The Innovative Collaboration Will Commercialize Innovative Digital Solutions That Promote Safety and Productivity in Industrial Maintenance and Construction
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – April 14, 2022 – Shell Global Solutions US Inc. (Shell) and Cumulus Digital Systems, Inc. (Cumulus), announced today that Shell has exclusively licensed to Cumulus two technologies that use IoT and data analytics to improve safety and productivity in industrial maintenance and construction.
The technologies, WeldScout and the Hydrostatic Test Inspection System (HTS), were originally developed by Shell’s technology development center in Boston, Shell TechWorks, as part of Shell’s future of construction initiative. Licensing the technology to Cumulus will ensure that critical manual fieldwork is performed right the first time, every time, and safer.
A recent Autodesk/FMI study found that correcting poor work quality costs construction companies and their customers about $625 billion each year, and this rework is responsible for 39% of all workplace injuries in construction. This impacts more than 1 million construction workers and their families each year.
WeldScout uses image analysis techniques to evaluate Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing (PAUT) scans and identify potential welding defects. This saves time by helping welding inspectors focus on scans with the highest probability of failures. WeldScout was successfully deployed on a large construction project by Shell and demonstrated a significant increase in inspection speed compared to traditional methods, increasing both processing speeds and weld data per hour. The global market for welding-related products is expected to grow from $30.5 billion in 2021 to $37.2 billion by 2025, at a 5.1% CAGR.
HTS digitalizes data capture during hydrostatic testing activities. Hydrostatic testing is the most common method for inspecting pressurized equipment for leaks and structural integrity. This testing is traditionally a labor-intensive, time-consuming process where data is typically captured with analog gauges and recorded on paper using chart recorders. The hydrostatic testing market is reported to be $582 million globally and is expected to grow at a 4.7% CAGR in 2022.
WeldScout and HTS will be integrated with the Cumulus WorkFlow platform. Cumulus launched WorkFlow in October 2021, to expand its platform from the original focus on bolted joint assembly to managing virtually any industrial work activity and integrating with virtually any sensor or tool with compatible connectivity.
“We are excited to work with Shell to bring WeldScout and HTS to market,” said Cumulus CEO Matthew Kleiman. “Because of their common heritage with our own technology, we can quickly integrate these systems with the Cumulus WorkFlow platform and deploy a comprehensive quality management and productivity solution for our customers, providing unparalleled digital assurance for critical bolted joint, welding, and pressure testing activities.”
“This is a great opportunity to continue leveraging Cumulus, which spun out of TechWorks in 2018, as a commercialization vehicle for Shell-developed solutions like WeldScout and HTS,” said Amedeo Conti, General Manager of Shell TechWorks. “The integration of these TechWorks technologies into the Cumulus WorkFlow aligns with our collective vision of delivering a system solution where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”
Those interested in learning more about these offerings should contact Cumulus at info@cumulusds.com.
About Cumulus
Cumulus digitalizes manual work that is mission-critical, high volume, and difficult to automate to ensure that this work is done right the first time, every time. Its software improves the quality and productivity of safety-critical workflows, and is used to configure and visualize work activities across a wide range of industries. Cumulus is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts with a second location in Houston, Texas. Learn more at www.cumulusds.com.
About Shell
Shell Global Solutions, Inc. is an affiliate of the Shell plc, a global group of energy and petrochemical companies with operations in more than 70 countries. In the U.S., Shell operates in 50 states and employs more than 16,000 people working to help tackle the challenges of the new energy future.
