Despite being a young company of 4 years, NBL has added Turkey’s largest cement companies to its references. We talked with NBL CEO Tolga Tüzün about the virtual reality and in which areas it is used in the cement industry.
Would you tell us about NBL Endüstri? What does it do? What kind of structure are we talking about? What is your position in the sector?
NBL is a young company with about 4 years of experience, which is committed to the cement industry. With a young and talented staff, it has signed many quality works in a short time. When it comes to the NBL Endüstri since the first day, it is a structure that can be dynamically, quickly adapted, does the right to the business it enters, and fulfills its responsibilities successfully on time. In this regard, it has become a respected and preferred brand in its field in a short time.
What kind of activities do you perform in which sectors? Do you have operations only in Turkey, are you producing services abroad?
Our main activity area is contracting and we have completed many of our projects in Turkey’s cement sector with the industry leading companies such as Limak and Votorantim. We are also closely following the energy and mining sectors.
Within the short but successful history of NBL, its focus has always been Turkey, we now feel that we are ready to open the overseas and we are accelerating our efforts in this regard.
What goals do you have for this year? Do you think your estimates at the beginning of the year will coincide with the year end?
Since the founding of the NBL Endüstri, we have been able to achieve the goals we have put into ourselves every year. This year, it will not be any different. The main objective of this year is to expand organizationally by taking more simultaneous jobs on the contracting side and secondly to increase its expertise by adding different business areas to commercial production. We have taken big steps in order to realize both of these goals. As NBL Endüstri, we have been focused only single big projects until now and we did not want to extend before we are ready to keep the same quality across the board. Things are different this year; we are continuing successfully with different projects simultaneously, maintaining the dynamism and quality of NBL Endüstri. In addition, due to my personal interest in technological, we wanted to bring something different than everyone is accustomed to for the industry and we have incorporated virtual reality into the cement sector. We were already working in ourselves last year. Thanks to our work, we have realized the first big virtual reality project in Cement Sector OHS Training Center (ÇİSİEM), the initiative of ÇEİS.
What is virtual reality?
Although virtual reality is a very talked-about and fastspreading issue, it is not really known. There are also different names such as augmented reality and mixed reality. In fact, there are minor differences between each of these, but the main idea is more or less the same. With the help of one or more equipment, you can combine your surroundings with your virtual image, especially with a hood or glasses front panel, and interact with this new environment. In fact, it sounds so simple to tell; you can say that monitor provides more or less this environment, but there is a lot of difference. In addition to the ordinary monitor, virtual reality can take the user to a new dimension, create a 360-degree free look, using his arms and even interacting on foot. This, in turn, increases the appeal and the remembering.
In what areas do you use virtual reality?
In fact, virtual reality is more prevalent in the entertainment industry in the world, but industrial work is increasing day by day and new products are being marketed. We alsoworked on virtual navigation and education in this context. Our virtual navigation application allows us to introduce more prominent projects to fairs or promotions more impressively. Our developments in the field of education are based on practices that are aimed at increasing awareness and emphasizing important points that are customized according to location or orientation, desire to be introduced in desk-job education.
Could you tell us about your practices in the cement sector? What are the contributions you provide to the sector?
In this regard, the virtual tour is a bit more involved, we see 360 o videos and photographs and examples from many sectors. In addition to this, we also wanted to increase the interaction and the appeal. We can detail the desired project or area by modeling it from the very beginning. In addition, the user can interact with this virtual environment. He can roam freely and go to his desired location. We can interact with many pre-determined objects (equipment operation, control, etc.). What you can do is limitless, it depends on imagination and time.
The best example of training application will be the virtual reality OHS training exercises made in ÇİSİEM. With these applications, the user is able to experience the risks that may arise in the daily work environment, experience in a more realistic place from a screen, and do what needs to be done. In this regard, we are both getting a more realistic feeling and increasing the memorability. We can imitate the accidents that may happen, without risking the health and safety of the person and thus raise awareness. Education practices are not limited to OHS only. We can create training modules using virtual reality technology in all applications that require physical interaction like equipment installation, disassembly, maintenance and so on.
Virtual reality is an area that is still developing. Where do you see yourself as a company?
We have made an entry into the world of technology and virtual reality with our work, but we cannot stay still in a sector that develops and changes so rapidly. We do not want to limit ourselves to developing in our existing work, but we are planning to work on the hardware side as well. In fact, we are beyond planning. Our R & D project application preparations, including Teknokent and Tübitak, are currently underway to develop a vest for use in virtual reality environments, which will increase the user’s immersion.
What kind of problems do you face with and what solutions do you produce?
As in every work we do, there are various problems or crises in our day-to-day work that are also connected to internal or external causes. The important thing is to solve the emerging crises in the fastest and right way and to take lessons. It is not possible for a company to have only a lifetime without any crisis or to rise continuously. As NBL, the first step is to provide the right information flow when a problem occurs within the company. The right information to reach the right person at the right time can prevent the turning of possible problems into crisis. Effective communication is one of the most important elements of our internal vision.
What is the cost of virtual reality? Is this worth it? Why?
The cost and process are open ended issues, depending completely on the details of the desired project and how long it will take. Regardless of the cost, our response to the question of whether it is worth it will surely be yes for a study based on accurate determinations. Here it is important to determine well the needs of the enterprise or user. In this regard, we work with our customers on each project and create a customized application for each.
Do you have competitors in the industry? What are the features that distinguish you from your competitors? Why should cement manufacturers choose you?
It will not be right to say we have no rival, of course, but we are talking about a very new and niche area. It would be unrealistic to say that this is a work with tons of suppliers. When it comes to cement industry, our greatest feature which distinguishes us from our competitors is that we are already a part of the industry, as both NBL Endüstri and our employees; we have a structure that can speak the same language, understand the problems of the cement industry and reach the solution easier with a more efficient communication.
Which companies did you provide service so far?
As NBL Endüstri, we have executed successful projects with Limak, Sintek and Votorantim. In addition to construction works, in the area of virtual reality, ÇEİS will be an effective reference because this area is more recent. In addition we have been working on various Virtual Tour packages including Sintek.
Finally, would you talk about yourself?
In fact, although the cement industry came from my family, I worked in different areas until the foundation of NBL Endüstri. After graduating from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University Of Michigan: Ann Arbor in 2008, I worked in project management in the construction industry for a while in different companies, including GAMA, and in 2011 I got a scholarship from McGill University and went to Canada for my MBA education. After I provided management consultation with an international firm for a while when I returned in 2013, I made a full comeback with the establishment of NBL Endüstri in 2015. Now I am trying to develop myself and the organization daily, working in the cement sector and in other fields continuously.