How COVID-19 Coronavirus Affects Construction Operations, Construction Leaders magazine, June2020

JUNE

2020

NEWS

How to Find The Magic of Industry 4.0

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How to Choose the Right Paint and Color for Your Home

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27% of Construction Workers are Not Wearing a Hard Hat

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EDITOR‘S NOTE

C

OVID-19 continues to spread across the globe like wildfire even after 4 months. Health-wise, many livelihoods and well beings of individuals were negatively impacted. The pandemic has also affected the standard operating procedures of many businesses and industries that made up the majority of people’s daily routines, especially in construction.

Whether they were employees working as foremen, laborers, contractors, or otherwise, these people have had to face the 5 major effects of COVID-19.

The first is of course the health and safety of exposed workers. To combat this, governments around the world have mandated community quarantines and social distancing laws.

The second is the great delay in material distribution. Since construction is an industry that heavily relies on suppliers, it is heavily affected by the rules and regulations that restrict physical material distribution.

The third is the mental effect of COVID-19 in that it scares potential clients and workers from working in the first place, despite the chance to be paid by their services.

The fourth is the lack of manpower due to the 4

5 Ways the COVID-19 Pandemic Will Affect Construction quarantines and travel bans.

Simply put, unfinished projects will remain unfinished and projects that have yet to begin will be pushed back a few months due to the world’s attempt at combating COVID-19 and preventing its spread among the people.

The fifth is the increasing uncertainty shared by almost all individuals in the world.

Because of the worldwide pandemic, most people are stricken with fear and panic and no one can blame them for staying indoors and not seeking construction services.

Needless to say, these are dark and frightening times.

Brands and companies in

the construction industry can only hold on until COVID-19 is effectively dealt with. In the meantime, leaders in the industry ought to utilize what they currently have in order to contribute to the healing society.

* For any inquiries, please contact Mr. Rohan Suares Address: LG Electronics Gulf, P.O Box 61445, Dubai, U.A.E, Tel. # +971 52 710 0999, Email: rohan.suares@lge.com

CON TENTS

8 LG DELIVERS ON STYLE AND PERFORMANCE WITH LAUNCH OF ROUND CASSETTE AC FOR GULF BUSINESSES

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Floor Cleaning Best Practices To Mitigate Covid-19 Infection

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Panasonic Launches Two New Leading A3 Document Scanners

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How Philippine Warehouses Can Benefit from Automated Guided Vehicle

32 5 Ways the COVID-19 Pandemic Will Affect Construction

52 How to Find The Magic of Industry 4.0

56

How to Choose the Right Paint and Color for Your Home

60 27% of Construction Workers are Not Wearing a Hard Hat 6

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100% Success Rate for Pluristem COVID-19 Treatment

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Prepare for the Post Covid-19 Air Travel

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Coaching Builds COVID-19 Resilience to Engineering Team

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How Artificial Intelligence Can Drive Greater Speed and Accuracy in Vaccine Development

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Rockwell Automation Launches Management Perspectives Program to Build Relationships for Industrial Executives

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Robot Technology to Reinstate a COVID-Free Airport

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How Has COVID-19 Impacted The Construction Sector?

96 NEW! Cotronics’ Thermally Insulating Pressure Sensitive Ceramic Tape

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Lifts and lobbies – the new hot spots for office buildings

LG DELIVERS ON STYLE AND PERFORMANCE WITH LAUNCH OF ROUND CASSETTE AC FOR GULF BUSINESSES New Air Conditioner Features Sophisticated Design and Easy Installation

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s a market leader in HVAC solutions, LG Electronics (LG) continues to evolve its portfolio of advanced technologies with the launch of its new Round Cassette air conditioner for businesses in the Gulf region.

LG’s research has indicated that when an HVAC solution is typically designed, performance can often be sacrificed to meet aesthetic demands, or vice versa. With a mission to ensure unrivalled comfort, reliability and design, LG has ushered in its latest innovation, designed to complement spaces with high or exposed ceilings. The Round Cassette design is particularly well-suited for cafes, restaurants, museums, high-end department stores and hotels, which pride themselves on style, but also wish 8

to offer their customers greater comfort.

According to an analysis of the most frequently used design terms in 2018 by Airbnb Plus hosts, (the company’s highend tier), ‘high-ceilings’ was the most popular term used to describe a luxurious interior design. With ceiling displays playing a crucial role in interior design, businessowners pay great attention to choosing the right type of air conditioning system, which will match, rather than clash with the environment.

A ceiling-mounted cassette AC, if designed well, can form an integral part of interior decoration. LG’s new Round Cassette air conditioner seeks to meet this objective and has been recognized with a Red Dot Design Award for its uniqueness.

The LG Round Cassette outclasses competing products, not only in terms of design, but also performance. Conventional round cassette type indoor units implement 3 separate air outlets which disperse air in 3 directions and create blind spots. The LG Round Cassette on the other hand, minimizes the junctions in the circular vent for a thoroughly distributed airflow, free of blind spots.

With a structure consisting of Crystal Vanes, users can implement 6-step precision control to distribute cool or warm air wherever it is needed, more effectively.

This configuration is twice as precise as the 3-stage airflow control offered by other round cassettes. LG conducted extensive air chamber tests to ensure that the circular and

precise airflow control allows for 30% faster cooling over conventional models. Even with this exceptional performance, the operating noise emission level of the LG Round Cassette is only 39dB(A), which is lower than that of a typical library at 40dB(A) .

The Round Cassette’s height is 330cm, approximately 15% less than that of conventional models. By reducing the height of the product, LG’s Round Cassette maximizes environment openness. Additionally, the AC’s drain and refrigerant pipes are conveniently located in one place on the unit’s body, minimizing the exposure of pipes and components. Hanger covers also provide a more refined aesthetic to installations.

LG’s new Round Cassette is also designed to provide installers with greater convenience. In addition to the shared location of pipes for quicker installation times, installers no longer need to tilt their heads back when installing the cassette, as the control box enables allows for the power supply cable to be connected more easily, from the side of the unit.

“When selecting a cassette AC unit for a business, performance and design must go handin-hand. Whether building owner, designer, or installer, we believe that the LG Round Cassette will appeal to all, with its revolutionary form factor.

Backed by LG’s reliability and market expertise, the new AC provides more unique aesthetic possibilities for organizations of all backgrounds. We believe that the Round Cassette will not only fulfil the aesthetic needs of businesses in the region, but also provide their employees and

customers with the comfort they deserve,” said Mr. Hongju Jeon, President, LG Electronics Gulf.

To find out more about LG’s Round Cassette AC, please visit: https://www.lghvacstory.com/ lg-air-solution-gets-around-withtheir-new-round-cassette/ About LG Electronics Air Solution Business Unit LG Electronics’ Air Solution Business Unit is a global leader in HVAC and energy solutions with a comprehensive portfolio of proven expertise and performance. Launching Korea’s first residential air conditioner in 1968, LG has paved the way for total HVAC solutions over the last five decades through strategic utilization of advanced

technologies. With a wellestablished production base and industry-leading capacity, the company provides effective HVAC solutions for both the commercial and residential sectors. Its wide range of cuttingedge systems for heating, ventilation and air conditioning truly represent LG’s initiative in offering the most optimized solutions for a variety of uses.

Pursuant to its mission of “Innovation for a Better Life,” the company offers solutions boasting high energy efficiency and reliability based on its state-of-the-art knowhow and technologies to ensure the most optimal environment for users.

For more information, please visit www.LG.com.

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F E AT U R E S T O RY

Floor Cleaning Best Practices To Mitigate Covid-19 Infection • Equipment and solutions from Nilfisk Scrubber and Dryers to maintain hygiene during a health crisis • Co Ban Kiat Hardware joins Nilfisk in combating Covid-19 by ensuring all cleaning equipment are available online, on call or via appointment • Environmental cleaning and disinfection of viral contaminants including SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19 As countries, communities and citizens are doing their utmost to slow down the COVID-19 curve, there are a host of challenges to keeping our world safe and hygienic.

For essential businesses and institutions to remain in operation, a group of hard-working cleaning professionals are working tirelessly—sanitizing hospitals, cleaning store aisles, disinfecting warehouses and hundreds of other situations. For the health, hygiene and safety of all of us.

At CBK Hardware, we are proud to support you with a full line of Nilfisk cleaning equipment and solutions that deliver a higher, safer standard of clean.

Here is a list of best practices, processes and corresponding cleaning equipment that companies should follow to contain the spread of coronavirus

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in workplace such as offices, schools, malls, grocery stores, warehouses, yards, workshops, sports venue, various building surfaces and even open street roads.

Before reopening your business establishments, ensure that you have the latest Nilfisk cleaning equipment which are now available at CBK Hardware online store https://www.cbkhardware. com/

Health Facility Hard Surfaces Scrubber/Dryers A More Hygienic Environment for Patients, Medical Staff and Visitors

Floor cleaning is required in healthcare to stop the spread of COVID-19 during patient treatment and recovery, while also providing reassurance of safety for staff and visitors.

To properly clean areas that are exposed to the virus, it is being recommended the removal of soiling followed by disinfection.

A scrubber used with disinfectant provides a 2 in 1 clean more effective than other methods. In fact, a microbiological evaluation of hospital cleaning showed scrubbers significantly reduced microbial counts, compared with mop / vacuum, and spray clean, and produced an affect that persisted for at least a week.

HEPA Specialty Vacuums for Non-patient Areas HEPA Filtration is the Key for Maintaining Air Quality While Cleaning Carpeted Areas For non-patient areas such as waiting rooms, it is being recommended to perform routine environmental cleaning.

For carpeted areas, it’s important to use a specialty vacuum with high filtration capability. A vacuum with a HEPA H13 filter captures and filters contaminants up to 0.3 micron (1 micron is 1 thousandth of a millimeter) out of the environment, with 99.95% filtration efficiency. The experts recommend daily vacuuming of carpeted areas with a HEPA filter for public areas to combat COVID-19.

HEPA Specialty Vacuums HEPA Filtration is the Key for Maintaining Air Quality inside the workplace, offices, hospitals and healthcare facilities, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.

Understanding How HEPA Filters Work These days, HEPA or High Efficiency Particulate Air filters can be found in both air filtration systems and vacuum cleaners.

Its main function is to trap large particles to microscopicsized pollutants like pollen, dust mites, pet dander, mold spores and even tobacco smoke. It does this by forcing air through a very fine mesh of randomly arranged fiberglass fibers. Once trapped inside the filter, these particles can no longer escape and go back into the return flow air.

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Benefits of HEPA Filtration

Hot Water High Pressure Washers

• They help improve indoor air quality – By

Combat COVID-19 with Powerful Outdoor Cleaning

preventing the emission of contaminants and impurities back into the air, you are guaranteed with cleaner, safer air either at home or in the office.

• They help prevent flare ups of allergies and asthma – By eliminating smoke, mold,

dust, pollen and bacteria in the air, you are ensured with an allergen-free home or office.

• They help instill peace of mind – By eradicating the impurities and allergens in your home or office air, you feel more comfortable and secure without experiencing any breathing problems.

Heat has been identified as a key factor in eliminating bacteria, germs and viruses.

In order to eliminate a coronavirus like SARS and COVID-19, temperatures need to be above 56°C at a rate of 10,000 units every 15 minutes as identified by the World Health Organization (WHO).. The higher the temperatures the quicker the elimination rates.

Benefits of Hot High-Pressure Water

Cold Water High Pressure Washers

• Reduces overall cleaning time, which in turn reduces water usage, electricity consumption and labor cost.

• Reduces and may even eliminate the need for detergents.

• Reduces drying time after cleaning, making zones available sooner.

• Reduces the need for high pressure levels and therefore protecting surfaces.

• Contributes clearly to germ and bacteria reduction.

Powerful Outdoor Cleaning

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Nilfisk offers cold water high-pressure washers to meet your every need. From low-intensity or routine tasks to intense or specialty assignments, the Nilfisk range meets your challenges head-on.

Our solutions are innovative and versatile and come with a full range of accessories, guaranteeing you premium performance every time.

When is Floor Cleaning Required?

Routine environmental cleaning is required for short stay areas such as emergency departments, outpatient clinics and primary care assessment areas - it is recommended to clean floors daily or when they are visibly soiled.

A full terminal clean is required for in-patient areas where there has been a case of COVID-19, and assessment areas for COVID-19, where there has been gross environmental contamination or an exposure to respiratory droplets. Following the discharge or transfer of a patient, the area must be decontaminated with a cleaning and disinfectant process.

This can be done as two steps, or as a 2-in-1 clean.

A 2-step clean is a physical cleaning with detergent followed by disinfection with a Therapeutic Goods Act-listed hospital-grade disinfectant with activity against viruses (according to label/product information) or a chlorine-based product such as sodium hypochlorite (NaCIO).

A 2-in-1 clean is a physical clean using a combined detergent and TGA-listed hospital-grade disinfectant with activity against viruses (according to label/product information) or a chlorine-based

product such as sodium hypochlorite, where indicated for use.

