BEHEMOTH

Enabling a wider variety of stakeholders to see how critical work activities actually occur in reality can unlock significant potential for collaboration across a business.

Deploying suitable device technology where work occurs allows video, audio and data to be broadcast directly to remote personnel for passive observation or active collaboration in real time.

With live video streaming technology, VIPs, JV partners, customers, investors and senior executives can witness milestone events first-hand from boardrooms, desktops or simply mobile devices.

By combining appropriate cameras and field microphones with secure and reliable connectivity, businesses can provide high-resolution video access to remote or hazardous sites, where scheduling and safety concerns may restrict physical access.

Beyond simply providing access, camera technology offers new and informative perspectives on work activities—whether mounted on machinery, worn by workers, or streamed from aerial drones. Noise-cancelling microphones can capture clear observational commentary in noisy industrial environments.

Using advanced video conferencing platforms in conjunction with rugged wearable headsets, offsite managers can give approvals, and remote experts can guide field technicians through inspections and service critical infrastructure, potentially minimising downtime.

UAVs have become standard tools for inspecting large, or hard-to-reach sites, such as tall structures or pipelines. Equipped with specialised cameras, drones can inspect equipment faults or maintenance issues on inaccessible sites and industrial infrastructure.

In addition to clear, well-written descriptions using correct and commonly understood terminology, work documentation is further enhanced with images, video, audio and data.

Recording critical work in high-quality video and audio with multiple camera views, transcribed dialogue, timecode logging, movement tracking and sensor data enrich the business intelligence derived from these assets.

However, capturing these assets and information requires careful planning in active work environments due to safety, access, disruption and scheduling concerns. Critical maintenance often occurs irregularly, and construction activities only once, presenting rare or unique opportunities to create valuable records for future use.

The capture process and required equipment are heavily influenced by the nature of the work, the environment in which it takes place, and the intended use of the resulting assets. Capture techniques vary widely, presentation formats are diverse, and media processing can be time-consuming.

Detailed process mapping is the guide for a successful work capture project. While external expertise can be engaged for support, internal resources familiar with the work must anchor the initial process mapping that informs capture activities.

This can be complex and the responsibility often falls on one busy person, but assistance is available to help identify fit-for-purpose capture tools, specialist resources, scheduling and oversight of capture activities.

In modern industries, work is commonly documented in Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and process flowcharts for the purpose of assigning work roles, outlining tasks, standardising procedures, improving efficiency, reducing errors and minimising waste

While technology vendors and equipment OEMs provide manuals specific to their products, it remains the responsibility of the implementing organisation to document how the components of a complete solution work together within a process or project.

In some industries, documenting work procedures, safety incidents and corrective actions is mandatory due to regulatory compliance for risk management. Companies may maintain detailed logs and audit trails to ensure adherence to industry standards or collect production data for quality assurance purposes.

The use of images, video, and audio evidence is playing an increasing role in these processes and systems.

Authoring documentation from captured assets requires the preparation of various media formats, often uploaded into diverse presentation and delivery platforms.

If the objective is to create work guides as ‘learning-in-the-flow-of-work’, then concise step-by-step text instructions supported by short, 15-30 second muted videos may be the most effective format, accessed via mobile devices in the field.

For asset-related documentation, QR codes can tag equipment with datasheets, service instructions, and maintenance history, assisting service technicians during routine maintenance and inspections.

Video-based training content provides crucial visual context for employee and contractor inductions and onboarding. When delivered through a Learning Management System (LMS), such content supports Verification of Competency (VoC) for workers performing critical tasks.

To minimise organisational risk, digital work documentation can be an important part of knowledge management and retention policies, helping preserve essential business know-how during workforce turnover. Accurate records ensure that the way work is actually done in the field is documented, safeguarding valuable legacy processes.  

Including image and video assets in work documentation provides visual references that better contextualise written descriptions and instructions.

Personnel accessing documentation augmented with reference media are better able to grasp important concepts and familiarise themselves with work scenarios before experiencing them firsthand.

