Case Study · Dairy Manufacturing
Commissioning a Global Dairy Plant On Time, Without Travel
A leading dairy manufacturer commissioned a $40 million plant on schedule during the COVID-19 pandemic by connecting overseas experts to the plant floor through Telepresenz® Smart Ops™, eliminating the need for any international travel.
- Client
- Confidential Global Dairy Producer
- Industry
- Dairy / Food & Beverage Manufacturing
- Scale
- $40M new production and quality-upgrade facility
- Worker Environment
- Explosive dust environment with PPE-restricted access
- IT Environment
- Secure public cloud enabling remote access for global experts
- Devices
- RealWear HMT-1Z1 (intrinsically safe) and handhelds for onsite teams; desktops and laptops for remote specialists
The Challenge
A global dairy company had completed construction of a new $40 million processing facility aimed at boosting production efficiency and product quality. The plant’s commissioning phase required direct support from multiple overseas suppliers, including automation, process, and control system vendors, to calibrate and synchronize equipment across complex interdependent systems.
However, international travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible for these experts to be physically present. Remote collaboration tools in use, such as emails and conference calls, were inadequate for resolving technical issues or verifying system behavior in real time.
Operating in an explosive dust environment further limited the number of onsite personnel and required intrinsically safe devices. Delays in commissioning risked disrupting the upcoming milk season, jeopardizing supply contracts and production targets.
Delaying commissioning by even a month would have meant lost milk volume and missed contract commitments.
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The Solution
To overcome travel restrictions and maintain safety and schedule integrity, the company deployed Telepresenz® Smart Ops™ to enable remote, real-time collaboration between local plant teams and international subject-matter experts.
Onsite technicians used RealWear HMT-1Z1 head-mounted wearables and handheld devices to live-stream visual data from the plant floor. Remote experts located across Europe and Asia joined sessions via Smart Ops™, gaining a first-person perspective of the equipment in operation.
Multiple specialists (mechanical, electrical, and automation) collaborated simultaneously, annotating live feeds, sharing schematics, and guiding calibration. All sessions were recorded to build an auditable knowledge base and support post-commissioning analysis.
Plant-based project managers leveraged Smart Ops™ dashboards to coordinate daily progress, monitor milestones, and ensure consistent decision-making throughout the six-month startup phase.
Smart Ops allowed our international experts to be virtually present through every stage of commissioning — without ever stepping into the plant.
The Results
The new dairy plant was successfully commissioned on schedule, despite global travel restrictions. Remote collaboration eliminated the need for international site visits, saving significant time and cost while maintaining operational quality and compliance. Real-time multi-expert engagement accelerated troubleshooting, improved safety oversight, and ensured every subsystem was verified and validated before production ramp-up. Within six months, the plant achieved full production capacity and stabilized key quality metrics.
- On-time completion of commissioning despite global lockdowns
- Seamless collaboration between international experts and local plant teams
- Elimination of costly travel while maintaining high-quality oversight
- Real-time visibility and traceability for every commissioning task
- Safer working conditions through hands-free operations in hazardous zones
We achieved first-milk production exactly on time — Smart Ops made remote commissioning a reality.
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