Tips for Cleaning and Disinfecting with a Scrubber Dryer As soil load affects the ability to sanitize an area, using a mop and bucket for the cleaning/ disinfection process requires a two-step clean, as well as several changes to water in the bucket as it accumulates dirt and germs.

However, a scrubber dryer holds clean and soiled water in separate areas, enabling a 2-in-1 continuous clean, while ensuring germs are not spread.

The scrubber dryer will clean and sanitize at the same time using detergent and disinfectant. To ensure that the disinfectant is on the floor surface for the full 10 minutes, it is recommended that a double-scrub is conducted. The first pass of a double-scrub is to lift surface dirt and lay down the disinfectant.

The second pass is to provide a second scrub, vacuum up the detergent / disinfectant solution, and dry the area so it is immediately able to be used.

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About CBK Hardware For almost a hundred years, a family’s surname has become synonymous to the country’s biggest hardware supply company. Co Ban Kiat Hardware Incorporated, of the Cobankiat family has a regular client network of more than 1,500 industrial organizations; 1,600 traditional community hardware stores, and 584 home building specialty chain of stores across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

This ever-growing conglomerate traces its humble roots to Manila Chinatown, as a pioneer enterprise started by family’s patriarch, Mr. Cobankiat in 1920. Despite the ruins of World War II, the business goes back to its feet in 1948, rebuilding a storefront from the very same spot where it was known for three decades.

This ever-growing conglomerate traces its humble roots to Manila Chinatown, as a pioneer enterprise started by family’s patriarch, Mr. Cobankiat in 1920. Despite the ruins of World War II, the business goes back to its feet in 1948, rebuilding a storefront from the very same spot where it was known for three decades.

While the Filipinos continue to rebuild their lives post war, CBK Hardware sees the opportunity to introduce the retail concept once unheard for in hardware industry. The Hardware Workshop Store is the fruit if this endeavor. CBK Hardware further cemented its legendary distribution channel with the creation of Coby’ Design Center in Edsa Shangi La in 1996, a 18

specialty store that caters to discriminating taste of modern Filipinos.

In 1997, Mr. Johnny Cobankiat, the 4th generation Cobankiat leader, set another milestone for the company when he brings a franchise of Ace Hardware USA to the Philippines, and signs up CBK Hardware as one of its major suppliers. This further expanded into delivering quality world class products nearer to families of Filipino overseas workers in the countryside.

A century’s excellence can quickly pass, and guided by the vision to be the largest network supplier of the biggest global brands in the hardware industry, CBK Hardware resolve to source the best products to supply its customers anytime and every time.

Where to Buy?

Co Ban Kiat Hardware Inc. is the largest authorized distributor of the best industrial hardware solution brands in the Philippines.

To shop online, visit https://www.cbkhardware. com/

Co Ban Kiat Hardware, Inc.

Ground Floor, Cobankiat Building II, 231 Juan Luna St. Binondo Manila, Philippines.

Phone +632 8243-1931 Phone +632 8243-5263 Phone +632 8894-6561

Coby's Designer Center

Unit 467 level 4 Shangri-La Plaza Edsa Corner Shaw Boulevard Mandaluyong City, Philippines Phone +632 86364895

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F E A T U R E

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Panasonic Launches Two New Leading A3 Document Scanners Pursuit of Higher Scanning Performance

High-Speed Full-Color Scanning

The improved overall scanning performance from Panasonic, including the faster scanning speed, enhanced paper feeding and durability of the rollers, less maintenance and superior scanned image quality, contributes to greater work efficiency.

Excellent performance keeps office productivity high.

For offices and users aiming to scan documents over a network without the need to connect to a PC, the Panasonic KV-S5078Y connects to the network over a wired Gigabit LAN connection for maximum efficiency.

Sharing of a single scanner in a network will help reduce the total cost of ownership. Using the Site Central Manager, the devices are always up to date. An automatic document feeder (ADF) enables duplex scanning of up to 330 A4 sheets or A3 in one single operation. Not only that, the Panasonic KV-S5078Y/S5058 allows workers to quickly, accurately and simultaneously scan documents of various thickness, sizes and lengths, eliminating the need for manual paper changes or the continual resetting of margins.

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This speeds up the job of turning even large amounts of daily forms and mountains of documents into data. Clean, crisp, clear scanned data is also ideal for electronic file conversion and management.

Less Maintenance Longer cleaning cycle The scanner glass has a conductive coating to prevent accumulation of static electricity. Since paper dust does not easily adhere to the scanner glass, scan errors decrease and the cleaning cycle can be lengthened.

Powerful Paper Feeding Rollers with improved paper feeding performance and durability A grooved roller and newly developed roller with a thicker rubber layer reduce slipping and improve paper feeding performance and durability.

They offer a 700K roller life*, twice that of the previous ones.

* Roller life may vary depending on the type of paper used. The value shown was measured using fine paper.

Duplex Scanning Prevents pages from being missed when scanning.

Double-sided scanning of documents from businesscard size all the way to A3 can be done with a single scan.

Plus, double-sided scanning is done at the same speed as single-sided scanning. This eliminates the work of presorting, and prevents pages from being missed when scanning.

Mixed Document Feeding Documents of different types can be scanned one after another.

Documents from businesscard size all the way to A3 with a variety of paper thicknesses

can be fed at the same time — ideal for offices that handle a wide range of document types. * The thickness of the thickest sheet is at most 1.5 times that of the thinnest sheet.

Long Paper Mode Even documents of unusually long sizes can be scanned.

Single-Sided Document Alignment

The highly reliable paper feed system lets you scan long size documents. This is ideal for scanning electrocardiograms (EKG) or other special documents. This Panasonic single scanner handles a wide variety of applications.

Easy scanning of mixed size documents.

Thin Paper Scanning

You can enjoy smooth scanning by aligning either the right side or the left side of the documents. This lets you simultaneously set various sizes of documents for scanning.

No more worries about scanning thin paper.

Intelligent Double Feed detection Memorizes the canceled double feed detection as a scan setting.

The unit memorizes the positions and sizes of paper slips (up to 8) affixed to the original, so the user can disable the double feed detection only for the memorized portion. This achieves smooth scanning of invoices and other documents with barcode labels.

Now you can continuously scan documents that are as thin as 0.04 mm. That makes Ultrasonic Double-Feed it easy to scan thin forms or vouchers. And it increases the Detection number of situations where you Prevent scanning errors. can use scanning — without worrying about thin paper.

In addition to its double-feed prevention roller, the double* Use Small/Thin paper mode feed prevention system is if thin paper or paper whose enhanced by an ultrasonic length is 110 mm (4.33 in.) or sensor that detects the less is not scanned correctly. double feeding of originals

during scanning. This innovative design prevents double feeding, and has been proven effective even when the documents being scanned contain a mix of paper of different weights or thickness. Thanks to doublefeed prevention, optimum reliability is assured even when scanning high volumes of documents.

Double Feed Skip Function Cancels double feed errors to simplify rescanning.

When the scanning operation stops because a double feed is detected, the user can choose to ignore the error and continue operation by pressing the button on the panel.

Automatic Image Orientation No more worries about the document’s direction.

Even when documents are set in different directions, this function detects the direction of the scanned text in documents and automatically rotates it into the correct direction.* This boosts work efficiency by eliminating the need to change the direction of each page in advance when scanning large quantities of documents with various sizes 21

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and directions. * The orientation of documents with many characters using text decorations may not be correct.

Moire Reduction Detects and reduces a moire pattern Moire Reduction detects and reduces moire pattern on the scanned image.

Faint Character Enhancement Makes light character clear Faint Character Enhancement makes light character clear.

This is useful to increase the OCR recognition rate or to improve visibility according to the display.

Vertical Line Reduction Detects and deletes vertical lines Vertical Line Reduction detects and deletes vertical lines on the image which is generated by the dust on the sensor glass.

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Scan to Shared Folder/FTP/ Email

Easy Maintenance

Scan without using PC. If you register the scanning conditions in advance, you can scan directly to shared folder, FTP server, or Email without going through a PC.

Scan to Another PC Scanned data can be transferred to a PC via the LAN If you register the scanning conditions in advance, you can scan directly to PC connected via LAN just by using the job button on the operation panel.

Maintenance costs and downtime are reduced.

The clamshell design allows full, easy access to the entire paper path, so you can clear paper jams or clean the unit without calling a service center.

The rollers last a long time and are easy to replace when worn, also improving the unit’s costeffectiveness.

Auto Erasure Security

Single User Interface

Multi-Crop

A high degree of safety.

Easily scan documents and booklets.

Save time by reducing the number of scans.

By selectively using the Panasonic KV-S5078Y / S5058 and the optional Panasonic KV-SS081, you can easily scan documents and booklets, and save them in the same document.

Place various sized documents on the Panasonic flatbed and scan them all at once, then crop whatever parts you need. This is convenient for scanning multiple business cards and thick documents.

Scanned data is automatically erased from the scanner memory as soon as scanning is completed. This basically eliminates the danger of information leaks, and ensures the user of safe, secure scanning.

Flatbed Scanning

2-Page Separation

For scanning passports, datebooks, and other special documents.

Easily get the data you need from each page

Passports, date books, bound materials and other documents that cannot be fed through the Auto Document Feeder (ADF) can be scanned with flatbed scanning. * The Panasonic KV-SS081 is available only when connecting via USB.

Use the Panasonic flatbed to scan 2-page spreads from books, magazines, etc., and automatically divide the single image into two single sheets*. Dividing scanned documents saves time and trouble because it makes complex editing operations unnecessary.

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How Philippine Warehouses Can Benefit from Automated Guided Vehicle

S

ince the integration of robotics into the production industry, numerous prominent companies had considered switching to an automated workforce, especially in the warehouse management division. Thankfully, some five decades ago, the United States introduced the development of the first-ever automated guided vehicle (AGV) systems. AGVs are basically custom-made vehicular robots designed to move items from a point to another without any human intervention.

This alone led to the integration of AGVs into modern logistics, making them one of the most essential and efficient parts of the business model. AGVs work on the warehouse floor and are able to handle goods transportation both inside and outside. Thanks to their active and passive load handling equipment, these autonomous systems can take care of a wide variety of goods and materials. With the continuous optimization and system upgrades AGVs underwent through the years, they are convincing more and more logistics companies to adopt the technology into their own intra-logistics.

company, China’s e-commerce sales are estimated to boom to around $1.132tn in 2017 alone.

This accounts for almost 50% of global online retail. With the country being the biggest robotics marketplace across the globe, it makes sense to take advantage of the benefits of AGV technology in e-commerce, making it a strategy to meet rising demands and increase efficiency in the workplace.

After all, traditional logistics warehouses are known to be very labor-intensive, especially since all the scheduling, monitoring, and loading are all done manually.

Venturing into a robotic warehouse might be the smartest move a company can make nowadays. As revealed by eMarketer, a subscriptionbased market research

Among the prominent companies that now use AGVs is the Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba. The company launched its first-ever smart warehouse back in 2017, the

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Tmall division based in China’s Huiyang district. The warehouse is manned by a swarm of automated guided vehicles (AGVs). They may be compact in size, but they are very much capable of preparing orders and moving goods around.

With their smart warehouse, Alibaba eliminated the manual labor altogether and replaced it with a digitized process utilizing big data, artificial intelligence, IoT applications, and edge computing. The warehouse features no less than 60 robots, manning a floor area of about 32,000 square feet. This significantly helped the warehouse staff increase their overall efficiency by three times! For example, one packing clerk used to walk an average of 27,924 steps around the warehouse every day before the robots came into the picture.

Now, it was dramatically reduced to only 2,563.

Alibaba made use of the AGVs produced by another Chinese company, Quicktron. They are around the size of ordinary robot vacuum cleaners but are capable of traveling five feet per second and carrying up to a whopping 500 kg. They also feature a 360-degree rotation to easily AGV Supplier in the access shelves and collision Philippines avoidance to prevent crashing into one another. Apart from being efficient, the Quicktron robots are also programmed to automatically look for a charger once they detect a low battery.

To make them work, instructions are sent to each robot via WiFi. Every time Alibaba’s Tmall site receives an order, the robot is activated and automatically retrieves the item from the shelves. It then hands it over to the warehouse clerk, who is responsible for the sorting and shipping of the parcel. Once everything is done and complete, the robot then goes on standby and waits for the next order to be placed.

Robotics can be easily dubbed as the future of logistics. Alibaba’s model alone is enough proof of how AGVs can increase efficiency and sales in the e-commerce industry. In fact, the case study’s results were so good that Alibaba is set to expand its global logistics network, committing $15bn by 2022 and making their smart warehouse model the forefront.

When it comes to integrating AGVs into Philippine logistics, NuPON Technology is the most trusted AGV supplier in the Philippines. Since its establishment in 2000, the company has been a leading player in the high-tech tools and gadgets industry, promoting ease of living for traditional Filipinos.