Going one step further, businesses are unlocking additional benefits from their work capture and documentation efforts by leveraging emerging technologies in surveying, mapping, scanning, modelling and visualisation.

Aerial drone surveys have become standard across many industries, using highly accurate spatial mapping of site layouts for operations planning, workforce safety and optimising logistics.

Organisations spread across large distances are utilising advanced geographic mapping systems integrated into interactive dashboards, displaying the scale of their operations, asset locations and supply chain logistics flow.

The latest scanning and imaging technologies can generate detailed 3D models of legacy assets for reverse engineering. Drone-mounted laser scanners can identify wear and corrosion in hard-to-reach areas of facilities.

Photogrammetry software converts site imagery into interactive 3D models of industrial facilities and worksites, enabling users to click through virtual tours during inductions.

Additionally, 360-degree cameras can capture media assets that, when uploaded into platforms, create fully immersive training environments that are viewed with virtual or augmented reality headsets.

This is particularly useful for complex or hazardous industrial environments where site visits are limited due to safety or scheduling constraints.

Smart systems that continuously monitor work activities and site facilities provide a deep level of operational intelligence to industrial businesses.

Traditionally, video monitoring in industry has been mostly limited to security surveillance via CCTV cameras. However, it is increasingly being utilised in operational planning, quality assurance, compliance, predictive maintenance and workforce safety.

Rather than simply capturing footage of site perimeters for temporary storage, live feeds from critical production machinery and assembly lines can be directed to video control rooms to enhance operational planning. Video feeds can provide visual context to live data from fixed plants and production output on interactive dashboards, informing real-time decision-making.

In recent years, emerging technologies have enabled the creation of virtual 3D models of physical assets or systems, referred to as digital twins. These allow for real-time monitoring and inspection by analysing data collected from live sensors installed on plant equipment. Digital twins are interactive simulations of industrial facilities, integrating live business, logistics and operational data.

Continuous monitoring systems allow businesses to conduct ongoing audits of production quality while leaving a permanent audit trail of compliance evidence.

Advances in computer vision and sensor technologies are simplifying object recognition and condition monitoring, enabling predictive maintenance alerts and helping technicians solve problems before they occur.

Aerial drones can create project time-lapse videos, providing a simple way to monitor construction progress and change monitoring. Autonomous drone systems, equipped with analysis and alert capabilities, can automate stockpile monitoring and mine structure integrity.

Video and sensor monitoring systems are successfully being implemented in a broad range of additional use cases, including personnel movement tracking, safety zone monitoring, mobile plant collision alerts, vehicle fleet tracking, operator fatigue monitoring, worker biometric tracking and ergonomic sensors for managing musculoskeletal risks.

Business programs require a holistic, long-term approach to deliver net positive value, especially those involving the investment and implementation of new technologies.

Ad hoc tech trials without clear business objectives, conducted merely to demonstrate innovation, are unlikely to deliver a return on investment. Technology ends up on the shelf, quickly becoming outdated, workers revert to business-as-usual, and the knowledge gained eventually leaves the organisation with workforce turnover.

However, when management sets clear, meaningful business objectives, gains endorsement across the organisation, and supports cultural change, a technology project can have a lasting impact on a company’s profitability and future growth.

A successful work documentation program must focus on and deliver a clearly defined goal that generates tangible business value.

In some cases, boosting the technical literacy of key stakeholders is necessary so they can contribute effectively to decision-making, define project requirements, and later approve and endorse a fit-for-purpose implementation plan.

Organisations should avoid overly ambitious documentation programs that risk stalling, delaying and ultimately becoming outdated. Starting with a single, focused goal—such as work standardisation, process optimisation or improved workforce training—is often the best approach.

A strong implementation plan will typically include the following elements: developing technical literacy and competency, investing in fit-for-purpose equipment, utilising appropriate external services, and establishing processes, roles and responsibilities.

Behemoth can help your organisation identify its objectives, plan its approach, and build its capabilities. We guide and support organisations in implementing suitable documentation programs through software and hardware selection, production services and workforce training.