Scaling AWP to New Boundaries

Construct-X has a two-pronged mission: To use AWP (Advanced Work Packaging) to bring back the competitive edge to American manufacturing and create more sustainable systems in the process.

Scaling AWP to New Boundaries

Nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Construct-X has a two-pronged mission: To use AWP (Advanced Work Packaging) to bring back the competitive edge to American manufacturing and create more sustainable systems in the process.

“Construct-X’s business model is about bringing innovation and optimization through people, process, and technology to the forefront of the capital industry. Advanced work packaging is at the center of what we have invented and that leads to digitization and the realization of a digital twin, which is our mission,” Construct-X CEO Ted Blackmon adds.

“So we’ve worked with Eastman, which is at the forefront of innovation, and we can take this model of advanced work packaging and apply it to an operating facility where your capital projects are worth hundreds of millions or billions of dollars.”

Construct-X is the lead company within a network of companies under Jovian Ventures, an angel network to innovate new products by building on the idea that there are gaps in our current society. “When I came out of NASA over 20 years ago, the vision was the possibility of applying AI, augmented reality, and virtual reality into enabling a digital twin, not just for making industrial plants more efficient, but also for managing the limited resources of water, oil, and coal,” says Blackmon. “If we can build a circular economy, we can make a planet that lasts forever.”

Construct-X was formalized in 2012 and began targeting industry leaders in the petrochemical sector who were early adopters of Advanced Work Packaging. “We believe that AWP can bring the competitive edge back to the American manufacturing base,” says Blackmon.

On the eChem Expo trade floor, Construct-X will showcase their Bor-Neo software, which provides an interactive digital playbook that helps operators understand what they need to do and how things affect their job. “We’ll demonstrate how to integrate the data across the different products into a digital environment of interconnected applications,” says Blackmon.

Construct-X will co-present two seminars with Eastman. The first will feature Jan Shumate,Director, Worldwide Engineering & Construction Services and Solutions at Eastman, and Tedd Weitzman, Director, Delivery Excellence at Construct-X. “We’ll be looking at the data that companies currently have and the data they need to supercharge their processes and increase efficiencies especially in the capital projects industry,” says Weitzman. “Eastman is a side-by-side witness of leveraging new technologies and improving processes.”

The second session will feature Mark Lambert, Manager, AWP and Construction Excellence, Eastman, and Ted Blackmon, CEO, Construct-X, sharing a case study of Eastman’s implementation with Advanced Work Packaging. Travis Jaramillo, AWP Specialist, Construct-X, will share about the issues they’ve had to confront and the three- to five-year implementation plan that includes training. The discussion will also cover how AWP can be used for smaller projects.

At eChem Expo, Jovian Ventures will announce a contest to encourage entrepreneurs coming out of universities to leverage science and technology, not only for industrial and manufacturing uses but also for social impact. Jovian will award prizes to entrepreneurs who take those capabilities and develop business plans, then fund those next-generation entities within the Jovian Ventures network.

“We’re very excited about the innovation network and launching the Jovian Ventures contest to engage with universities with entrepreneurial programs and then seed them with the product efforts that we’re already doing,” says Blackmon. “We’ll ask if these products could be used to address issues in monitoring the rainforests of South America and Indonesia where technology can be applied to the classification of endangered species, and also monitoring these endangered species.”

“We’re inspired by the idea of triple use, where space technology can be utilized by industrial titans to achieve manufacturing success in the United States,” says Blackmon. “Then apply that technology globally to achieving a cleaner planet. Then assist professionals in entrepreneurship programs in universities to apply these technologies to the broader, very exciting area of sustainability, and really stimulate the excitement of leveraging space technology into sustainability.”