They are also innovators in the AGV technology as they provide But this doesn’t mean unemployment for the company’s a wide array of AGV solutions for warehouses. The Quicktron workers as the robotics strategy did not eradicate humans from the AGV can carry a payload of 600 to 1000 kgs and is able to warehouse completely. Instead, it only made their jobs lighter and navigate around the floor area with its LiDar sensor guide, IMU, less taxing than before.

and 2D code. The Forklift AGV, on the other hand, is equipped with its own forklift, which can handle 1500 to 2000kg of payload. It can reach a height of 2.4 meters and communicates via Wi-Fi. For smaller loads, the Clark AGV is the way to go, as it is limited to 100 kg of payload and only communicates via RF International Standard.

Introducing NuPON Technology’s newly released model of AGV UV Robot. Mainly use to help kill the virus using 360 deg.

UV light at night. With thermal scanner and visible light camera that can be used at day time.

Suitable for hospitals, airports, public stations, malls, production areas and offices to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. This product can help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in public buildings, warehouses and office spaces.

For interested parties, you may contact technical_sales01@nuponcorp. net Globe: +63-917-859-3194 Sun: +63-932-862-8725 Tel: (049)541-0214

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he coronavirus outbreak has yet to subside even after a month into the second quarter of the year. Save for a handful of countries, the majority of the planet’s population is still reeling from the adverse effects of the virus. The world is gradually adjusting to this viral outbreak with nothing but a sliver of a chance at full recovery. Industries and businesses are also dealing with the lack of a demand for any product or service due to government-mandated community quarantines and social distancing. There is no doubt that all companies in all industries are negatively affected one way or another.

One of these industries greatly affected by the virus is the construction industry. It should come as no surprise, but countless construction projects and renovations were temporarily halted by their project managers in order to comply with government mandates.

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Contractors, however, are used to risk. From shortages in labor and tariff escalation to the upcoming presidential elections, the industry entered this year with the intent to overcome any construction-related challenge. The industry, however, had not accounted for mass panic and a viral outbreak to be one of those challenges. Experts have said that the fallout from the COVID-19 virus is one more factor poised to affect construction firms. In spite of the uncertainty, experts predict the pandemic will have six major consequences for several aspects of U.S. construction.

These include:

1. Employee health and safety Companies in greatly affected countries have shared their concerns with employee well-being in light of viral transmission methods. While transmission outside the healthcare industry is low, one cannot be sure and safe enough.

In addition to physical wellness, contractors are considering mental health as well. While one’s physical health is undeniably important, one cannot ignore their mental state. One of the top issues brought on by COVID-19 is the increasing anxiety experienced by a great deal of construction workers. This 36

number is steadily on the rise the longer the pandemic lasts.

In an informal Construction Dive survey, 70% of respondents noted “employee anxiety� as their top concern, above material shortages and the prospect of government shutdowns.

2. Material delays Chinese government containment efforts and quarantines have slowed if not shut down factories in a number of Chinese cities and provinces, resulting in forecasts of a sharp falloff in production of various gadgets, according to the New York Times.

For commercial builders that are dependent on Chinese-made goods and resources, this denotes a higher material costs and slower project completions, Richard Branch, chief economist for Dodge Data & Analytics, told Construction Dive.

U.S. builders look to China for everything from steel and stone to millwork and plumbing fixtures. These material delays could be the result of the Chinese people prioritizing the eradication of the virus in their country.

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One of the top issues brought on

by COVID-19 is the increasing anxiety experienced by a great deal of construction workers.

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One very real and perhaps one of the most devastating effects of the virus could be more mental rather than physical: it spooks clients and lenders, especially firms that work in highly impacted segments like hospitality.

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3. Spooks clients One very real and perhaps one of the most devastating effects of the virus could be more mental rather than physical: it spooks clients and lenders, especially firms that work in highly impacted segments like hospitality.

Because of this reason, it is absolutely valid and understandable for clients and project managers to withdraw from previously discussed construction projects. She added that there are other possible avenues for coverage such as workers compensation for outbreak of sickness or disease, trade disruption insurance for contractors with international supply chains and travel insurance to protect firms whose employees travel frequently for business.

4. Quarantines and travel bans To help prevent the spread of the virus, the governments of the world have issued a mass shutdown of many schools, colleges, and businesses. While detrimental to the whole economy, this is also a WHO-approved way of bending the viral curve. Construction companies across the world are considering how they will react to an outbreak near one of their job sites or offices. These shutdowns 48

and bans mean that companies will need to turn to teleworking and other technologies to keep business running smoothly while employees are at home.

5. Global uncertainty Recent historic levels of volatility in the stock market and oil disputes in the Middle East have amplified the level of anxiety among Americans, who see their retirement and pension benefits shrinking by the day. “There’s a level of hysteria out there,” Joe Natarelli, national construction industry leader at accounting services firm Marcum said. “People are freaking out.”

In fact, the virus and its impact have scared the markets so much, a number of analysts believe they cannot predict the remainder of 2020. Truly, the COVID-19 has obscured the outlook for 2020.

With these 5 effects in mind, the construction company should do whatever it can to buttress themselves amidst this growing pandemic and its effects to the industry, as well as prepare for the new world in the aftermath of it all.

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How to Find The Magic of Industry 4.0

By Sebastien Grau, Regional Sales Director Middle East, Turkey, Sub Saharan Africa, Rockwell Automation.

I believe that when it comes to industry 4.0, the true potential of your enterprise is not in what it does, but what it can do. The potential of your team is not what they can do today, but what they could do in the future. The opportunity doesn’t lie in what we know, it’s in what we don’t know yet.

The rate of change in the modern world is staggering and it shows no sign of slowing down – in fact, it is speeding up. Industry 4.0 is both an example of this, and a result of it. Digital transformation is at the heart of fundamental societal changes that are emerging. In the region that I lead for Rockwell 52

Automation – specifically the Middle East, Turkey and subSaharan Africa – there are huge changes in progress.

Let’s start with the Middle East.

It’s an area that is no stranger to change, with great cities having risen from the deserts – as well as great economies. And the industrial change in the area now is one of rapid diversification as whole new industries are envisioned at national levels and realized at break-neck speeds.

Turkey, the ancient empire(s), bridging Europe with Asia, bridging tradition with future, bringing cultures together, is another market with enormous potential and possibilities for

growth, always in a cycle of changes and reinventing itself.

The continent where everything started for humanity is set to reassert its position in our future.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the population is projected to double by 2050. In fact, in the next 30 years the world’s population is set to grow by an incredible 2bn – an increase of more than 25% - and a large portion of that growth will be in sub-Saharan Africa.

This exponential population growth comes at a time when the largest demographic for this region will be of working age – a fact that points to the potential for huge economic growth.

Growth, incidentally, that will be championed by the digital generation.

The opportunities for industrial enterprises in these regions are evident. There is no doubt that the enterprises meeting the needs of the new markets by leveraging Industry 4.0 technologies and strategies are the ones that will succeed.

For most enterprises though, leveraging Industry 4.0 technologies requires strong change management capacity.

It requires learning new skills rapidly, investing in the workforce, investing in new approaches, systems and technologies. It requires

embracing disruptive technologies – and often it will entail being a positive disruptor.

Finding the Magic We’ve probably all seen the diagram of two circles that don’t overlap, where one is labelled “your comfort zone” and the other is labelled “where the magic happens.” It’s one of those that you look at and instantly recognize the truth of – and perhaps with a tiny sinking feeling as you realize that maybe, you should get out of your comfort zone a little more.

The implicit message of that diagram is that “magic” requires change. It is something I believe very strongly, and I’m inspired by the words of Walt Disney (who knew more than most about magic): “If you can visualize it,

if you can dream it, there’s some way to do it.”

I can’t think of a better message for industrial enterprise leaders in this era of change. We stand with the makers, the doers, the builders; the innovators. Our most successful customers in adopting industry 4.0 approaches have taken the step of visualizing.

They have dreamed of what could be done. By coupling this human ingenuity and innovation with the power of machines and Rockwell Automation solutions – we always find a way to do it.

That’s where the magic of Industry 4.0 happens. Take a look just outside your comfort zone, the benefits are close at hand, but industry leaders must embrace change to find them.

If you can visualize a bright future for your enterprise, come

and talk to us, and we’ll help you connect the imagination and ingenuity of your people with the intelligence of machines to make it happen.

About Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and information, makes its customers more productive and the world more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., Rockwell Automation employs approximately 23,000 people serving customers in more than 80 countries.

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How to Choose the Right Paint and Color for Your Home

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uilding your dream house is not an easy task; painting your dream house is a whole different story. The color of both your exterior and interior walls says a lot about the vibes of your entire house. But while it is easy to look at the broad array of color options in the hardware store, picking the best ones to fit your house might not be as easy.

Whether it’s your first time or your second, the paint job is not always a piece of cake. But you need not worry about that anymore. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you in decorating (or redecorating) your home.

Pick your room color starting from the largest and most centrally located room.

The biggest part of the house is always a great place to start imagining what your color palette would 56

look like. It can be either your living room or kitchen. A soft, neutral hue for this room, like the colors of Rain or Shine’s ROS Classic, will make the color selection a lot easier for you. From there, it should be easy to move on to the next spaces in the house.

Create a palette with colors of the same hue.

Once you’ve settled on the color of your main room, all you need to do now is to select the shades of the same hue for your walls and adjacent rooms.

This will make the building of your palette easier and faster. Simply move on the next shade of that particular color and you’re done! The advantage of this trick is that you’re sure that the final colors of the rooms will blend well together.

Separate the downstairs and upstairs rooms.

When you’re working on two or three-story houses, it is best to work on the colors of both levels separately. Feel free to create one mood or theme for the downstairs space and another mood for the upstairs space. This will create a diversified vibe in your home and will not make it look monotonous.

Use neutral colors for connecting spaces.

Halls and landings are best painted with neutral colors such as white, greige, or beige. This will put the highlights in the colors of the room and not on the blank spaces in between. However, if you chose the mentioned colors for your rooms, then the connecting spaces should be painted with hues that are about a shade or two darker from the colors of your room.

Whether you’re looking forward to finally adorning your new home with inspirational colors or just simply want to redecorate your house and conceal ugly cracks and spaces, Rain or Shine Paint is ready to serve all your painting needs. Select from a wide variety of colors of the ROS Classic or the ROS Hi-Gloss for your interior paint. For your exterior walls, you can count on ROS Dirt Shield and ROS Hydro Lock to keep your walls free from leaks and cracks and prolong the exterior beauty of your house.

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N E WS

27% of Construction Workers are Not Wearing a Hard Hat

A

forward-thinking industry survey has revealed a lack of comfort as the main obstacle putting workers off wearing their safety helmets more regularly, and, somewhat worryingly, almost half of those surveyed said that they never or rarely wear a hard hat.

Run by MSA Safety in conjunction with Skill Builder (a resource for the building industry promoting knowledge, news, and expertise), the extensive survey explored what puts workers off wearing safety helmets and what people consider to be the most important features of hard hat design.

The survey, which focused on the wearing of hard hats in general rather than any individual brand, received hundreds of responses from workers in the UK, including carpenters, builders, electricians, roofers, civil engineers, and tree surgeons – working on projects covering residential housing, infrastructure, heavy construction, and specialised industrial (amongst others).

When asked what puts them off wearing a hard hat, 26% of respondents cited comfort as the main reason, while 18% went as far as to say that hard hats stopped them from doing their job properly. 10% said that hard hats made them feel too hot, and 6% said they felt hard hats generally didn’t fit properly.

It’s no surprise, therefore, that the number of workers that don’t ever (19%) or rarely (27%) wear hard hats was high. Only 17% said that they wear hard hats most of the time; 10% said that they wear them often.

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Roger Bisby, well known and respected throughout the UK building and construction industry for his expertise and work on his Skill Builder channel, commented: “I’ve been in the building trade for a long time and heard these reasons for not wearing a hard hat – comfort, poor fit etc. – many, many times. Yes, all workers have a responsibility to look after themselves, but hard hat manufacturers also owe it to workers to provide a hard hat that they’ll be happy to wear for up to eight hours a day, five days a week. It’s heartening to see MSA not only manufacture more functional, comfortable hard hats, but encouraging others to follow suit.”

Mackenzie Peters, MSA Safety’s Global Product Manager, HEFH, continued: “To a large extent, unfortunately, these figures aren’t surprising. It’s a sad fact that many workers are not wearing essential hard hats because they’re uncomfortable, bulky and ill-fitting. All of which hinders a worker’s ability to do their job properly and contributes to them spending

more time worrying about their hard hat than the job at hand, which is dangerous in its own right.

“It’s our responsibility, as an industry, to buck this trend. Yes, of course, hard hats need to be safe, but the safest hard hat is one a worker will actually want to wear.

That’s why comfort and a good fit should be integral to any quality hard hat.”

Anecdotal feedback from respondents was insightful and broadly backed up the statistics outlined above. A selection of some of the feedback below: “People need a hat to be proud of” “They could be made to be more fitting, more comfortable, lighter, better ventilated” “They could be more stylish!”

“Better fitting so that they don’t fall off your head when bending over or looking up” Mackenzie addressed this feedback: “Providing workers with helmets they can be proud of is so important. When management provides its workforce with high quality, comfortable hard hats with a low-profile, modern design it represents a certain level of investment into them and their wellbeing. Customising hard hats with company logos can also help to foster a sense of pride and togetherness. And crucially, the better the hard hat is and the prouder a worker is to wear it, the more likely they are to not only wear it in the first place, but to also take good care of it.

