December 11, 2020
Do you want to effectively improve your industrial business processes? Find out why XR solutions are at the heart of the Industrial Life Cycle.
Why the manufacturing industry (Industry 4.0) needs to innovate
The Hightech Systems & Materials (HTSM) sector and specifically the manufacturing industry, is in an interesting time: the 4th industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). Innovation, sustainable developments and global trends play an important role in this. According to Rabobank research (2020), most manufacturing companies are not yet ready for the future and technological developments.
These companies also face a shortage of knowledge and capacity due to tightness in the labor market. Engineers are hard to find and specific “smart-industry” knowledge is lacking among qualified personnel. As a result, the commissioning of machines and products, among other things, is unnecessarily delayed. Whether it’s about providing support, carrying out maintenance or supply problems, the dependence of companies on each other in the chain is more visible than ever.
Digital technologies play a key role in solving the challenges facing the industry. By investing in Smart Industry technologies, companies must get ready for the future. Extended reality (XR), the umbrella term for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR) and other immersive technologies, offers the opportunity to connect the physical world and the digital world in ways previously dreamed of.
Extended Reality (XR) at the heart of the Industrial Life Cycle
The Industrial Life Cycle consists of 6 essential steps that an organization goes through when realizing a product. In the Prototyping phase the product is technically thought out and designed. By applying XR this phase will be more efficient because employees will be able to visualize the design directly in a 3D environment and change it where necessary, anywhere in the world. In the process optimization phase, for example, database related data is visualized in the right place for employees and they are guided through instructions step by step.
In the Marketing & Sales phase, Extended Reality is used to create a new customer experience by, for example, virtually showing the machine that is yet to be built in the factory. Within Training & Education the education and training of employees is central. Through Virtual Reality (local) employees can be trained to assemble and maintain machines. Maintenance & Support provides maintenance engineers and end users of a product with maximum support and guidance using XR technology. Visualize installations and manuals step by step or let an external expert look around in real-time on location.
The video below shows applications of XR solutions by Total Reality.
How does XR improve your industrial business processes?
By investing in Smart Industry, your company is getting ready for the future. The XR solutions improve your business processes as optimally and effectively as possible. The phases within the Industrial Life Cycle are automated and digitized with the main results being:
- Increase in employee productivity
- Increase in efficiency of training, education and remote support
- Improved working and safety conditions
- Reduction of failure costs due to lack of clarity on the client side
- Strong reduction of Co2 emissions and travel costs by limiting travel/flight hours by having work carried out by experts in other countries
From design visualizations to sales apps. From VR training solutions to the use of mixed reality for your mechanics. XR solutions improve your business processes now and in the future. Do you feel like your business is not yet ready to make this change? That’s not surprising. We often talk to companies that can only use XR solutions for one of the five phases from the ILC. So we often recommend starting with one phase and then expanding efficiently. We describe the steps you need to take to improve your industrial business processes in our step-by-step plan.
Want to learn more about XR solutions for the Industrial Life Cycle?
In the coming weeks we will organize several online knowledge sessions. Possible XR solutions will be discussed for: prototyping, process optimization, marketing & sales, training and maintenance & support. In addition, there is plenty of room for you to ask questions about how you can improve your industrial business processes with XR.
Will we see you during the online knowledge session?