At this stage of the game, you are probably well aware of Augmented Reality and may even have used applications that include it. So, you will already know that it is the technology that enables people to superimpose virtual information on the physical world in real time. As you will see later, the applications of this technology in industry are vital for making a business more profitable.
Augmented Reality offers highly profitable applications with fast returns for any industry
Although it’s more commonly used in the leisure industry (just think of games for mobile devices like Pokemon Go), it has even more interesting uses in business. And industry is the place where it really comes into its own, because augmented reality provides tools to optimize high performance team training, machine assembly and industrial maintenance. It even offers remote assistance from experts to make any process faster and more streamlined.
In this article we’re going to talk about the many applications of Augmented Reality (AR) that can improve your operating account and help you to take that final step to industry 4.0.
Contents
- AR as a training resource in industry
- Machine assembly instructions using AR
- Industrial maintenance AR guided
- Remote assistance with experts to solve incidents
- Transfer of internal company know-how
How Augmented Reality improves training for specialist technicians
AR has established a new paradigm in specialist training. And if the phrase below sounds familiar, you will soon see why:
- They explained and I listened.
- I saw and understood.
- I did it and learned.
These three functional blocks run as a sequence in traditional training: Theory. Example. Practice. The trainee only starts to interact in the third phase.
But Augmented Reality learning offers a new digital training model where the three blocks merge into one. What teachers often call “learning by doing“.
How? It is really quite simple with the right software. You just have to plan the right training, create the instructions that overlap reality and give them to the technicians who need the training.
Companies that already train specialist technicians with Augmented Reality
The United States Air Force has been using augmented reality for years to train its maintenance technicians to work on the CV-22 aircraft.
BAE Systems, which also operates in the aeronautics sector, reduced training resources development costs by 90%. It also managed to reduce battery assembly time by half.
Both organisations use Vuforia Studio, the software by our partner PTC, for developing training resources based on AR.
How Augmented Reality streamlines facility planning and machine assembly
Instructions and drawings on paper are history now. Or they should be… Augmented reality offers a lot of advantages over a paper manual. Instead of presenting diagrams that are often hard to understand (or even find), AR applications clearly tell you the steps you need to take and show examples of use over the reality that’s in your hands. It also offers evident benefits for planning industrial facilities.
Let’s say you want to integrate a new cobot into a production line. Augmented reality enables you to work on site, applying precise measurements exactly where the components are located.
It also makes the assembly process much easier, as you can do it step by step, under guidance, in exactly the right place. The software checks that the entire process goes according to plan. It can alert you to incidents and tell you how to solve them. It also provides technicians that work on production with an advanced operating manual.
Margins for error are minimised and the process is streamlined every step of the way because you are working in a real setting. So, the outcome is greater efficiency.
How to maximise industrial maintenance with AR
Technical maintenance is the area where most applications of AR have been applied to industry. And that makes sense, because it enables you to check the incidents log, and if an incident happened before, it offers a guided, step-by-step process to resolve it. But, if the incident has never happened before, you can access the resource inventory to see the best way to tackle and solve it.
And then you can log it for future incidents. Quickly. With no need for paper manuals.
As you will see below, even when you can’t resolve the issue with the resources you have to hand on site at that moment, you can consult a specialist anywhere in the world who can provide remote assistance to get it all working again.
Remote assistance from experts with Augmente Reality
Remote assistance – An expert guides the operator in the plant
Like we said, when there’s an incident that can’t be solved by a technician on site, you can turn to an expert via remote assistance, who can guide an operator on site to quickly solve the problem.
To use this AR functionality, you’ll need an addition to Vuforia Studio called Vuforia Chalk. This utility enables both operator and expert communicate directly and share screen and audio. The expert can then guide the operator by voice and on-screen instructions.
That way the incident is solved faster and there’s not need to spend your much needed revenue on the expert’s travel costs. This video show an example of an intervention guided by remote assistance with Vuforia Chalk.
Remote assistance with AR: Toyota y Henkel
Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota), with production centres in countries all over the world, detected potential savings in costs incurred by expert technicians having to travel, thanks to Vuforia Chalk. Toyota trained its on-site staff and specialist technicians to enable them to intervene through remote incident resolution.
Henkel, a German multinational with 30 plants around the world, followed suit when it saw how some of its plants suffered because its specialists couldn’t travel to production centres during the pandemic. Here you have more information about Vuforia Chalk solutions applied by Henkel.
Augmented Reality: a tool to close the gap between specialisations
Assembly instructions with Augmente Reality with Vuforia
Protecting and streamlining the transfer of internal company know-how for training a growing number of specialist technicians is the right strategy to prevent the crisis of industrial specialisations from negatively impacting your business.
And Augmented Reality is also a game changer in this regard. Its capacity to log know-how, securely store it and use it as a resource inventory to solve incidents, while acting as a training resource for specialist technicians can really help to protect your business.
That’s why it’s one of the most common IIoT strategies for large companies. And, as Microsoft explains in its ‘IOT Signals Report’ for July 2023, 65% of them are developing strategies like these…