“Heads come in all shapes and sizes,” concluded Mackenzie. “Workers need the ability to easily re-size hard hats to a secure fit that remains comfortable.

Comfortable, well-fitted and well-ventilated (where compliant) safety helmets aren’t optional, they’re essential.”

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100% Success Rate for Pluristem COVID-19 Treatment

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luristem Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:PSTI) (TASE:PSTI), a leading regenerative medicine company developing a platform of novel biological therapeutic products, announced today that it has treated its first patient suffering from COVID-19 complications in the United States under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Single Patient Expanded Access Program, also called a compassionate use program, which is part of the U.S. Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program (CTAP), an emergency program for possible therapies that uses every available method to move new treatments to patients as quickly as possible.

The patient was treated with PLX cell therapy at Holy Name Medical Center in New Jersey, an acute care facility that is currently an active site for Pluristem’s Phase III critical limb ischemia (CLI) study. Prior to treatment with PLX, the patient was critically ill with respiratory failure due to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and was under mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit (ICU) for three weeks.

“We are receiving many inquiries and requests for treatment from healthcare providers and families worldwide. In parallel with our planned clinical trial, we expect to continue treating patients under compassionate use through the appropriate regulatory clearances in the United States and Israel, as well as expanding treatment under compassionate use in other countries. Our main focus remains however, the initiation of a multinational clinical study,” stated Pluristem CEO and President Yaky Yanay.

Pluristem main target is to initiate a multinational clinical trial as soon as possible for Pluristem PLX cells in the treatment of patients suffering from complications associated with COVID-19.

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As the Company focus is the initiation of such clinical trial, it does not intend to provide further updates on the status of patients treated under compassionate use. Pluristem will update on the status and progress of its planned COVID-19 clinical trial program.

PLX Cells for COVID-19.

PLX cells are available off-the-shelf and once commercialized, can be manufactured in large scale quantities, offering a key advantage in addressing a global pandemic. PLX cells are allogeneic mesenchymal-like cells that have immunomodulatory properties that induce the immune system’s natural regulatory T cells and M2 macrophages, and thus may prevent or reverse the dangerous overactivation of the immune system. Accordingly, PLX cells may potentially reduce the incidence and\or severity of COVID-19 pneumonia and pneumonitis leading hopefully to a better prognosis for the patients. Previous pre-clinical findings of PLX cells revealed therapeutic benefit in animal studies of pulmonary hypertension, lung fibrosis, acute kidney injury and gastrointestinal injury which are potential complications of the severe COVID-19 infection. Clinical data using PLX cells demonstrated the strong immunomodulatory potency of PLX cells in patients post major surgery. Taken together, PLX cells’ potential capabilities with the safety profile observed from clinical trials involving hundreds of patients worldwide potentially position them as a therapy for mitigating the tissue-damaging effects of COVID-19.

About Pluristem Therapeutics Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. is a leading regenerative medicine company developing novel placenta-based cell therapy product candidates. Pluristem has reported robust clinical trial data in multiple indications for its patented PLX cell product candidates and is currently conducting late stage clinical trials in several indications. PLX cell product candidates are believed to release a range of therapeutic proteins in response to inflammation, ischemia, muscle trauma, hematological disorders and radiation damage. The cells are grown using the Company’s proprietary three-dimensional expansion technology and can be administered to patients offtheshelf, without tissue matching. Pluristem has a strong intellectual property position; a Companyowned and operated GMP-certified manufacturing and research facility; strategic relationships with major research institutions; and a seasoned management team.

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Prepare for the Post Covid-19 Air Travel a full stop, now is the time to change, develop and improve the sector that we all love. With consumers wondering when it’s safe to air travel again, it’s a great opportunity to show our leadership as an industry. Smart Travel Lab & Kantar are helping companies with their recovery plans while at the same time identifying the opportunities this crisis presents to come out of it even better’

D overnight.

uring these unprecedented times, we see behavior of travelers changing

Planes are parked on the runways of airports around the globe. Hotel occupancy levels plummeted to single digit numbers and most restaurants and bars have been closed by local governments.

Amid so much uncertainty, more than 50% of people are (very) worried about the future, as shown by KANTAR’s Covid-19 Barometer.

With most air travel companies fully focused on economical and operational measures, we can already see first signs of companies that have started adjusting their business model successfully, which not only increases their chance to survive this crisis but will actually help them get out of this situation 68

stronger and better.

After SARS we noticed Cathay Pacific boosting Hong Kong tourism with the award-winning campaign ‘Fly without fear.’ The industry took about 6 months to recover after that crisis. What to expect of the speed of recovery after Covid-19? More importantly how do we expect the hospitality and air travel sector to reshape after this period?

Before Covid-19, Smart Travel Lab identified 5 main themes that would impact the industry in the next 5 years: Sustainability, Overtourism, Seamless journeys, The future of workforce and Safety & security. One of the Founders, Christiaan Uittenbosch, states: ‘These topics have suddenly become even more actual urgent than before and will require the industry’s full attention as part of its recovery. As Hospitality and Travel has almost come to

As a starting point, the two companies have developed 4 key scenarios and defined the main implications for the travel industry.

Several key observations are: • The appreciation for nature and untouched over urban and artificial will surge • A strong expected growth of domestic over international air travel • A brand that does not inspire in this time of crisis should expect to be neglected The four scenarios that are described in the report are: 1. Close Call: “the Surge for Survival” 2. Panic Attack: “Stay local, stay safe” 3. Recurring Nightmare: “Two seasons, two travelers” 4. Brave New Reality: “Air Travel Safety by fiat”

1. Close Call: “the Surge for Survival” Some companies will take aggressive measures to survive.

There is a short window of opportunity to recover from losses as consumers relieve their cabin fever with a surge in demand for open spaces, culture and good food. Those that cannot maintain the resources to compete head-on once restrictions are lifted will be left behind.

2. Panic Attack: “Stay local, stay safe” As the system starts breaking down – without governmental reassurance or relief – people take matters in their own hands.

They will start supporting local businesses and become extremely risk averse. Even when governments declare the pandemic over, people are slow to believe and regain trust. Travel is constrained to nearby areas.

Only hotels, restaurants and travel providers that demonstrate they deserve to be trusted – with impeccable control standards and ethical practices – will survive.

3. Recurring Nightmare: “Two seasons, two travelers” With no decisive action to end the threat, Covid-19 becomes a seasonal fact, at least for the next few years.

For half of the year, there is a frantic rush to enjoy good food and air travel. For the other half, lockdowns are mandatory. In order to survive, the hospitality and air travel sector needs to find alternative business models , pandemic castes emerge, with the well off spending the year in escapist luxury while the rest stay

behind. Brands need to choose whether they will play to the elite, and risk the wrath of the masses, or find ways to provide affordable thrills to those that can barely afford to air travel.

4. Brave New Reality: “Travel Safety by fiat” Covid-19 is unstoppable, but also manageable. Governments impose rules on everything from cleaning standards to design regulations.

They enforce regulations allowing them to requisition resources (like hotels, kitchens and planes) as needed during ‘Covid-19 season,’ and quickly close borders at even a hint of infection. Companies accept the tradeoff of a relatively stable and prosperous business environment in exchange for limits on their freedom.

So what happens with the 5 focus areas that Smart Travel Lab described before Covid-19?

Uittenbosch: ‘Out of the 5 metathemes, Health & Sustainability will dominate the recovery agenda for the next 18 months.

All companies should be on top of these two topics, not only to be in business and stay relevant, but travelers will be looking at them for a strong and positive answer”.

So what’s next?

After defining the most likely scenarios, Smart Travel Lab & Kantar are now working with the first air travel organizations to define the most concrete and pressing challenges. These will form the basis for new business models and solutions that are ready to implement and scalable to support the industry’s recovery.

The first pilot projects should hit the market within the next 6-8 weeks.

So, symbolically, while the summer period is normally peak season for the industry, we will all be working extremely hard to recover with the ambition to get out stronger and better.

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Coaching Builds COVID-19 Resilience to Engineering Team How Coaching Builds Resilience to your Engineering Team Members During COVID-19

T

here is another side to the current crisis that needs to be taken seriously. While the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) puts over 3 billion people under stay-at-home orders across the globe, anxiety, confusion and negativity have been spreading throughout communities. Focus has been on the struggles and difficulties rather than opportunities and success stories.

There is no question that the current situation is a challenging one, however, history has proven that out of every downturn there are winners as well as losers. Whatever your past business practice and philosophy, now is the perfect opportunity to learn from the great winners of commerce and reinvent your business of the future.

Use coaching principles and ethics to navigate 72

the unknown with your engineering team Coaching as an attitude is a great way that leaders navigate the unknown future ahead to redirect your engineering team in a healthy way. Establishing superb engineering team and customer trust, continuous clear communication, employing a leadership style that is open, flexible and confident, and actively listening to both your employees and your customers. While coaching extends beyond these essential skills, reviewing how they are being practiced in your business will help during these times. They will start moving you towards success by developing a positive attitude and culture to your engineering team.

We are seeing a time of an unprecedented need for awareness of humanity and ethics that benefit the collective. The International Coaching Foundation publishes its core

competencies as well as its standards of ethical practice. These are transferrable and provide a blueprint for any leader wishing to upgrade their culture in order to prosper.

Currently, adherence to ethical standards is the only way to move forward through the unknown.

The importance of a learning culture with your engineering team A learning culture is a mindful one. One that values the positive impact of actions, over blame. A learning culture finds meaning in actions and feeds insights forward to develop new ideas and strategies. Objective thinking relies on fact finding and precision, not subjectivity and hearsay. Many leaders are not aware of how they fact-find for decisionmaking, so this self-awareness is the first step.

Another effective aspect of a learning culture is its power to engage teams in problem-solving, creativity and innovative thinking. With remote working and daily distractions, inspiring your team into positive solution-focus means they are actively thinking of new things as they deal with homeschooling and multi-tasking.

It’s worth stating that additional stress deactivates innovative thinking. It’s a common misbelief that piling on pressure increases productivity, in reality, the resulting biochemicals cause the brain to shut down.

Coaching is one of the most effective and scientific methods in generating new, positive

thinking which is how the most successful businesses are able to build resilience and come up with new solutions that help them bounce back. Combined with a learning culture, these ideas can be trialed and implemented quickly, with the least internal friction, moving the business to discover new opportunities.

Your engineering team must become the master of re-invention The new leadership practices, learned and adopted now, can sow the seeds for exponential growth in the future. Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher, has been quoted as saying “change is the only constant in life.”

This current situation has presented a great opportunity for us to adapt our mindset, embrace change as an ongoing strategy and develop ways that changes are continuously adopted by teams within the business. This strategic capability will enable the business to leverage change in a way that leads their market by creating new opportunities.

Many major big brands were born from deep crises, Chevron, Toyota, Caterpillar Inc, General Electric and Sony to name a few. To quote another famous philosopher, Plato, who said “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

Master these pillars and your business will be the master of re-invention with the ability to turn set-back into profit.

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How Artificial Intelligence Can Drive Greater Speed and Accuracy in Vaccine Development

By Billy Sisk, Life Sciences Industry Manager EMEA, Rockwell Automation

D

espite the tremendous advances in medical science over recent decades, there is still so much about the human body we’re yet to discover. The mission of the life sciences industry, therefore, is to continually probe at the next frontier in expanding our collective understanding. The response to infectious diseases is just one aspect of this, yet presents a hugely significant area in improving global health and life expectancy.

What typically separates acute diseases from chronic conditions is the sense of urgency. When a new strain of disease is identified, its viral nature combined with the interconnectedness of modern societies can quickly lead to an exponential 76

rise in cases requiring treatment. This places immense pressure on governments and healthcare infrastructure as action is taken to restrict the spread and apply treatment so that normal social and economic life can be resumed.

Life sciences organisations have an essential role to play in this regard and, through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other advanced analytic technologies, can help to rapidly accelerate the path towards the development and dissemination of such treatments.

What’s involved in developing a vaccine?

The sense of urgency that comes with infectious diseases can itself fast-track progress towards arriving at a vaccine. The need for immediate action unites and galvanises a range of bodies – from researchers and clinicians through to regulatory bodies and manufacturers – in the quest to get an effective treatment into the hands of healthcare professionals as quickly as possible.

Even with these groups working tirelessly and with a determined focus, the end-to-end process can still take years. There are several stages that come before a treatment is ready to be put into the market.

These include: • • • • •

Each of these steps is essential in ensuring that the vaccine produced is effective and safe, that any side-effects are properly understood and that it can be produced at scale on a consistent basis until the threat of illness has been sufficiently minimised.

Historically, the complexity, regulation and cost involved in each of these stages has slowed down the response to emerging health issues. Now, due to advances in AI-related technologies, we have an opportunity to rapidly accelerate the process through which we can deploy treatments into the field.

How can AI assist in this process?

