Total Scores Seamless Business Continuity with Remote Hands-Free Collaboration

Total S.A. announced today an inspiring digital transformation story in the energy sector, making the impossible happen.

BOTTOM LINE: Microsoft Teams on RealWear continues to be a popular intrinsically safe solution for industrial customers looking to deploy a Remote Collaboration solution for business continuity.

Total’s La Porte plant is the largest single-site polypropylene plant in the North America and produces 2.7 billion pounds of polypropylene per year. In addition to masks and gowns, the pellets are used for food packaging, tapes, carpet yarns, absorbent products, caps and closures, geotextiles, small appliances, housewares, disposables, outdoor furniture and toys.

Video of Total Deploying RealWear Hands-Free Intrinsically Safe Devices with Microsoft Teams

Outfitting Total’s field operators with ruggedized RealWear headsets enables them to connect with their technical and engineering staff in real-time to quickly diagnose an operational issue or handle a need for equipment maintenance. These field operators are now Connected Workers.

The set-up is simple. Field operators put on the headset and make a Microsoft Teams call with just their voice. They can even have multiple people on Teams at once to look at a problem from all different points of view, sharing screens, displays, data, and more.

According to Total, the use of the wearable solution speeds up and improves technical assistance while enhancing the teams’ responsiveness in a safe manner in case of an unplanned event at their La Porte site.

From Total’s press release:

“Connecting our field operators to experts on the other side of the world is particularly topical at a time when travel is restricted and more people work remotely. But above all, the launch of Microsoft Teams on RealWear at Total’s La Porte site in Texas is another step in our industrial digital transformation. It makes Total’s operations safer and more efficient by executing better decisions faster. It also allows us to improve our operational excellence over the long run, and create the petrochemicals plant of tomorrow.”

Eric Duchesne
Senior Vice President Manufacturing and Project Division
Total Refining and Chemicals.

“With its high-resolution camera and noise cancellation, RealWear is able to put eyes on the job from anywhere in the world, saving travel costs while keeping everybody safely at a distance. The ability for an expert to connect to the headset remotely, view the scene on live video, examine small details captured in still photos, and speak directly with the operator enables remote teams to assess the situation as it unfolds as though they were actually on the ground themselves.”

Sanjay Jhawar
Co-founder and President
RealWear. 

“Total’s rapid deployment of Microsoft Teams on RealWear demonstrates the unlimited possibilities of remote collaboration with RealWear and Microsoft during this ‘new normal.’ The solution is fully integrated, and has quickly become a compelling solution for our joint customers – many of whom require uptime and productivity even when logistical challenges seem insurmountable. Now for the first time at Total, experts can quickly share screens with the first line, and the first line can snap photos and share issues with knowledge workers no matter where they are. It’s possible to bring an entire plant back online, by making a single hands-free call.”

Mayank Verma
Director of Product Marketing
Microsoft 365 for Firstline Workers at Microsoft.

Total is a broad-energy company that produces and markets fuels, natural gas and low-carbon electricity. Our 100,000 employees are committed to better energy that is safer, more affordable, cleaner and accessible to as many people as possible. Active in more than 130 countries, our ambition is to become the responsible energy major. www.total.com 

RealWear® is a knowledge transfer platform company providing in-situ information and in-the-field training with software and hardware to help people improve safety and increase productivity at work. The company’s flagship product, the HMT-1®, is the leading ruggedized head-mounted, wearable, Android-class tablet computer that frees a worker’s hands for dangerous jobs. With an ever-growing number of hands-free software solutions, enterprise customers gain instant knowledge with remote mentor, document navigation, industrial IoT visualization, video micro-training and digital workflow solutions. Global leaders in energy, manufacturing and automotive industries trust the HMT-1 and HMT-1Z1® to empower and connect their global workforce.