream is to inspect during operation: you put in a measuring instrument that works well in a barrel of chemicals. Within this Interreg project, something like that has started to take shape. Literally. We are looking forward to the moment when the Inspection Ball is ready for use. 51 This is a groundbreaking development. We also like to help with further ‘teaching’ the software, so that the ball gets to know the damage mechanisms in a tank. It must be done step by step, and together we will succeed. "Dow has , like BASF, contributed to Smart Tooling from a common interest. We were always in sync with them and had an excellent contact. The cooperation with knowledge institutions such as Avans, and the universities in Ghent and Twente, was also extremely important. In the future, however, we will have to think about secondary vocational education. After all, they will be the ones working with the new tools. "It all went very well. Especially the flying in with drones and the cleaning project has been very successful. And hopefully soon we’ll get a working inspection ball".
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