Kuraray America Shares Digital Twin Lessons at Digitalization in Oil & Gas Conference 2026
Kuraray America, Inc. (KAI) shared its experience applying digital twins to plant turnaround preparation at the 12th Annual Digitalization in Oil & Gas Conference in Houston, Texas. Richard Jackson, Project Engineering Manager, represented KAI with a September 10 presentation at the Hyatt Regency Houston West.
His session, “STOs with Digital Twins: Enhancing Plant Operation,” explored practical applications of digital twins in preparing for shutdowns, turnarounds and outages (STOs). The presentation drew on work to develop a customized, digitalized STO program for KAI’s EVAL business.
Jackson led the creation of this program and advanced the use of digital twins to support turnaround planning, field execution and decision-making. His conference contribution brought that experience into a broader discussion about applying digital technology to industrial operations.
The presentation focused on how digital twins can support five areas of plant preparation and operations:
- Turnaround planning and schedule reviews.
- Logistics mapping.
- Lockout/tagout preparation and operator training.
- Capital project and asset management support.
- Safety reviews and emergency preplanning.
These applications connect digital technology with the information, coordination and preparation teams need before work begins. They also demonstrate how turnaround tools can support related activities across maintenance, training and project planning.
“This work has reinforced an important lesson for me: digitalization creates the most value when it gives teams clearer information, stronger preparation, and greater confidence before execution begins,” Jackson wrote in his announcement ahead of the conference.
KAI’s EVAL experience highlighted a practical priority for digitalization: helping teams understand the work ahead and prepare for execution. Sharing those lessons provided a perspective grounded in the planning and operational needs of plant teams.
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