Standardized customization: contradiction or holy grail?
For many customers, our company name is synonymous with tailor-made solutions. And rightly so, because for decades we have done nothing else. With great success and pleasure, by the way. And even though we continue to do so, we have been increasingly modular in our approach in recent years. This has only advantages for us […]
A butcher who inspects his own meat has several advantages
Measuring instruments come in all shapes and sizes in manufacturing companies. In the pipe coating industry for example, this ranges from peeling testers and cathodic disbonding testers to robotics with vision technologies for surface inspection. Selling these devices ourselves allows us to take control of the pace of innovation. In other words, a butcher who […]
When the going gets tough, our Concepts Team gets going
The A-team was without a doubt one of the most popular TV series ever. The combination of tough guys, determination and a high degree of resourcefulness appealed to the imagination of countless people worldwide. At Selmers we have our own ‘C-team’ that shows some resemblance with the TV heroes, in a different but equally exciting […]
VR simulation reduces actual commissioning costs dramatically
Computer simulation comes in all kinds of applications. Many virtual worlds are purely for fun, such as racing games or SimCity. And although several colleagues at Selmers are certainly not averse to this, this blog is primarily about business VR applications. Much like flight, ship and drive simulators, Selmers in turn uses Virtual Reality to […]
The technology train has arrived. Don’t miss it.
Technology is evolving at a dizzying pace across most, if not all industries. While many Plant Managers are still somewhat cautious, others have already embraced some of these technologies after successfully mobilizing internal support for the associated investment. Although Rome wasn’t built in one day either, taking the first steps towards Industry 4.0 soon is […]
Taking safety in heavy industries to the next level
Unlike many modern household appliances, installing heavy-duty pipe blasting and coating equipment is not a matter of plug & play. Another striking difference is the degree of danger involved in operating them. Finding the delicate balance between production demands on one hand and safety requirements on the other can be very challenging. Selmers puts safety […]
Standardization by modularity provides flexibility to quickly move equipment and factories
After years in which customization was considered the holy grail, almost everyone nowadays strives for standardization. From a cost point of view and in order to be able to reuse knowledge, this makes perfect sense. By adding modularity to standardization, for example within our own SPMS, we can flexibly automate a wide range of industries. […]
Never stop asking ‘why’
‘Dad, why doesn’t anyone pass the ball to the man with the whistle?’ ‘Because he is the referee, son.’ ‘Mom, why do you never switch channels on TV?’ ‘Because I can also watch Netflix, dear.’ Just some ordinary questions children would ask their parents out of curiosity. Once we grow up, however, many of us have a hard […]
Losing control of your processes? Get a grip!
In controlling your processes, the use of KPIs and the subsequent reporting on them, are key. However, in the pipe blasting and coating business, the amount of data that can actually be used for analysis is generally limited. The same goes for functionalities of the average PLC. Hence, many production sites are suffering from control […]
Improving plant performance is a joint effort
Commissioning our pipe blasting and coating equipment at the client’s site is something we still look forward to and enjoy doing at Selmers. Unlike with real children, this includes leaving our ‘baby’ in other people’s arms afterwards. Then again, it hardly ever ends there. We usually stay involved for its entire existence to literally watch […]
