Huisman’s comprehensive portfolio of Remote Support services
In an industry with day rates which can average EUR 300,000 for an offshore installation vessel or even more than EUR 400,000 for a drillship, just 10 minutes downtime can result in significant costs and operational delays.
In this White Paper we outline our comprehensive portfolio of remote services which are designed to maximise uptime, ensuring we get our clients’ equipment up and running again as soon as possible.
Huisman’s Emergency Telephone Support, Remote Access Service, our pioneering Huisman Eye, and the upcoming personalised Performance Insights, which is set to launch by the end of this year, give clients uninterrupted access to expert assistance. The new Performance Insights also enables Huisman and our clients to analyse the status of their equipment, with real-time data available at the click of a mouse. Utilising this information will ultimately allow Huisman’s clients to benefit from predictive maintenance services, ensuring their equipment is always in top condition.
Emergency Telephone Support
Huisman’s Emergency Telephone Support is always the first point of contact should a problem arise or for any operational questions. Clients can receive immediate assistance whether they are performing drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico or installing monopile foundations at a wind farm in the North Sea. Our experienced technical support personnel, specialised in troubleshooting and fault finding, are available 24/7 around the globe. We ‘follow the sun’, therefore engineers are in the same time zone.
Service Operational Lead, Ton Commissaris comments: “Clients can reach our expert engineers straight away via the support line - they get fast and comprehensive answers within minutes. Usually, the client informs us that an alarm has been generated and we analyse it to see if there is an electrical problem or one with the control systems. We can see the best and most efficient way it should be handled – whether by Remote Access if it’s a software issue, Huisman Eye for a mechanical/electrical problem or of course, if a Service Engineer needs to be sent to the client’s location.”
This preliminary assessment not only speeds up the resolution process, but also streamlines subsequent support procedures, reducing potential downtime substantially. This service enables clients to quickly overcome operational challenges and resume normal activities as soon as possible.
Additionally, Ton points out that the Service Support team are not just contacted in emergency situations. “Sometimes we receive questions that equipment is perhaps suffering too much wear and tear in their opinion. Therefore, we can investigate what’s going on. This will be even easier when the new Performance Insights is launched. At the end of the day, everyone at Huisman understands that our clients require reliability - uptime - therefore we all focus on solving the problem as soon as possible.”
Remote Access Service
As mentioned, based on the initial assessment over the telephone, Huisman selects the best method to solve the problem. If a software issue is identified to be the likely cause, the client is immediately put in touch with our Remote Access specialists.
This service extends well beyond email and telephone support. Instead, our service professionals make a safe and speedy direct digital connection to the client’s PC and can remotely monitor, analyse, and troubleshoot on the client’s behalf.
Through this interface, which is available for all crane types, access winches, drilling and pipe laying towers etc., the Huisman engineers can also make software modifications to PLC, SCADA, and drive systems.
Huisman has developed this service over many years so it can offer clients the most advanced security and connection speeds. Alongside our own efforts, improvements have been made possible because of new levels of high-speed internet connectivity thanks to better satellite connections.
Martin van Gool, Service Operations Manager, explains: “A decade ago, fast internet connectivity was simply not available on many vessels and the limitations of the bandwidth meant that connections could only be maintained for perhaps 30 minutes, which may not be enough to solve the issue. But now even smaller vessels have access to full bandwidth speeds.”
Huisman has made it a priority to focus on safety protocols, which are updated constantly by the IT department. “We make sure the client has a safe connection, and that their data is secure.”
More than half of emergency situations are successfully solved by remote access within hours and certainly before close of business (COB). “We aim for a first-time right solution and clients benefit because we are not flying in engineers,” Martin stresses.
Bianca van der Knoop, Control Systems Engineer, agrees, adding: “The Huisman Remote Access service is more secure and much quicker when clients need immediate help. For example, perhaps they have an alarm going off because a sensor is broken. But it is not always clear where the sensor is located. A Huisman remote service professional can access the client’s system. We can ‘see’ almost everything, and in real time.
“Clients benefit from being helped swiftly and problems are solved without an engineer having to be onsite, leading to substantial savings. Our clients use the Remote Access Support Service because they cannot afford any downtime – they want to stay connected!”
Huisman Eye
In addition to our Remote Access service, another important support tool provided, is the trailblazing Huisman Eye.
