Many industrial companies still struggle with implementing effective maintenance and repair programs and stabilizing their long-term performance. To ensure that the production facilities work at their optimal capacity, organizations need to put effective maintenance management programs in place and leverage innovative technology solutions. In recent years, progressive companies are benefiting from augmented reality to tackle this challenge.
Maintenance operation is an important factor in quality assurance and the long-term success of a company. Poorly maintained production facilities can cause stoppage and increased downtime. Machine malfunctions are costly for companies. For manufacturing companies, machines and equipment are big investments and critical components of their core business operations. They need to ensure their equipment is running at peak performance and return on investment. This is why maintenance and repair operations are critical to keep uptime at a maximum level.
Augmented reality technology provides huge benefits for companies that aim to save time, cost and effort. It enhances remote collaboration and allows teams to work efficiently as if they are in the same physical environment. Remote experts can see what onsite technicians see and give clear instructions and guidance with annotations on live stream making it easier to understand and solve problems.
Thanks to this new technology, companies significantly reduce the unnecessary travelling, time and costs spent to send experts to the field. Moreover, with enhanced remote assistance and collaboration through AR, problems are fixed with quick and efficient solutions from a distance. Remote assistance with AR can be a great solution for organizations across all industrial companies regardless of size and domain.
Below are the three main ways AR can simplify maintenance and help you tackle unexpected production interruptions.
Accurate step-by-step guidance
AR annotations overlaid on equipment view simplify field maintenance. The ability to follow an AR checklist when viewing equipment, along with using voice instructions, makes inspection and diagnosis faster. During the repair process, technicians see exactly what they need at the right time – without having to take their hands off the equipment and look for a manual. This significantly increases safety at work and reduces errors, keeping the technician’s focus on the equipment. AR Remote Assistance guides field technicians with step-by-step instructions during the maintenance operation process, ensuring they interact with equipment safely. It is especially critical when dealing with heavy equipment, which can be dangerous when misused. The remote experts can also oversee the whole process and warn against any potential hazards while the technician performs the task.
Bridging the skills gap
While dealing with quite complex maintenance procedures, the role of AR remote assistance stands out. In many cases, these processes require a high level of expertise. Thanks to remote collaboration with AR, this complexity can be simplified as well. Sending the technician to the field, simple whatsapp or Teams calls, and paper user manuals are simply a thing of the past. Thanks to AR remote assistance, the experts at the headquarters can guide the field workers step-by-step in detail throughout the whole maintenance and repair process. This not only reduces maintenance time but also empowers technicians with access to expertise and knowledge at the time they need, making them capable of solving issues that may arise in the future as well. All this puts an end to the issue of the skills gap in the field, a problem that is widely encountered in all industries.
Improving first-time fix rates
Complex maintenance and repair tasks now have better first-time fix rates. Thanks to the accessibility of remote expert assistance in real-time when needed. Traditionally, companies send experts together with equipment to repair sites which are inefficient. Maintenance through AR enables fast and efficient solutions and eliminates travelling back and forth, improving first time fix rates.
Innovative AR remote collaboration software solutions like VSight Remote have a huge impact in increasing operational efficiency. Improved productivity and better customer service are pushing manufacturing companies to adopt this technology as a must to have. In this article, we only discussed maintenance and repair, however it is worth mentioning that AR finds use in a variety of other operational processes as well. The many benefits it offers makes it a go to solution for any organization that aim for operational excellence and keeping competitive edge.