While we can never expect overnight success when dealing with something as complex as vaccine development, we can act to remove some of the Exploratory stage; working through thousands constraints and bottlenecks that may hamper of potential compounds to shortlist vaccine candidates, and research into immune response progress. Advances in automating data analysis and improving visualisation of what is happening Pre-clinical stage; lab analysis to identify at each step of the discovery stage can address relevant antigens to arrive at a vaccine concept some of these inefficiencies, helping to accelerate and design Clinical development; trialling of vaccine on test the process of vaccine development and streamline operations to upscale production. groups of varying characteristics Regulatory review and approval; verification Here are some of the roles AI can play at each stage: of vaccine safety and compliance with health regulation Manufacturing and quality control; development Exploratory/pre-clinical of medicines in preparation for mass distribution The initial phases of drug discovery often involve a filtering process to narrow down vaccine candidates based on prior studies and treatments. Researchers

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can use AI to process vast digital libraries of data (such as analysing the properties of thousands of pharmaceutical compounds) with significantly more accuracy than manual processing, to arrive at potential treatment candidates. AI can also be used in these stages for DNA sequencing based on complex human data, allowing clinicians to conduct tests in genetic matching and immunity response.

Clinical development and trials Once suitable compounds have been identified, the process moves towards live testing. Different patients will react differently to treatments based on factors such as age and prior medical history.

The tests therefore need to be comprehensive enough to cover marginal cases where a patient may react badly to treatment.

sample antibodies to fight infectious diseases with drastic improvements in speed and cost. Advanced analytics and data visualisation of human response to the potential vaccines can then be used to assist with rapid testing, allowing for more intricate analysis and lower error rates.

Manufacturing and QA Upon regulatory approval of vaccine products, the race is on to develop and distribute the medicine across a vast network of hospitals and clinics. This has significant operational implications for the manufacturers making the products, requiring rapid decision-making on factors such as their output capacity, the quality of the product and optimum packaging solutions.

Combining AI and sensor-based technologies, manufacturers can harness granular data to bring By training deep learning algorithms, researchers greater supply chain efficiencies. This helps to avoid demand-supply misalignments in their production can conduct these tests at a previouslyprocesses, and minimises the risk of products being unimaginable scale, even before physically administering the vaccine candidate to test patients. spoiled in distribution.

These algorithms can be used to identify and 80

Faster treatments in times of need A viral outbreak can bring unforeseen challenges for those involved in public health management, from policy makers and health authorities through to clinicians and manufacturers. While the former can take prompt action to test for infection and put containment measures in place on identified clusters, the latter are often under renewed pressure to deliver treatments at speed. Being able to find new efficiencies in the development of vaccines can make a considerable difference in treating identified cases, relieving pressures on healthcare infrastructure and contributing to better recovery rates.

AI capabilities allow those involved in the development side to act faster under pressure.

Techniques such as deep learning and advanced data visualisation allow researchers to lean on the body of existing research undertaken to tackle the complexities involved in discovering suitable treatments for novel viruses. The utility of AI extends through to production and distribution, where manufacturers play a powerful role in getting

these medicines into the field at rapid speed and amid conditions of great uncertainty.

To find out more about the role of AI pharmaceutical manufacturing please feel free to reach out and connect and also visit the Life Sciences page on our website.

About Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK), is a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation. We connect the imaginations of people with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, making the world more productive and more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 23,000 problem solvers dedicated to our customers in more than 100 countries. To learn more about how we are bringing The Connected Enterprise to life across industrial enterprises, visit www.rockwellautomation.com.

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Rockwell Automation Launches Management Perspectives Program to Build Relationships for Industrial Executives Integrated program to lead conversations about business and technology trends, skills and investments driving digital transformation

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ockwell Automation today announced the launch of its Management Perspectives Program, an online community resource designed to inform, inspire, and bring together managers and executives both in person and virtually. The community hub provides a collection of online content and educational materials, with a focus on digital transformation and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

“We have always been dedicated to supporting our customers,” said Susana Gonzalez, president for Europe, Middle East, and Africa at Rockwell Automation. “With the launch of this program, we want to connect executives and help them explore, understand, and 84

share opinions on topics like the impact of cutting-edge technologies, workforce challenges; and business and industry trends. Often, while executives understand that digital transformation can solve strategic and operational challenges, they need better understanding of the payback on investments.

This is precisely what Management Perspectives is designed to do and is why we’re so excited to announce its launch today.”

Encouraging conversation Unlike other content hubs of this type, Management Perspectives is free to experience for all senior executives and managers

seeking insight and peer-to-peer dialogue on IIoT, manufacturing and Industry 4.0. Guest contributors include thought leaders from a variety of organisations including EY as well as customers of Rockwell Automation who want to share their experience and insight.

From blogs and case studies, to videos, a LinkedIn group, webinars and a podcast on Apple Podcasts, participants have a wide range of opportunities to engage and can easily connect with one another to discuss strategy and best practice. Events – both virtual and face to face – also form part of the program.

Building knowledge and education In addition, Management Perspectives also offers a wealth of educational materials such as eBooks and interactive webinars. Rob Goossens, CEO, Technologies Added, and one of the first guests of the Management Perspectives podcast, said: “You don’t become a leader by following the status quo. Most businesses already know what is driving digital transformation – what they need to know is how to stay ahead of the curve and what it means for their business. Our insight is based off experience and data and provides real-world value for anyone interested in the program.”

Addressing customer needs Susana Gonzalez continued: “Industrial executives are faced with a variety of challenges every day, and in uncertain times these challenges can become increasingly complicated. We offer our help by creating a forum whereby discussing and sharing experiences, you can prioritize the right projects and get higher insight on payback of use cases. We are confident that our new portal, the content and connections it opens will be of interest and welcomed by the market.”

Start benefiting from these resources today by visiting the Management Perspectives online resource center at http://rok. auto/managementperspectives and subscribing to the podcast at http://rok.auto/ perspectivespodcast

About Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK), is a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation. We connect the imaginations of people with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, making the world more productive and more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 23,000 problem solvers dedicated to our customers in more than 100 countries. To learn more about how we are making Smart Manufacturing more productive, visit www.rockwellautomation.com 85

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Robot Technology to Reinstate a COVID-Free Airport We were hoping for a ventilator, but still thankful for a face shield mask for our medical frontliners

The launch of the new robot comes in collaboration with Tawazun Strategic Development Fund - New CoDI BOT UGV developed by Marakeb Technologies for Abu Dhabi Airports to be deployed at Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) from May onwards - Robot is designed for the disinfection of spaces, limiting risk of contamination or human exposure to viruses including COVID-19 - CoDI BOT UGV reflects Abu Dhabi’s commitment to the health, safety and wellbeing of passengers, staff, and visitors in the airport environment Abu Dhabi Airports has partnered with Tawazun Strategic Development Fund (TSDF) to launch the new CoDi BOT UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle), designed and manufactured by UAEbased company Marakeb Technologies, an affiliate company of TSDF, for the disinfection of viruses including COVID-19.

The introduction of new state-of-the-art technology is the latest measure introduced

by Abu Dhabi Airports to contain the spread of COVID-19, and aligns with the directives of H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Airports.

This collaboration is part of a broader initiative

by Abu Dhabi Airports to integrate the most advanced technologies within its operations, to achieve a high level of efficiency, and provide the best services to its travellers.

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The CoDi BOT UGV will be piloted from May throughout Abu Dhabi International Airport, including in staff areas and cargo facilities, as well as being used as part of cabin deserialization processes on passenger aircraft.

Specifically ensuring aircraft cabins are kept clean and sterile, the CoDi BOT UGV is designed to be able to manoeuvre through airplane cabin, which is a unique feature of this product, while ensuring the safety of its operators through remote control capability, using real-time video and high-speed 4G data connection.

The introduction of the robot helps operational teams carry out safer missions during the sterilisation of aircraft while parked at Abu Dhabi International COVID-Free Airport, eliminating the risk of human exposure and self-contamination. The robot’s versatility also enables the disinfection of spaces within the COVID-Free Airport terminals, reinforcing public safety against COVID-19 and any future virus outbreaks.

The UGVs will be operated in conjunction with the extensive range of preventative measures implemented at Abu Dhabi International COVID-Free Airport in response to COVID-19.

Measures include thermal screening, nasal swabbing, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, in line with the recommendations by the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP).

The BOT has three central functions: 1. Targeting of virus strains on surfaces with controlled bursts of germicidal UV rays

2. Screening of individual through thermal infrared monitoring 3. Disinfection of areas using liquid cleaning agents CEO of Abu Dhabi Airports, Shareef Hashim Al Hashmi, commented: “Introducing CoDi BOT UGV at Abu Dhabi International COVID-Free Airport reflects our commitment to adopting innovative technology, which can bolster the protection of our passengers and frontline staff against viruses. The acute impact of the pandemic would have heightened our overall sense of awareness toward hygiene, and as vital piece of public infrastructure, we have a clear responsibility to ensure our spaces remain clear of any virus threat. By deploying artificial intelligence, it adds another layer of protection and builds on our comprehensive response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“Working in close collaboration with Marakeb Technologies and Tawazun Strategic Development Fund, collectively we can reassure passengers and our frontline staff that we are taking every precautionary measure to ensure their safety against any virus threat now and in future,” Al Hashmi added.

Abdulla Nasser Al Jaabari, the Head of Tawazun Strategic Development Fund and Chairman of Marakeb Technologies, commented, “we are pleased to support Abu Dhabi COVID-Free Airport advanced vision. This collaboration stems out from our commitment to enable and invest in promising national SME’s such as Marakeb. We are proud to have the opportunity for Marakeb Technologies to display its capabilities to provide advanced solution through technologies towards effort to fight COVID19.”

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c i t s a l o Is Latex additive to impart elasticity to cement based adhesives

Isolastic is a synthetic polymer to be mixed with Kerabond, Kerabond T, Kerafloor or Adesilex P10 to improve their performances and deformability to meet the requirements of class C2 (improved cementitious adhesive for Kerabond T and Kerafloor) or C2E (improved cementitious adhesive with extended open time for Kerabond) according to EN 12004 and those of class S1 (deformable adhesive) or S2 (highly deformable adhesive) according to EN 12002, dependent on whether it is used neat or diluted with water.

WHERE TO USE ISOLASTIC + KERABOND or KERABOND T For interior and exterior bonding of: • ceramic tiles of every type (double fired, single fired, grès, klinker, glass mosaic, porcelain tiles etc.); • stone material and large-size tiles (over 30x30 cm).

Some application examples • Ceramic tiles over underfloor heating installations; • ceramic tiles and stone material for exteriors (façades, swimming pools, balconies, terraces); • ceramic tiles on prefabricated concrete walls (load bearing panels, prefabricated bathrooms; • ceramic tiles on old flooring (ceramic, marble, terrazzo, wood etc.); • ceramic tiles on asphalt screeds or substrates; • ceramic tiles on deformable substrates (gypsum-board panels, reinforced concrete, fibre-cement board, etc.); ISOLASTIC+KERAFLOOR For interior and exterior bonding of: • large-size ceramic tiles (over 30x30 cm); • ribbed klinker tiles, cotto toscano, stone slabs etc. needing layers of adhesive thicker than 5 mm; • ceramic tiles on substrates with irregularities up to 15 mm.

Some application examples • Ceramic tiles and stone material for exteriors (façades, swimming pools, balconies, terraces), also on deformable substrates; • large-size ceramic floor tiles laid on underfloor heating installations.

ISOLASTIC DILUTED WITH WATER AT A RATIO OF 1:1 + ADESILEX P10 Bonding on internal and external floors or vertical surfaces of glass or ceramic mosaic on paper or mesh backings, even heavy ones.

Some application examples • Laying glass or ceramic mosaic on non-absorbent surfaces (Mapelastic, Mapegum WPS, existing tiles, tiles, etc.).

• Laying glass or ceramic mosaic in swimming pools, storage tanks, etc., or even on absorbent surfaces.

• Laying glass or ceramic mosaic on flexible surfaces (plasterboard panels, reinforced cement, cement fibre, wood or derived materials, provided they are well fastened).

TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS Isolastic is a very fluid, pinkish-white liquid composed of a water dispersion of an extremely elastic polymer which, when mixed with cement based adhesives, improves adhesion to all substrates, deformability and impermeability, once hydration has taken place.

RECOMMENDATIONS Kerabond, Kerabond T, Kerafloor or Adesilex P10 mixed with Isolastic must never be used for: • installing stone slabs subject to moisture movement; • installing marble or natural stone subject to efflorescence or staining from moisture;

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How Has COVID-19 Impacted The Construction Sector?

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here’s no doubt that the current COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious impact on just about every aspect of our lives. From an individual’s personal life to entire industries the impact of COVID-19 all over the world has been more significant than many of us could have ever predicted. This has been felt particularly strongly within the construction and engineering industries. The impact of COVID-19 on the construction sector has been one of the most significant and visible out of any other industry, but the question is, what has that impact really been and how can the construction recover from it?

massive and sudden. With the new rules around self-isolation and social distancing, many construction sites have been hit the hardest.

