How has augmented technology affected the manufacturing industry? (Part 2)

In addition to having a direct impact on manufacturing operations, the use of AR also significantly improves the performance of related processes such as design, monitoring and maintenance, etc.

1. Monitoring and maintenance support

For monitoring, maintenance, and repair work in an industrial environment, augmented reality technology improves task execution time and supports fault detection. Airbus has implemented AR integrated technology to improve their quality management processes since 2011. The AR technology supplier (SART) helps maintenance personnel identify defective components that need repair or Replace using the digital image displayed on the background of the real system.

2. Design support

Developers use AR in the design phase of production systems. They can quickly make changes to the design of the product before going into production. Product designers at Ford are using Microsoft Hololens to make design changes to cars from 2017. Traditionally, clay models will be built first and Used for vehicle design activities. Hololens glass allows designers to have a different perspective with the display of digital models overlapping with the actual version. This process greatly reduces the time and cost of product development than using the previous clay model.

3. Improve labor productivity

Augmented reality technology can also be deployed on mobile devices used in industrial environments, thereby helping workers increase labor productivity in jobs such as system installation, monitoring and handling. troubleshooting. Providing accurate data when needed is the strength of mobile devices integrated with AR technology. This information will be displayed superimposed on the user’s perspective, so that they can both track information and continue their work without any problems. In 2017, GE recorded and compared two instances where its technicians made wiring installations of wind turbines while using AR technology and when not in use. The results showed that technicians when using AR-integrated devices have up to 34% higher performance compared to non-use cases.

In general, with the potential for multi-tasking activities in many different environments, augmented reality technology promises to become an indispensable link in industrial production lines, especially in the 4.0 technology era.

Productivity and Quality Office