46th FVI Expert Breakfast

Topic: "Drones & Inspection Technologies: Tool Instead of Toy" – How flying, driving, and swimming systems replace dangerous inspections and generate new data for maintenance.

The session made it clear that industrial drones are far more than cameras with propellers. As mobile high-tech data collectors, they capture high-resolution images, videos, 3D models, and spatially located damage points in containers, chimneys, boilers, channels, or shafts.

• Safety First – Technology instead of people in danger zones: The main benefit is keeping employees out of tight, high, or collapse-prone structures. In one instance, a drone was destroyed by rockfall in a deep shaft. The key insight: The loss of the device was acceptable—a person in a basket would have been at significant risk. Even regulatory inspections of long pressure lines can now sometimes be documented without risky descents with ropes, cameras, and complex rescue plans.
• Massive time and cost advantages during downtime: For a container about 25 meters high, the traditional process would have required two days of scaffolding setup, one day of inspection, and two days of dismantling. The drone inspection was completed with several flights in about six hours. This reduced the inspection effort from five days to one day and avoided scaffolding costs worth around 15,000 euros. At the same time, high-resolution photos and videos of all relevant welds were produced.
• Images become spatially assignable findings: The integrated laser scanner generates 3D models in which flight paths, photo positions, and anomalies are spatially traceable. This not only allows for the identification of damage but also pinpoints its exact location. Especially for deformed containers, combustion chambers, shafts, or poorly documented intermediate ceilings, this provides a reliable basis for repair planning, condition comparison, and recurring inspections.
• The real problem begins after the flight: The generated JPEGs, videos, and 3D data often end up on desktops or in network folders. This results in a lack of asset assignment, systematic history, and comparison with previous inspections. Especially for semi-annual inspections, it would be valuable to revisit defined positions, make changes visible, and directly generate a report or order in the asset management system. AI-supported damage analyses and interfaces to inspection software are emerging but are not yet a widespread standard.

Context: From drone video to intelligent asset lifecycle record

The episode fits perfectly with our strategy because it shows: New inspection technologies generate valuable data—but the operational benefit only arises when this data is structured, searchable, and connected to maintenance processes.

• Inspection data disappears into file storage: Photos, videos, 3D models, and inspection reports are often stored separately on local drives or in disorganized folder structures. We consolidate this information in ADAM, asset-centered in a Digital Lifecycle Record. Every drone flight, every damage image, every inspection report, and every derived action is chronologically assigned to the correct asset. This ensures knowledge remains available, even if responsibilities change or several years pass between inspections.
• A finding does not automatically lead to action: A damaged component in the video is initially just an observation. Without a connection to a report, order, responsible person, and follow-up action, the process remains manual. With ADAM, we create Operational Intelligence between inspection data and maintenance processes. Through open interfaces and no-code workflows, findings can be structured, actions triggered, and information passed on to existing systems like SAP or other EAM solutions. ADAM does not replace these systems but makes the generated data usable in everyday work.
• Historical comparisons fail due to inconsistent data: Recurring inspections are particularly valuable if it is possible to trace how corrosion, deposits, cracks, or deformations develop over time. In traditional storage, this comparison is cumbersome and heavily reliant on the knowledge of individual people. Our Hybrid Search connects structured asset data with unstructured images, reports, comments, and documents. This allows technicians to find previous findings even if file names, folders, or descriptions are inconsistent. As a SaaS platform, ADAM creates a searchable and auditable asset history for maintenance, compliance, and safety.

Conclusion: Drones make dangerous plant areas visible. ADAM ensures that these images become lasting asset knowledge, traceable decisions, and concrete maintenance actions.