Every so often, an industry reaches a point where it becomes clear that the old way of working is no longer enough. Not because people lack competence or commitment, but because the tools have failed to evolve at the same pace as the responsibility placed upon them.
For hazardous area inspection, that moment is now!
For decades, Ex inspection has followed a familiar rhythm: inspect the equipment, photograph the nameplate, record the observations, and return to the office and turn field notes into reports. Software helped store information more neatly, but it never truly changed how inspections were carried out. The process remained slow, reactive, and heavily dependent on manual interpretation and data entry.
Mantl-Core does not refine that model. It replaces it.
This is not another inspection platform or reporting tool. Mantl-Core is the world’s first AI powered hazardous area inspection software, and it represents a fundamental shift in how hazardous area compliance is executed, understood, and controlled.
Designed and built by Mantl-Ex, a team of engineers and inspectors who have lived the realities of hazardous environments, Mantl-Core reflects a simple but powerful belief. Hazardous area inspection should be intelligent, transparent and firmly in the hands of those who own the risk.
From recording inspections to performing them intelligently
Mantl-Core introduces a new concept to Ex inspection. Real time intelligence.
Instead of inspections producing data that must later be interpreted, Mantl-Core analyses, validates and structures information as the inspection is happening. Compliance, reporting and asset intelligence are no longer downstream activities. They are created in parallel with the work in the field.
This shift changes the role of inspection software entirely. It stops being a passive repository and becomes an active participant in the inspection process, giving all who use it a ‘Ex-professor’ in their pocket.
At the centre of this ecosystem are two AI driven companions, Inspector Buddy and Planner Buddy, each designed to remove friction while increasing confidence.
Inspector Buddy: when inspection speed meets accuracy
Inspector Buddy is where the transformation becomes tangible. Using photo and video capture from a mobile device, Inspector Buddy analyses Ex equipment in real time through a custom-built AI model that has been specifically trained to identify non compliances in line with applicable hazardous area standards.
The effect on inspection speed is nothing short of disruptive. Visual inspections that once required approximately 30 minutes per item can now be completed in approximately 5 minutes. This is not achieved by reducing scope or bypassing standards. It is achieved by eliminating repetitive manual tasks through the use of artificial assistance.
Equipment identification, manufacturer recognition, model verification and certification capture happens instantly. Ex ratings, temperature classifications, and protection concepts are read and evaluated automatically. Inspection checklists populate themselves as observations are made. Potential non-conformances are highlighted while the inspector is still standing in front of the equipment.
This powerful tool ensures the highest level of accuracy on every inspection. It has been designed with a single, clear objective: to perform with the consistency, insight and judgement of the world’s most experienced Ex inspector, drawing on more than fifty years of accumulated knowledge and experience.
AI that knows its limits
Mantl-Core does something rare in the world of artificial intelligence. It is honest.
The system is currently limited to what a human inspector can see. It does not claim to replace close physical checks, torque verification or detailed intrusive inspections. Instead, it accelerates and strengthens visual assessment, allowing inspectors to reach deeper inspection stages faster and with better context.
In practical terms, Mantl-Core can accurately address approximately 95% of a visual inspection, approximately 75% of a close inspection, and roughly 50% of a detailed inspection. These boundaries are not weaknesses. They are what make the system trustworthy.
By handling the majority of visual and administrative workload, Mantl-Core allows experienced professionals to focus on judgement, verification and risk reduction where it matters most.
Planner Buddy: inspection as a strategic discipline
The speed gained in the field becomes transformative when paired with Planner Buddy. This is where hazardous area inspection evolves from an operational task into a strategic capability.
Planner Buddy allows managers and asset owners to plan and manage Ex inspection campaigns using artificial intelligence that understands inspection intervals, zone classifications, equipment criticality and real field data. Inspection plans are no longer static documents. They are living strategies that adapt as conditions change.
Decision makers gain real time visibility of inspection status, emerging risk and workload distribution. Resources can be directed intelligently. Inspection effort aligns with actual risk, not assumptions.
RFID and absolute clarity
Mantl-Core reinforces this intelligence through integrated RFID tagging. Each item of Ex equipment carries a unique digital identity, ensuring inspections are always linked to the correct asset and location.
This removes ambiguity, duplication, and uncertainty. Asset registers become accurate reflections of reality. Audits become evidence based rather than interpretive. Confidence replaces assumption.
A defining shift for the industry
Mantl-Core was not built simply to make inspections faster. It was built to raise the level of accuracy achieved during every inspection and to significantly reduce the risk of human error.
For too long, hazardous area management has been treated as something that happens to companies rather than something they own. In some cases, standards have been used as instruments of fear rather than frameworks for safety. Complexity has been amplified. Dependency has been normalised. Compliance has become expensive, opaque and reactive.
Mantl-Core challenges that model.
It was designed to place hazardous area management firmly back where it belongs, with the operator, the duty holder and the asset owner. At the end of the day, responsibility for hazardous area management cannot be outsourced. It can only be supported.
This is where Mantl-Core’s vision becomes clear. The system uses artificial intelligence to replicate the capability of a dedicated hazardous area team. One that works continuously, consistently and without bias. One that applies standards objectively. One that supports safety decisions without commercial distortion.
By doing so, Mantl-Core allows companies to achieve the highest levels of hazardous area safety through the most cost-effective route. Not by reducing standards, but by removing inefficiency, ambiguity and unnecessary dependency.
This is not about replacing people. It is about empowering them.
Mantl-Core marks the moment hazardous area inspection moved from obligation to ownership, from fear to clarity, from paperwork to intelligence.
For an industry that has always carried immense responsibility, this is not just progress. It is a long overdue shift.