Designed to get operations up and running as quickly as possible, the Huisman Eye highlights that the company is a front runner in using assisted reality technology.
Essentially, our expert professionals are our client's eyes. They immerse themselves in the operational environment and can monitor or help our client perform repairs using virtual eyewear technology. This innovative service facilitates real-time monitoring, remote assistance, and training, helping clients to quickly identify faults. Huisman's experts can also provide tailored advice and training, resulting in faster problem resolution.
Jordy Kreeft, Product Owner Data Driven Services, emphasises: “Using digital glasses we are ‘in the client’s working environment’, helping them to solve an issue or provide guidance during operations. The crew member or engineer aboard is hands-free and we see exactly what he or she is seeing. This saves a lot of time – rather than describing something over the telephone, we can immediately find the location of the problem. It is easy to make assumptions and have misunderstandings, especially in stressful situations. Plus, there could be many different nationalities on board, with multiple languages being spoken, so receiving real-time visuals helps enormously!”
“If clients are in the middle of the ocean and run into an issue costing thousands of dollars a minute, the Huisman Eye and our Remote Access services provide help immediately. We don’t have to fly an engineer in, there are no costly travelling hours and of course, this is more sustainable - significantly reducing CO2 emissions and the client’s carbon footprint,” Martin says.
myHuisman© and new Performance Insights
A one-stop platform
Huisman launched the new myHuisman© portal two years ago, which had been redesigned focusing on individual clients’ requirements. Importantly, Huisman worked together with an Advisory Board, which included a diverse variety of clients from different sectors, to develop the personalised portal.
Improving response times significantly, myHuisman© is designed to put all of the clients’ needs in one, easily accessible portal. It comprises three core pillars: a Parts Shop, Technical Library, and a Knowledge Base including a smart ticketing system. This combination makes monitoring, maintenance, and the service of Huisman equipment more efficient and predictable.
Clients can see the progress of their purchase orders and get in touch with a Huisman representative for example. What really makes the platform stand out is the fact that it is entirely personalised. The client can see their own vessels, cranes, and other equipment, including drawings, manuals, reports, lead times, prices - from the largest component down to the tiniest bolt.
Just for the breakdown structure alone, this can result in thousands of parts for a crane, for example. “Clients can easily see how requests are being handled and have access to all their documents in one place. And in the Parts Shop, they can directly order items that need replacing,” Sophie du Mortier, Marketeer Services, points out.
Performance Insights
We have now taken another major step in the myHuisman© portal’s development and will be introducing the new Performance Insights, which is set to go live in the following months.
Here, clients can monitor the performance and see the status of their equipment. This future-forward technology will ultimately lead to predictive maintenance, preventing downtime and saving costs. Based on the data collected, Huisman can see any defects that have occurred, as well as the actions taken before and afterwards. This gives the team and the client insight into why the error has occurred and what action needs to be taken to prevent it happening again.
Five apps will be included on the new dashboard, giving clients a high-level overview:
- Equipment
- Alarms & Warnings
- Energy consumption
- Components
- Systems
Jordy says: “We can, for instance, notify our clients if we see that the energy consumers are getting too warm, or that more power is needed. With the benefit of this analysis clients know that they will need to exchange components in the coming months or order new parts. In the future, we can even anticipate their needs and make sure the parts have been dispatched before the client has identified the need to replace them.”
Martin adds: “The many benefits of predictive maintenance are clear. Clients can plan their maintenance according to the analysis of the data. They may not have to drydock their vessel – at a cost of hundreds of thousands of euros – as soon as they expected. This allows them to be very flexible, without risking the success of a project. Gearboxes may have a 20-year lifespan officially but after five years they only have 0.7% wear, so why not continue with the ongoing project rather than put the vessel into drydock? Perhaps it can be postponed for a year?”
The Performance Insights gives our clients confidence to postpone inspections, while knowing their components are still regularly being maintained and in top condition. This saves vast amounts of money, and it is also more sustainable.
“Rather than react when something breaks down, it is a huge benefit if we know the current condition of the equipment and gathering this information makes maintenance more predictable,” Sophie adds. An example is highlighted in the offshore wind industry, where there is often a lot of repetitive work installing foundations and turbines. “If clients can have more control over the components’ wear and tear, rather than just consider their design life, they can maximise uptime and minimise downtime. It’s all about being in control!”