Building Expertise: Flyability and Holcim's North America Drone Days

Holcim was an early adopter of Elios drones for inspections, as this technology helped Holcim use innovation to develop their Plants of Tomorrow project - an initiative to bring Industry 4.0 Technology to their sites.  

Flyability and Holcim’s partnership initially began at Holcim Eclepens in 2016 where they tested prototypes. As of 2024, Holcim has a global Elios drone fleet that includes 42 Elios models with over 100 trained pilots spread around the world. This relationship helps empower Holcim’s goal of being an industry leader in terms of innovation, efficiency, and safety while Flyability can achieve its mission of sending drones into challenging environments instead of inspectors and surveyors, keeping people safe. 

Holcim has seen substantial benefits from using Elios 3 drones in the cement industry. Using drones helps provide safer access to the interiors of clinkers and silos as well as gather both visual and LiDAR data inside assets. They particularly noted its ability to fly in dusty environments and still gather clear, accurate data. Using the drone means Holcim can reduce risks to employees while gathering critical data accurately and quickly, offering a safer, faster, and cheaper means of asset management. It is for these reasons, and more, that they trust Elios drones and have such an extensive fleet. 

The North American Holcim Drone Days took place at Midlothian Plant in Texas. 

In June 2024, Flyability and Holcim partnered to host a third edition of the Holcim Drone Days and the second edition in North America. 17 Holcim pilots from 9 sites across North America attended, along with a team from Flyability. Building on the 2023 edition in Lausanne, this session included expert talks, custom training, and an opportunity for pilots to share their experiences and how they use drones at their facilities, inspiring each other to try new projects. 

Expert talks on drone inspections in cement 

The Holcim Drone Days give Holcim and Flyability the opportunity to learn from each other. Flyability shared presentations about the upcoming plans for the Elios drones, providing insights into what the latest developments are as well as how to move from simple inspections with the Elios to making it a key part of reporting and communication. Flyability also invited James Comeau from Glencore Kidd Operations to explain how they use the Elios, and their evolution from being early pioneers in the mining sector to having full-time trained pilots with established use cases for the drone. 

Pilots from within Holcim also presented how they are using their drones. This was incredibly insightful for all attendees, as the Holcim pilots traded ideas of what’s possible with the drone and how new uses can be safely deployed, helping them quantify the benefits of drone usage across plants. With pilots of all experience levels present, this was a great way to help the overall drone program develop. 

Unique training tailored for Holcim drone inspections 

The Holcim Drone Days were hosted at the Midlothian Plant in Texas. This was ideal for the training as some of it could be done in real assets, giving pilots a fully immersive environment to test their skills and learn new ones. With many cement assets being dusty and/or confined spaces, Flyability created a custom training program for pilots to hone their abilities. This included special training on flying in a dusty environment, how to adapt to it with recommended best practices, and navigating with confidence with limited visibility. 

In addition, the Drone Days group spent time discussing how pilots can handle unpredictable scenarios - and how to respond to the fear of losing a drone during an inspection. This included testing the Elios 3’s  Return-to-Signal feature and giving the pilots the chance to safely push the limits of the Elios drones. 

Team photo! The North American pilots from Holcim with the Flyability team 

The training also served to show the pilots how the Elios 3’s applications are not just limited to visual inspections, but with its new payloads, can go even further. The pilots tested the new ultrasonic thickness measurement payload as well as the surveying payload. The team addressed the typical uses of Elios drones for stockpile volumetry, plant maps, and digitalization as well as the best ways to process and manage the data. This helped develop the pilots' autonomy across all stages of inspections and surveying. They also discussed the exciting applications related to Scan to BIM, which is a growing area of interest that could support the Plants of Tomorrow initiative. 

An example of fostering innovation through drones 

The North American Drone Days demonstrated the spirit of innovation across Holcim’s pilot teams. Led by David Hull, Manufacturing Support Coordinator at Midlothian Plant, the drone program in the USA is already focused on collaborative evolution. The pilots already have a biweekly meeting to discuss how they’re using the drones, but the Drone Days allowed them to meet in person and see how each pilot works. 

The sessions also helped build relationships between the pilots, helping all of them go away with new ideas as well as new skills. The less experienced pilots learned from the more experienced ones, while those who are veterans of drone inspections got a glimpse of the future and what’s coming from Flyability. The roundtable discussions gave both Holcim and Flyability the chance to learn from each other, and we have all walked away with new ideas on what we can do to support each other. 

Back at HQ in Switzerland, the Drone Days team said that this was an incredible event that brought together people passionate about using drones for safer inspections. They also expressed their thanks to David Hull along with Aaron Toles, who is part of coordinating the Plants of Tomorrow efforts by Holcim. The plant manager in Texas was also incredibly helpful in authorizing the event, providing Flyability and the Holcim pilots with a space to meet and train. 

This was just the first Drone Days event of 2024, but its clear success means we expect to organize further events in the future. Both Flyability and Holcim are committed to creating an exciting and revolutionary drone program that sets Holcim apart as an industry leader and successful innovator.