thyssenkrupp Bilstein connects production sites with oculavis SHARE

Customer Success | min. reading time

29th of April 2020

Tier 1 automotive supplier thyssenkrupp Bilstein relies on oculavis SHARE to connect its production sites worldwide. The main application is the short-term involvement of experts in the case of equipment malfunctions. Due to travel restrictions caused by COVID-19, commissioning and equipment optimization is also carried out by Remote Video Assistance.

Use of special purpose machinery in production

In production of high-tech shock absorbers, thyssenkrupp Bilstein uses highly specialized equipment manufactured either in its own special machinery manufacturing facility in Germany or procured by leading equipment manufacturers in the DACH region. However, until a machine can successfully go into operation, the specialists like process engineers have an enormous amount of work to do, which involves a lot of travelling. This begins with numerous coordination meetings to discuss functional tests at the manufacturer’s site, continues with commissioning and finally with acceptance in the plants distributed around the world.

„
Thanks to the Remote Video Assistance solution from oculavis, we can provide professional support to our colleagues in our international production sites in times of current travel restrictions and thus enable successful equipment set-ups”, reports Felix Wegmann, Digital Transformation Manager at thyssenkrupp Bilstein.

But also after acceptance, the manufacturer's experts are still needed for more complex problem solutions. The time span between the occurrence of a problem and the solution varies greatly – it might even happen that service technicians are on site several times until the trigger of a problem is found and the right parts have been procured and replaced.

Digital service processes as a solution

thyssenkrupp Bilstein was looking for a software solution to optimize service processes in order to minimize downtime and reduce travel time and costs. The software should be easy to integrate into the existing IT system landscape and be tailored to the requirements of expert support like HD videos, technical documentation using screenshots and video recordings.

oculavis SHARE Cases Mockup

oculavis SHARE as first choice

When selecting the provider, thyssenkrupp Bilstein decided to use the augmented reality service platform oculavis SHARE, which is internally used under the name Remote Video Assistance. As a cloud solution, oculavis SHARE can be used immediately and the benefits are visible at once. In addition to smartphones, smart glasses are also used for bidirectional HD video calls to allow hands-free working. thyssenkrupp Bilstein uses smart glasses from RealWear (HMT-1) and Epson (BT 350). So-called cases offer the opportunity to document knowledge and make the know-how gained in the sessions accessible.

Realwear HMT-1 and Epson BT-350

Involving different stakeholders in the decision-making process

Various stakeholders were involved in the decision-making process right from the start to ensure a successful rollout of the remote support solution. These included the worker’s council to conclude a works council agreement, the data protection officer to ensure compliance with the GDPR and the IT department to ensure data security when processing internal data in the cloud.

Added value caused by Remote Video Assistance

If questions or problems cannot be solved by e-mail or telephone, thyssenkrupp Bilstein has defined the use of oculavis SHARE as the next step to be selected before on-site visits happen. Together with the equipment manufacturer's access to the machine's PLC via a secure VPN connection, Remote Video Assistance has already saved numerous trips, including intercontinental flights.

Especially due to the current travel restrictions caused by COVID-19, the software oculavis SHARE is used almost daily for new production ramp-ups. Equipment set-ups and parameter configurations have been carried out by maintenance personnel and process engineers at the plant under the guidance of experts.

Future applications

Employees in production area are continuously trained to handle the software and smart glasses, so both can be used as universally as possible. In addition to the application for production plants, oculavis SHARE should be also utilized in the cross-locational development of new products like the appraisal of prototypes and results from road tests.

Innovation and high-tech in chassis technology

The shock absorber has the task of reducing vertical oscillation of the car body and wheels. Together with the spring, shock absorbers ensure the road handling of vehicles. The design and tuning of spring and shock absorbing always represent a compromise between driving comfort and driving safety as well as agility.

Bilstein Black Falcon Innovation

© thyssenkrupp bilstein

As a damper specialist, thyssenkrupp Bilstein supplies the right system for all these requirements from a complete range of dampers from monotube/two-tube gas pressure shock absorbers to complete air spring systems and adjustable shock absorbers. With production facilities in Europe, America and China, thyssenkrupp Bilstein serves the regional markets while taking into account individual customer requirements. The company is an operating unit of the Automotive Technology business area of thyssenkrupp AG.