Since the first HMD (Head-Mounted Display) Virtual Reality Device (The Telesphere Mask, which is said to display stereoscopic 3D images via a wide-scaled vision and stereo-based sound) was patented in the 1960s, VR and the later-emerging AR technology have remarkably impacted humans in different aspects. Even though at first the AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality) technologies were used as a source of entertainment, later they were applied in treating mental disorders, navigation, national security and defence, open-ended exploration, marketing and yes, in the manufacturing world.
Thus, AR and VR are no longer research-level manufacturing technologies; instead, they are hands-on, ready-for-business visualisation platforms that allow manufacturing experts to get real-like representational experiences in diagnosing manufacturing processes. If you are a manufacturer considering using the capabilities of AR and VR to optimise the inspecting, diagnosing, and analysing capabilities of your manufacturing centre, this article will give you a comprehensive understanding of whether it suits your manufacturing centre or not.
AR and VR For Manufacturing?
As mentioned before, VR technology has been around for quite some time, but it was recently utilised along with AR capabilities in the manufacturing world. However, early adopters in the manufacturing realm have been able to gain unique opportunities and make more innovative and future-proof manufacturing decisions compared to other manufacturing companies due to its capability of enabling realistic and updated perspectives to pinpoint detrimental root causes and visualise the actual operational and functional standards of manufacturing centres.
The impactful and rising trend manufacturing environments to be globalised and digitised necessitates real-time information powered by IIoT and other data technologies to gain insights on product development life cycles. They need visualisation on design, engineering, setup planning, event-driven realistic production scheduling, smart machining, smart assembly, critical resource allocation, agile task collaboration among nodes of the manufacturing centre. Ar and VR technologies ensure the optimisation of all the above-mentioned functions. Thus making them a couple of immersive technologies that are yet unrivalled by other visualisation technologies in unique;y facilitating manufacturing players of the new age.
Here are a few instances where AR and VR technologies have enabled manufacturers to meet manufacturing excellence effortlessly.
The impactful and rising trend manufacturing environments to be globalised and digitised necessitates real-time information powered by IIoT and other data technologies to gain insights on product development life cycles. They need visualisation on design, engineering, setup planning, event-driven realistic production scheduling, smart machining, smart assembly, critical resource allocation, agile task collaboration among nodes of the manufacturing centre. Ar and VR technologies ensure the optimisation of all the above-mentioned functions. Thus making them a couple of immersive technologies that are yet unrivalled by other visualisation technologies in unique;y facilitating manufacturing players of the new age.
Here are a few instances where AR and VR technologies have enabled manufacturers to meet manufacturing excellence effortlessly.
Engineering and Testing
Another aspect where AR, VR technologies can be used as a manufacturing technological application is when the manufacturers are designing or augmenting plant models. They can use AR, VR technologies to get hands-on experiences on designing, altering, testing, augmenting, trailing new or changed factory floors to understand the performance standards during spontaneous delays and substandard operational statuses. This can be used as an examination technology to investigate the manufacturing excellence of your factory after it undergoes impactful changes in the operational environments. It can also test the level of security and safety of in-house employees. When advanced with simulation technology, these technologies can give realistic perspectives on impending potential injuries, threats or fatality of employees and ensure safe, healthy and riskless environments for factory workers.
Event-driven Factory Planning and Resource Allocation
AR, VR technology also facilitates manufacturers in planning their operations by aligning their internal performance and functionalities against real-time manufacturing events. Mass-producing manufacturing centres must meet critical manufacturing demands faster, accurately and punctually to achieve efficiency, productivity, and profitability goals profoundly. Therefore, making AR, VR is two of the most reliable visualisation technologies for forward-thinking manufacturing practitioners. It can help plant operators to calibrate operating systems to meet the requirements of personalised or critical orders. They can commission workstations, direct resource streams and diagnose the demands of automated process schedulers and prioritise workflows to meet the urgent operational necessities.
Training Staff to Respond to Critical Manufacturing Events
Training manufacturing employees using AR and VR can trim down the duration of the training process by 4 times than using conventional training methods. Many adopters invest in VR and AR technologies to virtualise the working environments and let employees perform under pressure to train them to work more efficiently and agilely during critical operations and peak hours. This trains the employees faster and facilitates sooner and more tactful employment of HR in your manufacturing centres. It also helps manufacturing centres drastically increase employee retention rates because it attracts new workers and simplifies training processes for existing employees.
Cerexio- The Best AR, VR Technology Enablers for Manufacturing in Singapore and Australia.
Cerexio is one of the most unrivalled Manufacturing Technology Suite Enablers with AR, VR capabilities. The cutting-edge manufacturing platform, namely Manufacturing Automation Platform, and patented manufacturing technology packages- Cerexio MES 4.0 and Cerexio WMS 4.0 – are highly-compatible in enabling AR, VR capabilities to make gainful manufacturing decisions without postmodern visualisation abilities. The modernistic AR and VR-friendly manufacturing solutions empower your manufacturing managers to effortlessly, agilely and reliably manage, control and oversee manufacturing facilities via a macro-scale, intuitive and updated virtual lens at any point of the world. Connect with Cerexio (https://cerexio.com/contact) to learn more about the AR and VR features of our cutting-edge manufacturing solutions.
Future of AR , VR in The Manufacturing World
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are the predecessors for even more innovative technologies that will soon impact the manufacturing world; they are Mixed Reality (MR) and Extended Reality (ER) indicating imperatives of impacting the manufacturing world. Yet, it is too soon to statistically prove that the investment of AR and VR will prelude a coming of a fully AR and VR-based revolution that will transform the manufacturing world from top to bottom. But it certainly is not the ‘hype’ it once was because many manufacturers are adopting the technological features of AR and VR to gain better virtual perspectives of their physical manufacturing centres with the power of big data.
