Experience & Learning Center supports digital transformation
The DCC Aachen, jointly founded in 2017 by McKinsey & Company and ITA Academy GmbH, supports companies in their digital transformation. It offers workshops for managers and technicians from various industries who are responsible for the operational processes and digitization in their companies. The textile learning factory is at the centre of the DCC. In a real production environment, participants experience how to digitally improve the performance of existing machines and how they can benefit from innovative technologies. It serves as:- a unique environment for delivering hands-on capability building,
- a test base for piloting and scaling up innovative solutions,
- a go-to place for learning from the leading technology players and research institutions.
We are pleased to welcome oculavis as our new technology partner. Their application of Augmented Reality shows our workshop participants how quickly problems in production, which otherwise lead to long machine downtimes, can be solved digitally. This minimizes downtimes," says Dr. Dennis Küsters, Co-Leader Digital Capability Centers Europe at McKinsey & Company, summarizing the cooperation.
Imagine the following model worst-case scenario
It is Monday morning and the production rejects of the textile machine increase dramatically. Nobody knows why. Hectic rush comes up, because the problem cannot be found. Help is needed and the machine manufacturer is contacted by phone. After a long conversation, the problem could not be solved, pictures of the scene are exchanged by email to get more information about the cause of the problem. In the afternoon it is decided to send a service technician on the trip to personally examine and solve the problem. The requested technician reaches the hotel in the evening. The next morning, he must find out that the cause of the problem could have been easily solved if the right spare part had been available. After the component has been delivered by express courier, the service technician can put the textile machine back into operation after several days of downtime.Make use of state-of-the-art technologies to connect experts with machine operators
This situation may seem familiar to some people. But with the help of technologies such as Augmented Reality in combination with mobile devices such as smart glasses or tablets and smartphones, the scenario described above may already be a thing of the past.Bidirectional video and audio connections between an employee at the machine on site and a service expert from the manufacturer can clarify many causes of problems through remote support and ideally solve them directly. All parties involved can talk about exactly the same thing in real time, thus avoiding misinterpretations during a phone call or delayed email traffic. Augmented Reality overlays (annotations) enable the employee on site to be guided correctly. Screenshots or video recordings also offer the possibility of documenting the problem solution and making the resulting knowledge accessible.
The Digital Capability Center Aachen is a unique place that makes digital concepts and solutions tangible along the textile value chain. We are proud to be able to present our remote service solution here permanently and are looking forward to the partnership with McKinsey and the ITA Academy", says Martin Plutz, founder and managing director of oculavis GmbH, about the cooperation.
Remote Service with Augmented Reality and oculavis SHARE
oculavis SHARE uses Augmented Reality technology and connects experts and technicians with any device between worldwide locations. Instead of sending a service technician on a journey, his expertise can be bundled centrally. oculavis SHARE can be used for remote service as well as for other applications within the life cycle of a machine and plant. This includes:- remote acceptance tests before a machine is shipped,
- workflows to provide step-by-step instructions to technicians or to the end customer,
- remote video support to setup the machine,
- remote support for planned maintenance activities,
- remote audits,
- training of machine operators by remote video support.
Use case in the Digital Capability Center Aachen
The DCC Aachen shows remote expert support using the example of a textile printer. Due to various environmental influences, a fluctuating quality is created at the machine, which can be seen, for example, in gaps or overlapping of the print. The machine operator uses oculavis SHARE to connect to an expert and to identify the problem and solve it as quickly as possible. A Realwear HMT-1 pair of smart glasses is used as exemplary device. The smart glasses offer the advantage that the operator has both hands free to follow the instructions of the expert. AR annotations allow the expert to accurately indicate the source of the error and facilitate the operator's guidance in solving the problem.
Benefits for manufacturers and end customers arise equally
The use of Augmented Reality based remote support eliminates unnecessary travel and reduces costs. The overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is increased at the end customer and more end customers can be served with the same personnel capacities in service. Overall, customers and machine manufacturers benefit equally: Manufacturers offer fast and digital service, while end customers experience less downtimes of their machines.Contact to DCC
Digital Capability Center AachenVaalser Str. 460
52074 Aachen
Germany
Tel. +49 241 8049100
https://dcc-aachen.de