Not only are projects not being completed but many are stuck in a state of disrepair for the foreseeable future. Many people working within the construction sector have had their businesses impacted and many have predicted that they will experience a significant, negative, financial impact during this period because of the required closing of sites and the need for employees to stay at home.

The impact

It might all sound frightening when you look at the impact that the pandemic has had on the construction sector but the response from the industry has been incredibly positive and

The impact that the current COVID-19 pandemic has had on the construction industry has been 92

The response from the industry

impressive. Many organizations have stepped up to offer support to those affected, including administrative and government lobbying assistance. There have also been specific health measures put in place so that businesses are able to make sure that all of their workers remain as healthy as possible. It’s also worth noting that lines of credit still exist through commercial real estate investment brokers which means that, when the pandemic is over, it is likely that it will be entirely possible for the sector to pick up once again. As frightening as it can all be, there are always things that can be done to make life easier.

The long term impact Another piece of positive news is that many governments have committed to putting construction and infrastructure at the very forefront of their agenda during the period of recovery from the pandemic. The truth is that government support for the construction industry is going to be essential in order to help it recover from the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown have had on it.

The reality is that there is a good chance that the impact of COVID-19 going to be felt by a great number of different industries well after the actual pandemic itself has passed by. It’s certainly not easy to say exactly what the lasting effects are going to be but the most important thing right now is for those within the sector, both large and small, to make sure that they are doing everything they can to prepare and do whatever they can to mitigate any possible damage.

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NEW! Cotronics’ Thermally Insulating Pressure Sensitive Ceramic Tape

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otronics Ultra-Temp 390PS pressure sensitive, ceramic tape wraps around pipes and equipment for thermal and electrical insulation to 2300ºF. Thermally efficient ceramic tape has excellent adhesion to metals, ceramic and glass. Easy to use, Ultra-Temp 390PS ceramic tape eliminates the time spent twisting, slipping and unwrapping that occurs with standard tapes.

The pressure sensitive adhesive backing simplifies placement and installation. Just press and stick.

Mechanical fastening or high temperature adhesive is required for applications above 400ºF. The combined ceramic tape and pressure sensitive adhesive make it the ideal material for any high temp application requiring up to 2300ºF continuous service with excellent thermal and electrical resistance.

Ceramic tape is made from asbestos-free, aluminum oxide based, high purity, refractory fibers. These tapes have low specific heat and low thermal conductivity.

They are resistant to thermal shock and offer electrical insulation, good dielectric strength and excellent corrosion resistance.

Applications include: High temperature insulation, furnace linings, mufflers, gas turbines, fans, ovens, chemical reactors, expansion joint packing, high temperature filters, fire protection, sound absorption, stress relieving insulation, non-contaminating brazing and more.

Adhesive-backed ceramic tapes are packaged in easyto-use roll widths: 1”, 1.5”, 2” or 3” and are available in two thicknesses: 1/8” by 50 feet long and 1/4” by 62.5 feet long.

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Lifts and lobbies – the new hot spots for office buildings

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ew modelling released today by leading design and engineering firm, Arup, reveals the importance of detailed planning so more people can safely and efficiently return to work in city office buildings as more businesses progressively reopen when necessary SOPs are observed, while many corporations also ramp up operations by stages.

or many frustrated people queuing onto the street,” said Arup’s Buildings Leader in Malaysia, Fazidin Faisal.

He said lifts are the bottle neck for accessing commercial buildings and most cannot be structurally reconfigured. Other strategies need to be considered.

The modelling focussed on managing lift passenger numbers and queuing, factoring in physical distancing regulations.

“Building owners, managers and tenants will need to limit numbers in each building, stagger arrival and exit times, and manage queues,” Fazidin said.

“Without good data and planning, there could be potentially unsafe congestion in lobbies

He outlined a case study of a 30-storey commercial building with 20 lifts and

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approximately 340 people working on each floor.

With physical distancing, the average lift car will hold only four people instead of the usual 19. Depending on how many people are trying to access the building at the same time, they could be queuing for a long time, leading to lost productivity as well as annoyance.

“The scenario modelling shows that having 50% or even 75% of people coming in on any particular day, and staggering their arrival times, would make a big difference,” Fazidin said.

If 50% of people come to the building on a given day and all arrive at around same time, they will be queuing for more than an hour.

However, if they are organised to arrive every 15 minutes, in a designated time slot, space could be provided comfortably in the lobbies and queues could be reduced by 70%.

Arup’s 3D MassMotion software can provide technical analysis for planning how people can safely enter, queue and move around lobbies.

“Realistically, most workplaces probably cannot accommodate everyone with safe distancing,” he said. “But without careful planning, there will be issues before people even get to their office floor, which we believe are avoidable.”

Fazidin said there are many important considerations such as signage, supervision and cleaning to make operations safe and efficient, while helping feel their building is still welcoming.

Find more details at www.arup.com/ perspectives/getting-from-a-to-c-via-btransitioning-back-to-the-workplace and www. arup.com/expertise/services/digital/massmotion

About Arup Arup is the creative force at the heart of many of the world’s most prominent projects in the built environment and across industry.

Working in more than 140 countries, the firm’s designers, engineers, architects, planners, consultants and technical specialists work with our clients on innovative projects of the highest quality and impact. www.arup.com

About Arup in Malaysia Arup’s presence in Malaysia goes back to the 1960s when we were involved in shaping some of the country’s early landmarks in Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Since then, we have grown in size and broadened our disciplines, delivering engineering and advisory services necessary to every stage of a project in the evolving urban landscapes across states.

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Event Info Power Purchase Agreement

7 – 10 June 2020, Dubai 19 – 22 October 2020, Singapore www.infocusinternational.com/ppa

Overview

There are many moving pieces affecting the future of electric power development in emerging market. Unlike the past Independent Power Project models, which featured standardised take-or-pay contracts – today’s market demands more innovative incentives to ensure better availability, better performance, as well as more attractive and sustainable mixtures of fuel sources. Economies throughout developing countries urgently need to master the key tools, models, and lessons learned for transforming and strengthening today’s electricity sector. These include the latest models in negotiating Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), in designing and managing new competitive power markets, as well as attracting the right mix of renewable energy sources.

This 4-day comprehensive workshop gives you clear explanations of the new models of PPA risk allocation, of designing and managing competitive power markets, attracting private investments in renewable energy, through a series of real case examples of contracts and markets. Case Studies will include real examples from Africa, Middle East, Asia, Europe and North America. Furthermore, cases stimulate independent thinking and discussion among participants.

Benefits of Attending • LEARN about all the essentials of different PPAs • NEGOTIATE fair and sustainable PPAs • STRUCTURE successful PPAs based upon your own company’s risk profile and risk allocation needs • EXPOSE to the frontiers of international experience in IPP development • LEARN theory and practice of pricing and tariff design • ANALYSE the relationship between Public, Private, and Government sector • PERFORM a policy and risk analysis of PPA contracts • EXPLORE a PPA relationship with EPC, O&M, Fuel Supply, and Interconnect Agreement • GAIN the tools and models in directing your country’s electricity transformation and market design plans • IMPROVE your awareness of the common pitfalls and mistakes to avoid in today’s private power investments

• LEAD successful power project finance transactions • IDENTIFY how financial derivatives can be used as an effective hedge of financial and electricity market based risks

Teaching Methodology The agenda will combine presented materials with plenty of opportunity for Q&A, interactive discussions, and the use of quantitative models to illustrate key learning points. Current market examples and data are utilised wherever helpful.

Course Certificate Upon the successful completion of this course, you will receive a Certificate of Completion bearing the signatures from both the Course Director and the Course Organiser. This Certificate will testify your endeavour and serve towards your professional advancement.

To Register/Enquire on this course, please contact:

Abigail Harris

Infocus International Tel: +65 6325 0215 Email: abigail@infocusinternational.com Website: www.infocusinternational.com/ppa

4 day course

“Excellent! There are many interesting topics which cover almost all relevant issues in electricity market, such as market reform and PPA negotiation. And the speaker is simply great.”

Head of PPA Section, Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand

Power Purchase Agreement Structuring successful Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), managing competitive electricity markets & attracting merchant power investments

Book 3 persons and save

$400

7 – 10 June 2020, Dubai 19 – 22 October 2020, Singapore

per person

Benefits of Attending

Who Should Attend

■ LEARN about all the essentials of different PPAs ■ NEGOTIATE fair and sustainable PPAs ■ STRUCTURE successful PPAs based upon your own company’s risk profile and risk allocation needs ■ EXPOSE to the frontiers of international experience in IPP development ■ LEARN theory and practice of pricing and tariff design ■ ANALYSE the relationship between Public, Private, and Government sector ■ PERFORM a policy and risk analysis of PPA contracts ■ EXPLORE a PPA relationship with EPC, O&M, Fuel Supply, and Interconnect Agreement ■ GAIN the tools and models in directing your country’s electricity transformation and market design plans ■ IMPROVE your awareness of the common pitfalls and mistakes to avoid in today’s private power investments ■ LEAD successful power project finance transactions ■ IDENTIFY how financial derivatives can be used as an effective hedge of financial and electricity market based risks

■ Contract / Agreement Negotiators ■ Legal / Regulation / Compliance / Policy Analysts ■ Business Development Managers ■ Commercial Managers ■ Finance Controllers / Treasurers ■ Corporate Planners ■ Business & Accounting Analysts ■ Sales & Trading Managers ■ Structured / Project Finance Analysts ■ Economists / Investors ■ Chairman / CEO / Directors From sectors: ■ Electric Regulators & Ministries ■ Power & Utility Companies ■ IPP Developers ■ Banks / Investors ■ Energy Fuel Suppliers (Oil, Gas, Coal and Renewables) ■ Law Firms & Consultancy

Supported by: OFFSHORE MAGAZINE

ENERGY INSIGHT

E: abigail@infocusinternational.com

www.infocusinternational.com/ppa

Event Info Renewable Power & Energy Mix

15 – 17 June 2020, Singapore www.infocusinternational.com/energymix

Overview

In increasing parts of the world, renewable power sources – particularly solar and wind – are now the cheapest way to generate electricity. This, combined with being crucial mechanisms by which to lower the carbon emissions of energy systems, means they are also the fastest-growing supply of new power generating capacity. It is vital that anyone involved in electricity systems, from new power project developers to incumbent utilities, investors and policymakers, has a thorough understanding of how renewables are impacting the energy mix and the wider power business.

In particular, the transition away from conventional thermal generators towards renewable ones has profound implications for how power systems are designed, operated and policed – on a variety of timescales from sub-second management to long-term capacity planning. These in turn create both new market opportunities and significant businesses risks within the sector, not just for those involved in system-wide aspects such as the grid or policy, but for those involved in individual project development too.

In three intensive and informative days, this course explains and illustrates the key impacts of renewable power integration into modern energy systems, based on global lessons and examples. Most importantly it provides attendees with a market assessment framework and recommended approach to identifying and quantifying how these integration challenges change the specific new opportunities and risks facing their own businesses.

Benefits of Attending • Learn from global experiences in renewable power project development and integration • Understand how technical challenges translate into financial and business opportunities • Illustrate key system impacts such as investment requirements, energy costs and capacity margins using simple • Quantitative models • Analyse and discuss evolving value chain roles, partnerships and competitors • Assess the market potential for solutions such as energy storage, virtual power plants and smart grids • Gain an insight into the influences of market liberalisation and policy shifts Who Should Attend • Renewable power project developers • Power plant owners and operators (utilities and IPPs) • Transmission/Distribution system operators • Policymakers and policy advisors

• Investors, including commercial and development banks, venture capital and private equity • Vendors & EPC contractors • Large energy users •Commercial energy-sector services suppliers (law, insurance etc.)

Teaching Methodology The agenda will combine presented materials with plenty of opportunity for Q&A, interactive discussions, and the use of quantitative models to illustrate key learning points. Current market examples and data are utilised wherever helpful.

Course Certificate Upon the successful completion of this course, you will receive a Certificate of Completion bearing the signatures from both the Course Director and the Course Organiser. This Certificate will testify your endeavour and serve towards your professional advancement.

To Register/Enquire on this course, please contact:

Abigail Harris

Infocus International Tel: +65 6325 0215 Email: abigail@infocusinternational.com Website: www.infocusinternational.com/energymix

BRAND NEW COURSE “I enjoyed the course with lots of demonstrations and case studies. The facilitator was just marvellous, up to the game. It was a value for money workshop.”

Director of Finance, Electricity Generation Company Malawi

Renewable Power & Energy Mix Essential approaches to market assessment, power project opportunity & business risk analysis

15 – 17 June 2020, Singapore

Benefits of Attending ■ Learn from global experiences in renewable power project development and integration ■ Understand how technical challenges translate into financial and business opportunities ■ Illustrate key system impacts such as investment requirements, energy costs and capacity margins using simple quantitative models ■ Analyse and discuss evolving value chain roles, partnerships and competitors ■ Assess the market potential for solutions such as energy storage, virtual power plants and smart grids ■ Gain an insight into the influences of market liberalisation and policy shifts

Who Should Attend ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Renewable power project developers Power plant owners and operators (utilities and IPPs) Transmission/Distribution system operators Policymakers and policy advisors Investors, including commercial and development banks, venture capital and private equity Vendors & EPC contractors Large energy users Commercial energy-sector services suppliers (law, insurance etc.)

