Pilot plant

On the grounds of the Tata Steel Academy in Velsen-Noord is the pilot plant for smart maintenance. The setup is actual size and consists of a 50 m3 water tank, with 4 pumps and numerous valves, valves and peripheral equipment connected to it. The pilot plant is set up so that installations can be added if desired.

This facility was set up by Facta and Semiotic Labs, two project partners from the ERDF program. In the pilot plant, all project partners test their sensors and software. The pilot plant is also available to other Techport partners and is used for training purposes. The Royal Navy recently conducted a study in the pilot plant about which an article was published in the maintenance trade journal T.I.M..

Director Jeffrey Schotvanger of Facta on the lineup:

 The great advantage of a test setup compared to practice is that you can have parts break down on purpose. As a result, the sensors learn to recognize things better and we can eventually perform predictable maintenance based on algorithms. In addition, you can also use this to show customers what you are doing, which convinces them to participate in pilots, with which we can gather even more data. We also placed a number of sensors from Semiotic Labs in the real processes of Tata Steel, among others.'