Evonik Industries Relies on FREQUENTIS Solutions
Evonik Industries, one of the world’s leading specialty chemicals companies, has equipped its sites in Darmstadt/Weiterstadt and Worms (Germany) with a networked and integrated command & control centre as well as with a new situation centre.
Based on a long history of relevant expertise and many years of experience with safety-critical communication systems, Frequentis provides solutions to support corporate safety and security, threat management and protection, and civil protection and emergency management. Evonik Industries, one of the world’s leading specialty chemicals companies, has equipped its sites in Darmstadt/Weiterstadt and Worms (Germany) with a networked and integrated command and control centre as well as with a new situation centre. On 29 June these were put into operation in the presence of numerous personalities from the industry, fire and rescue services, and regional politics.
The premises comprise roughly 160 square meters, the command and control centre operates day and night, and there are 40 employees in shift operation. The networked and connected command and control centre offers essential support for the responsible persons, reports Dr. Armin Neher, who is site manager and is in charge of the project at the Darmstadt/Weiterstadt site: “For us, connecting both sites via the network means we have all safety-relevant information available on demand at all locations. This reduces the staff workload and increases both internal and external safety. Economically, too, the new incident management technology is our first choice – we would have needed to substantially increase personnel in order to keep up with growing safety demands”.
The new situation centre also supports consolidated and quick decisions. In case of an emergency, the Evonik disaster management team meets on-site and can make fast and well-informed decisions based on an optimal level of information. If necessary, Evonik’s group headquarters in Essen (Germany) is also included in decision-making via communication media.
With the Evonik command and control centre and situation centre (ELVIS) it is now possible for the sites Darmstadt/Weiterstadt and Worms to view data from various physical safety systems, and communicate with each other in an unlimited manner. Also, each site can support the others if necessary. Warning alarms, access control and monitoring systems are available in real-time on both sites – made possible through the common solution of Intergraph as prime contractor, Advancis Software & Services and Frequentis. I/CAD from Intergraph is the central platform for the dispatchers, supplemented by WinGuard, a security and building management system from Advancis, and ASGARD, a voice communication system from Frequentis.
ASGARD has been set up fully on the IT landscape of the customer with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware products, is based on VoIP (Voice over IP), and provides flexibility and modularity as well as interfaces to all other systems.
Robert Nitsch, Director Public Safety at Frequentis says: “With this software solution custom-built for the specific needs of each client, Frequentis can handle any project in the industry. It makes daily life in the control centre easier for our customers by meeting everyday challenges. Frequentis has held a continuously increasing reference list in industrial fields for several years with renowned companies. We are glad that we can now include Evonik on this list”.
Gerd Häußer, head of fire prevention and site security in Darmstadt/Weiterstadt can also confirm that with the networked and integrated command and control centre day-to-day business has been optimised: “ELVIS makes life easier for our factory fire service. The enormous responsibility, previously shouldered by the employees alone, is now also borne by ELVIS, the most modern IT technology".