Book 3 persons or more and save

$300 each

Supported by: OFFSHORE MAGAZINE

ENERGY INSIGHT

E: abigail@infocusinternational.com

www.infocusinternational.com/energymix

Event Info Mastering Wind Power

8 - 10 July 2020, Singapore www.infocusinternational.com/wind

Overview

A comprehensive, up-to-date and business-focused roadmap to success in delivering wind power growth, today and tomorrow.

Attendees will leave with an excellent understanding of all the key factors facing wind power developers and investors, from resource assessment and energy production complexities, through project development and planning challenges, to financial returns and risks.

The course schedule is designed to be highly participative, including time to work in groups to apply and illustrate the learning points throughout the course. To do so, attendees will utilise online tools, wind resource datasets, energy yield, financial and other simple calculations, along with structured discussions on key planning and market environment considerations.

In keeping with the business-focused theme of the course, these illustrative exercises are designed to provide time-efficient clarification of the key course takeaways, aimed at commercially-focused business developers and investors. They are therefore deliberately made accessible to non-experts, not designed to replicate the complex or in-depth detailed planning undertaken – over much longer periods! – by experienced engineers and technical teams.

Course Highlights • Learn from global experiences in wind power project development • Understand unique properties of wind resource, and how these feed into financial risk analysis • Gain a business-focused, up-to-date perspective on current and emerging wind technology innovations and project delivery best practices • Analyse and discuss practical and project delivery risks facing wind power projects, including key stakeholder engagements • Get hands-on with a financial model to better understand financial risks and returns for wind power projects • Compare and contrast the unique extra costs and complexities of offshore wind projects with those onshore Who Should Attend • Renewable power project developers • Power plant owners and operators (utilities and IPPs) • Transmission/Distribution system operators • Policymakers and policy advisors

• Investors, including commercial and development banks, venture capital and private equity • Vendors & EPC contractors • Large energy users • Commercial energy-sector services suppliers (law, insurance etc.)

Teaching Methodology The agenda will combine presented materials with plenty of opportunity for Q&A, interactive discussions, and the use of quantitative models to illustrate key learning points. Current market examples and data are utilised wherever helpful.

Course Certificate Upon the successful completion of this course, you will receive a Certificate of Completion bearing the signatures from both the Course Director and the Course Organiser. This Certificate will testify your endeavour and serve towards your professional advancement.

To Register/Enquire on this course, please contact:

Abigail Harris

Infocus International Tel: +65 6325 0215 Email: abigail@infocusinternational.com Website: www.infocusinternational.com/wind

BRAND NEW COURSE “I enjoyed the course with lots of demonstrations and case studies. The facilitator was just marvellous, up to the game. It was a value for money workshop.”

Director of Finance, Electricity Generation Company Malawi

Mastering Wind Power 8 – 10 July 2020, Singapore

Benefits of Attending ■ Learn from global experiences in wind power project development ■ Understand unique properties of wind resource, and how these feed into financial risk analysis ■ Gain a business-focused, up-to-date perspective on current and emerging wind technology innovations and project delivery best practices ■ Analyse and discuss practical and project delivery risks facing wind power projects, including key stakeholder engagements ■ Get hands-on with a financial model to better understand financial risks and returns for wind power projects ■ Compare and contrast the unique extra costs and complexities of offshore wind projects with those onshore

Who Should Attend ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Renewable power project developers Power plant owners and operators (utilities and IPPs) Transmission/Distribution system operators Policymakers and policy advisors Investors, including commercial and development banks, venture capital and private equity Vendors & EPC contractors Large energy users Commercial energy-sector services suppliers (law, insurance etc.)

Book 3 persons or more and save

$300 each

Supported by: OFFSHORE MAGAZINE

ENERGY INSIGHT

E: abigail@infocusinternational.com

www.infocusinternational.com/wind

Event Info

Mastering Solar Power

13 - 16 July 2020, Singapore www.infocusinternational.com/solar

Overview

A comprehensive, up-to-date and business-focused roadmap to success in delivering solar power growth, today and tomorrow.

Attendees will leave with a good understanding of the key factors from an integrated, multidisciplinary and commercial viewpoint, including: target market analysis, economic competitiveness, channels-to-market, financing influences and risk, project development processes, best practices and emerging technologies.

The course schedule includes time to work in groups to apply the learning and illustrate key project development considerations, by discussing, developing and quantifying an initial business proposal for a solar PV power plant. To do so, attendees will utilise energy yield, financial and other simple calculations, along with the chance to debate key planning and market environment considerations.

In keeping with the business-focused theme of the course, these illustrative exercises are designed to provide time-efficient clarification of the key course takeaways, aimed at commercially-focused business developers and investors.

They are therefore accessible to nonexperts, not designed to replicate the complex or in-depth detailed planning undertaken - over much longer periods! by engineers and technical teams.

“I enjoyed the course with lots of demonstrations and case studies. The facilitator was just marvellous, up to the game. It was a value for money workshop.”

Shadric Namalomba, Director of Finance, Electricity Generation Company Malawi

Mastering Solar Power Course Highlights

• Speak the language of solar energy: terminology and concepts explained with clarity and relevance • Understand the key variables determining the economics of solar PV projects • Review current and emerging market opportunities for solar PV, including integrations such as energy storage • Navigate the typical project development requirements, processes and risks • Learn and discuss how financial returns and risks arise in PV projects • Be better able to converse with project partners, suppliers, investors, policymakers and other stakeholders • Know what to look for when evaluating PV project opportunities • Identify key investment and project performance risks • Learn how to analyse and critique current and emerging business models

13 – 16 July 2020, Singapore

Who Should Attend Benefits of Attending ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

This course is ideal if:

Speak the language of solar energy: terminology and concepts explained with clarity and relevance • You are working withinthethe power of sector in projects a commercial or business Understand the key variables determining economics solar PV role.opportunities You need a for clearly explained, multi-faceted Review current development and emerging market solar PV, including integrations suchunderstanding as energy storageof Navigate the typical project development requirements, processes and risks how PV projects are developed and why and how they succeed (or fail), including Learn and discuss how financialand returns and risks arise in PV projects how market technology changes are driving new innovation opportunities Be better able to converse with project partners, suppliers, investors, policymakers and other stakeholders along with new competitive risks.

Know what to look for when evaluating PV project opportunities • You are theperformance investment, Identify key investment andfrom project riskspolicy or professional services community. You the inevitable solar energy, and want to gain an Learn how to need analyseto andembrace critique current and emerginggrowth businessof models

independent perspective on the economic environment in which these projects Who Shouldoperate, Attend including the development, operational and business risks that most matter to them.

This course is ideal if: ■ You are working within the power sector in a commercial or business development role. You need a clearly-explained, notPVlimited to: multi-facetedIncluding understandingbut of how projects are developed and why and how they succeed (or fail), including how market and technology changes are driving new innovation opportunities along with new competitive risks ■ You are from the investment,including policy or professional services You need to embrace inevitable growth • Investors, commercial and community. development banks, venturethe capital of solar energy,and and want to gain an independent perspective on the economic environment in which these projects operate, private equity including the development, operational and business risks that most matter to them.

• Power generation companies, utilities and IPPs Policyto:makers and policy advisors including but not•limited • Transmission/Distribution system ■ Investors, including commercial and development banks, operators venture capital and private equity ■ Power generation companies, utilities andsuppliers IPPs • Commercial services (law, insurance etc.)

■ Policy makers •and policy advisors Equipment vendors & EPC contractors ■ Transmission/Distribution system operators • Large energy users and electricity buyers ■ Commercial services suppliers (law, insurance etc.)

■ Equipment vendors & EPC contractors ■ Large energy users and electricity buyers

Book 3 persons or more and save

$400 each

Supported by: OFFSHORE MAGAZINE

ENERGY INSIGHT

E: abigail@infocusinternational.com

www.infocusinternational.com/solar

Event Info

Teaching Methodology The agenda will combine presented materials with plenty of opportunity for Q&A, interactive discussions, and the use of quantitative models to illustrate key learning points. Current market examples and data are utilised wherever helpful.

Course Certificate Upon the successful completion of this course, you will receive a Certificate of Completion bearing the signatures from both the Course Director and the Course Organiser. This Certificate will testify your endeavour and serve towards your professional advancement.

To Register/Enquire on this course, please contact:

Abigail Harris

Infocus International Tel: +65 6325 0215 Email: abigail@infocusinternational.com Website: www.infocusinternational.com/solar

“I enjoyed the course with lots of demonstrations and case studies. The facilitator was just marvellous, up to the game. It was a value for money workshop.”

Shadric Namalomba, Director of Finance, Electricity Generation Company Malawi

Mastering Solar Power 13 – 16 July 2020, Singapore

Benefits of Attending ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Speak the language of solar energy: terminology and concepts explained with clarity and relevance Understand the key variables determining the economics of solar PV projects Review current and emerging market opportunities for solar PV, including integrations such as energy storage Navigate the typical project development requirements, processes and risks Learn and discuss how financial returns and risks arise in PV projects Be better able to converse with project partners, suppliers, investors, policymakers and other stakeholders Know what to look for when evaluating PV project opportunities Identify key investment and project performance risks Learn how to analyse and critique current and emerging business models

Who Should Attend This course is ideal if: ■ You are working within the power sector in a commercial or business development role. You need a clearly-explained, multi-faceted understanding of how PV projects are developed and why and how they succeed (or fail), including how market and technology changes are driving new innovation opportunities along with new competitive risks ■ You are from the investment, policy or professional services community. You need to embrace the inevitable growth of solar energy, and want to gain an independent perspective on the economic environment in which these projects operate, including the development, operational and business risks that most matter to them. including but not limited to: ■ Investors, including commercial and development banks, venture capital and private equity ■ Power generation companies, utilities and IPPs ■ Policy makers and policy advisors ■ Transmission/Distribution system operators ■ Commercial services suppliers (law, insurance etc.)

■ Equipment vendors & EPC contractors ■ Large energy users and electricity buyers

Book 3 persons or more and save

$400 each

Supported by: OFFSHORE MAGAZINE

ENERGY INSIGHT

E: abigail@infocusinternational.com

www.infocusinternational.com/solar

Event Info Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contracts for Energy Industry 24 – 26 August 2020, Singapore www.infocusinternational.com/epcenergy

Overview

Today, Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) projects are uniquely challenging. Parties currently involved in large complex and fast-track EPC projects frequently suffer financial loss that could have been mitigated by effective contract management. Appropriate practical “know-how” of EPC contracts will improve your ability to take appropriate steps, or to obtain necessary advice, to minimise or manage such risks.

This intensive workshop provides valuable insight into the rapidly evolving world of EPC contracts. It has been designed specifically for the professionals and management of energy industries and will be of particular interest to those with current or planned projects in Asia, Africa, Middle East, Europe and the CIS. You will analyse an EPC contract, clause by clause, focusing on your challenges in international and domestic projects. This unique interactive master class discusses the key issues in EPC contracts which are relevant for lenders, sponsors and borrowers in international construction projects and the keys to deliver successful projects.

Course Highlights • Global and local legal and commercial framework in Asia, Middle East, Africa, Europe and the CIS • Contract negotiation best practices • Tips on contractual risk mitigation • Contract financing and project structuring • Contractor relationship management • Clause-by-clause discussion based on an actual contract precedent Key Learning Objectives • UNDERSTAND the current finance market for EPC contracts • MANAGE legal risks and environment for EPC contracts in the region • DISCOVER alternative procurement options for projects and the risks and opportunities associated with these options • DISTINGUISH new and effective contract negotiation strategies • ANALYSE the types of claims that may be made under EPC contracts and develop strategies to manage these claims

• GAIN INSIGHTS into the best current dispute resolution options and the risks and costs associated with each option

Teaching Methodology The agenda will combine presented materials with plenty of opportunity for Q&A, interactive discussions, and the use of quantitative models to illustrate key learning points. Current market examples and data are utilised wherever helpful.

Course Certificate Upon the successful completion of this course, you will receive a Certificate of Completion bearing the signatures from both the Course Director and the Course Organiser. This Certificate will testify your endeavour and serve towards your professional advancement.

To Register/Enquire on this course, please contact:

Abigail Harris

Infocus International Tel: +65 6325 0215 Email: abigail@infocusinternational.com Website: www.infocusinternational.com/epcenergy

Free Takeaway 3 detailed articles on EPC contract precedents containing discussions on: EPCM & Alliancing Contracts EPC contracts in the global market FIDIC contract and the challenges faced by construction contractors

Group Discount book 3 person to save $300 per person

Managing and Negotiating

Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contracts for Energy Industry Mastering the legal and commercial framework, contract negotiation, financing, risk and contractor relationship complexities of upstream and downstream EPC projects

24 – 26 August 2020, Singapore

Global and local legal and commercial framework in Asia, Middle East, Africa, Europe and the CIS Contract negotiation best practices Tips on contractual risk mitigation Contract financing and project structuring Contractor relationship management Clause-by-clause discussion based on an actual contract precedent

“A must�attend for professionals wishing to improve in EPC contracts management.”

- Century Power Generation “Interesting, extremely helpful and relevant.

A very clear presentation style which kept the material interesting and the audience engaged.”

- National Oil Company of Namibia

UNDERSTAND the current finance market for EPC contracts MANAGE legal risks and environment for EPC contracts in the region DISCOVER alternative procurement options for projects and the risks and opportunities associated with these options DISTINGUISH new and effective contract negotiation strategies ANALYSE the types of claims that may be made under EPC contracts and develop strategies to manage these claims GAIN INSIGHTS into the best current dispute resolution options and the risks and costs associated with each option

OFFSHORE MAGAZINE

ENERGY INSIGHT

E: abigail@infocusinternational.com

“The seminars were highly informative and the trainer is clearly very experienced in the EPC and major projects worldwide. It was very relevant for us in our business.”

- Qatar Petroleum

“

Key Learning Objectives

Supported by:

“

“A very thorough presentation with excellent real life examples and war stories from the trainer.”

- Exxonmobil

Course Highlights

“The trainer spoke knowledgeably about matters that concern lenders, sponsors and borrowers bringing different perspectives to the discussion.”

- KBC Bank NV “Interesting explanation of every clause of the contract (i.e. the thorough assessment of an EPC contract).”

- KFW Bankengruppe

www.infocusinternational.com/epcenergy

Event Info Power Project Finance

7 – 11 September 2020, Johannesburg www.infocusinternational.com/powerprojectfinance

Overview

Project finance is widely used for large infrastructure projects including thermal and renewable power projects. The technique enables project risks to be allocated to the parties best able to manage them and facilitates the raising of long term debt without recourse to the project developer.

The correct allocation of risk through an appropriate commercial structure is the foundation of a sound financing plan and this course will develop these themes by walking through the commercial contracts and finance documentation and provide an understanding of how to determine the optimal amount of debt using cash flow and ratio analysis. Current circumstances in the African power project sector will be discussed.

Investment committees need to be sure that all risk aspects have been studied and the course will detail the key elements of the due diligence exercise. The course will also provide a guide on how to approach the debt market.

Benefits of Attending The course is intended to provide a firm understanding of the principles which create a bankable power project finance structure in terms of risk allocation and the commercial and financial structure. On completion of this course you will understand: • How a power project is structured and financed • How to identify power project risks and mitigation strategies • The role of the financial model and cash flow and ratio analysis • Debt sizing techniques • Project finance term sheets and loan documentation • Contract documentation • The due diligence process • How to efficiently identify viable project prospects • How to approach the debt market

• Project analysis & development • Commercial & legal • Commercial services suppliers (law, insurance etc.)

• Policy makers and policy advisors dealing with energy sector financial issues Teaching Methodology The agenda will combine presented materials with plenty of opportunity for Q&A, interactive discussions, and the use of quantitative models to illustrate key learning points. Current market examples and data are utilised wherever helpful.

Course Certificate Upon the successful completion of this course, you will receive a Certificate of Completion bearing the signatures from both the Course Director and the Course Organiser. This Certificate will testify your endeavour and serve towards your professional advancement.

Who Should Attend • Power project developer, investor or financier • Finance & accounting • Project finance & structured finance • Power project management

To Register/Enquire on this course, please contact:

Abigail Harris

Infocus International Tel: +65 6325 0215 Email: abigail@infocusinternational.com Website: www.infocusinternational.com/powerprojectfinance

Boo k3 pe sav e $ rsons “Excellent training with a world class and highly experienced specialist.”

500

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and

h

Senior Power Expert, Regulatory Commission for Electricity Sector, Senegal

Power Project Finance 7 – 11 September 2020, Johannesburg

Benefits of Attending The course is intended to provide a firm understanding of the principles which create a bankable power project finance structure in terms of risk allocation and the commercial and financial structure. On completion of this course you will understand: ■ How a power project is structured and financed ■ How to identify power project risks and mitigation strategies ■ The role of the financial model and cash flow and ratio analysis ■ Debt sizing techniques ■ Project finance term sheets and loan documentation ■ Contract documentation ■ The due diligence process ■ How to efficiently identify viable project prospects ■ How to approach the debt market

Who Should Attend Including but not limited to people working in: ■ Power project developer, investor or financier ■ Finance & accounting ■ Project finance & structured finance ■ Power project management ■ Project analysis & development ■ Commercial & legal ■ Commercial services suppliers (law, insurance etc.)

■ Policy makers and policy advisors dealing with energy sector financial issues

Supported by: OFFSHORE MAGAZINE

ENERGY INSIGHT

E: abigail@infocusinternational.com

www.infocusinternational.com/powerprojectfinance

Event Info Electricity Economics in Changing Electricity Markets 16 – 18 November 2020, Singapore www.infocusinternational.com/electricityeconomics

Overview

Are you ready for the new challenges & opportunities as power markets around the world evolve?

This is an essential core knowledge course for those involved in the business or regulation of the power industry.

It leads you through a clear, accessible and thorough examination of the economics of power generation, from power plant cost influences to end-customer prices. It contextualises this analysis with key consideration of industry drivers and trends, including increasingly liberalised and competitive markets, evolving policy support and management frameworks, the growth and integration of renewable power sources, and the restructuring of power systems towards more decentralised operations.

A highly interactive presentation style allows for plenty of Q&A and time to discuss the issues from multiple stakeholder perspectives; including power plant owners, investors, policymakers and energy customers. This course is an essential primer for those seeking to navigate successful business routes through transitioning electricity systems.

Benefits of Attending • Clear, independent and businessfocused introduction • Language designed for non-experts; particularly senior executives, policymakers & investment decision-makers • Core knowledge building, including up-to-the-minute examples from markets around the world • Interactive discussion of key market and economic variables • Quantification of key issues using simple numerical calculations, real data and Excel-based tools We will examine these key questions: • Which variables drive the economics of electricity generation?

• How do generation costs combine with other factors to produce end-use electricity prices?

• How are current technology & system trends impacting electricity costs and prices?

• What are policymakers doing to keep costs down?

• Who are the key stakeholders and influencers on electricity economics?

• What are the value-chain impacts of market Liberalisation and Competition?

• How are solar and wind power (and other low-carbon options) changing market environments?

• and many more!

Who Should Attend: • Power generators, utilities and IPPs • Investors, including commercial and development banks, venture capital and private equity • Policymakers and policy advisors • Transmission / Distribution system operators (grid) • Power system vendors & EPC contractors • Large electricity users • Commercial services suppliers (law, insurance etc.)

Teaching Methodology The agenda will combine presented materials with plenty of opportunity for Q&A, interactive discussions, and the use of quantitative models to illustrate key learning points. Current market examples and data are utilised wherever helpful.

Course Certificate Upon the successful completion of this course, you will receive a Certificate of Completion bearing the signatures from both the Course Director and the Course Organiser. This Certificate will testify your endeavour and serve towards your professional advancement.

To Register/Enquire on this course, please contact:

Abigail Harris

Infocus International Tel: +65 6325 0215 Email: abigail@infocusinternational.com Website: www.infocusinternational.com/electricityeconomics

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND “I enjoyed the course with lots of demonstrations and case studies. The facilitator was just marvellous, up to the game. It was a value for money workshop.”

Shadric Namalomba, Director of Finance, Electricity Generation Company Malawi

Electricity Economics

in Changing Electricity Markets The new economics of power markets in a low-carbon world

16 – 18 November 2020, Singapore Book 3 persons and save

$300 each

Benefits of Attending ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Clear, independent and business-focused introduction Language designed for non-experts; particularly senior executives, policymakers & investment decision-makers Core knowledge building, including up-to-the-minute examples from markets around the world Interactive discussion of key market and economic variables Quantification of key issues using simple numerical calculations, real data and Excel-based tools

We will examine these key questions: ■ Which variables drive the economics of electricity generation?

■ How do generation costs combine with other factors to produce end-use electricity prices?

■ How are current technology & system trends impacting electricity costs and prices?

■ What are policymakers doing to keep costs down?

■ Who are the key stakeholders and influencers on electricity economics?

■ What are the value-chain impacts of market liberalisation and competition?

■ How are solar and wind power (and other low-carbon options) changing market environments?

■ and many more!

Who Should Attend ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Power generators, utilities and IPPs Investors, including commercial and development banks, venture capital and private equity Policymakers and policy advisors Transmission / Distribution system operators (grid) Power system vendors & EPC contractors Large electricity users Commercial services suppliers (law, insurance etc.)

Supported by: OFFSHORE MAGAZINE

ENERGY INSIGHT

E: abigail@infocusinternational.com

www.infocusinternational.com/electricityeconomics

Event Info Gas & LNG Markets, Contracts & Pricing 16 – 20 March 2020, Singapore 28 Sep – 2 Oct 2020, Port of Spain 23 – 27 Nov 2020, Singapore www.infocusinternational.com/gaslng

Overview

Due to the complex geopolitical nature of gas/ LNG sourcing and long term nature of gas transactions between buyers and sellers, it is commercially prudent for those involved in thisprocess to know the global gas & LNG supply & markets condition, available methodologies for price determination, contract structure and negotiation techniques. Any misjudgement in any of these areas could result in wrong sourcing decisions, significant adverse financial consequences and legal liabilities.

This course has, therefore, been designed to enable the professionals in the gas sector and gas advisory services to make right sourcing decision, construct gas/LNG contracts and negotiate from a position of strength and knowledge in order to gain a competitive edge in the process.

Course Highlights • Global gas/LNG market and market structure in Asia Pacific, Africa, Middle East, Europe and USA regions • Current gas/LNG outlook and trends • Contract terminology and construction operational, commercial and legal basis of gas, LNG and Gas Transportation Contracts • Principles of gas/LNG Sales and Purchase Agreement (GSPA/SPA), Gas Transportation Agreement (GTA) and Regasification Agreements • Gas/LNG pricing principles, current practice and price indexation in competitive gas markets • Contracting and negotiation - proven techniques Benefits of Attending • Background knowledge to framework to facilitate gas/LNG commercial decisions • Understanding current trends of the gas organisation structure • Knowledge of the underlying rationale for gas contract terms and conditions • Learn to construct gas, LNG and gas transportation contracts and negotiate them • Understanding of techniques of gas/LNG price setting in competitive markets • Awareness of operation of trading hubs, spot and arbitrage • Holistic understanding of what is required to put a new supply chain in place Who Should Attend Energy professionals including but not limited to:

• Purchasing/Supply Chain • Legal/Contracts Negotiation • Commercial • Finance/Pricing • Marketing • Trading • Sales/Business Development • Project Finance • Corporate Planning From Sectors: • Natural gas E&P • Gas/LNG trade, shipping, transmission, distribution • Government agencies • Gas based power generation • Gas/LNG related project finance, asset management, hedge funds, equity/fixed income • Gas pipeline and high pressure transportation Course Certificate Upon the successful completion of this course, you will receive a Certificate of Completion bearing the signatures from both the Course Director and the Course Organiser. This Certificate will testify your endeavour and serve towards your professional advancement.

To Register/Enquire on this course, please contact:

Weslyn Lee

Infocus International Group Tel: +65 6325 0274 Email: abigail@infocusinternational.com Website: www.infocusinternational.com/gaslng

5 day course “The best gas / LNG course I have ever attended. I will gladly recommend it to anyone.” by past participant, Chevron

GAS & LNG

MARKETS, CONTRACTS & PRICING A comprehensive all-in-one course addressing all key elements for successful gas & LNG business strategies

16 – 20 Mar 2020 Singapore 28 Sep – 2 Oct 2020 Port of Spain 23 – 27 Nov 2020 Singapore

Course Highlights ■ Global gas/LNG market and market structure in Asia Pacific, Africa, Middle East, Europe and USA regions ■ Current gas/LNG outlook and trends ■ Contract terminology and construction - operational, commercial and legal basis of gas, LNG and Gas Transportation Contracts ■ Principles of gas/LNG Sales and Purchase Agreement (GSPA/SPA), Gas Transportation Agreement (GTA) and Regasification Agreements ■ Gas/LNG pricing principles, current practice and price indexation in competitive gas markets ■ Contracting and negotiation - proven techniques

Benefits of Attending ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Background knowledge to framework to facilitate gas/LNG commercial decisions Understanding current trends of the gas organisation structure Knowledge of the underlying rationale for gas contract terms and conditions Learn to construct gas, LNG and gas transportation contracts and negotiate them Understanding of techniques of gas/LNG price setting in competitive markets Awareness of operation of trading hubs, spot and arbitrage Holistic understanding of what is required to put a new supply chain in place

Book 3 persons and save

$600 each

Supported by: OFFSHORE MAGAZINE

ENERGY INSIGHT

E: abigail@infocusinternational.com

www.infocusinternational.com/gaslng

ls o o t for e! ful l r d p e e o n Pe Pow l u desig f er w o P

1 Million+

M: +63 921 7105796