XR has already been adopted by many end users and work environments. Although consumers are still far from widely adopting XR into their daily lives, major companies are already actively leveraging this technology.
Among these major business sectors is manufacturing. There are many moving parts behind a successful manufacturing company, from the design team to the front-line employees on the factory floor. In both areas, XR is becoming a powerful tool.
For example, using VR in a design review situation can lead to many positive outcomes by allowing teams to collaborate through an immersive digital twin of an existing or future product. One is to save resources by avoiding the need for physical representations during design previews, and the other is to save capital needed to transport decision makers or products to a location where they can be reviewed. Instead, VR allows senior executives to view the product virtually and from a distance.
XR solutions, such as immersive training and remote guidance on the factory floor, provide critical insight to workers operating expensive machinery in sometimes hazardous environments.
The benefits are already countless and growing. Keeping track of this can sometimes seem overwhelming. This is especially true for professionals and decision-makers who work every day in busy industries like manufacturing.
Fortunately, groups like the VRAR Association are helping companies understand the growing enterprise XR space. Most recently, VRARA released a white paper highlighting how XR solutions can help modern manufacturing companies optimize training, efficiency and safety procedures.
XR Today recently spoke with some of the industry experts who contributed to the VRARA white paper, revealing some of the key trends driving the adoption of XR solutions in manufacturing.
Applying XR to Manufacturing
Gene Feldman, Nestle Preena Training Manager, North American Pet Careleverages XR to support sales function roles in North American pet care, and Feldman has been leading VR projects for “the last seven and a half years.”
With Nestle Preena, Feldman and his team tested a variety of XR concepts and piloted them to improve the process of getting the company’s consumer goods onto store shelves. Feldman said that after a few pilot projects, his team rolled out several solutions that “leveraged VR technology, metaverse, spatial computing, whatever keywords we wanted to use. “We are trying to find solutions that can be applied to enterprise consumer products companies.”
Feldman noted:
One of our biggest use cases is being able to render the pet food aisle in virtual space before actually rendering it in real life. This will give you all your sales data. So we decided to go with a non-factory solution. Now that headsets and technology have been subject to increased safety regulations to meet OSHA guidelines, work can begin on the factory floor. I think manufacturing is becoming much more open as technology advances.
Meanwhile, VRARA white paper contributors emma valdez He is an attorney at Knollwood Investment Advisory and also works at Crossover Investment Firm. I spent a lot of time working on the technology portfolio, executing processes and collaborating with the founders.”
“We have a lot of corporate customers. I see what individuals are building, give advice, and work with founders to identify the requirements of their use cases,” Valdez added.
additionally, Randy Nunez, CEO, Nunez Consulting, LLCPreviously, he led a small innovation team at Ford Motor Company that explored XR technologies. He also lent his respected expertise to the Roundtable.
“I think we’re at a bit of a tipping point in terms of where work culture and technology are,” Nunez added of the current state of enterprise XR. By 2025, the enterprise space will truly understand what XR technologies are and what the new business use cases are for VR/AR/MR. Nunez also noted that it has enabled enterprise end users in fields such as manufacturing to scale their XR projects beyond the POC stage and beyond the pilot phase.
What problems is XR solving for large enterprises?
The way XR and any new technology really scales within a business beyond the pilot phase is when XR champions can demonstrate results, positive ROI and performance. “The most common thing I see is that knowledge transfer is possible,” Feldman said.
Feldman also added:
If you’re in manufacturing, you may have people who have been registered for 25, 30 years. When they leave, it leaves a huge hole in the business. That level of knowledge was lost in the company. So we need to find ways to provide real resources and knowledge transfer and get it on the factory floor.
For example, Feldman explained, when factory machinery needs maintenance, “people get out their iPads or their phones or leave the store entirely and access their computers to find resources.”
“It would be great for companies to install XR devices on each machine to provide real-time troubleshooting, real-time analytics and performance,” Feldman added.
Additionally, in terms of manufacturing training, machine training procedures pose safety and financial risks to the production line, which XR technologies help mitigate. Feldman continued:
What we can do as we begin to teach spatial computing is to use CAD schematics and digital resources to train workers as if they were actually there.
Attracting new personnel
Valdez also pointed out that the “attractive nature” of XR technology integration has the same value as that of the manufacturing sector. It provides a wow factor with real-world use cases that can attract new talent.
As today’s digitally native workforce chooses their career paths, proficiency in workforce skills “is a key asset,” Valdez said. “It can be a game-changer for a successful business.”
Valdez also added that “in terms of being able to attract talent and subsequently retain that talent,” the emerging workforce “must feel like they are given the opportunity to upskill and learn additional proficiencies.”
Valdez commented:
However, a large young workforce indicates this is a great talent acquisition. This is a really attractive point when it comes to hiring and retaining people.
Generational factors are relevant for emerging as well as older workers. Valdez explained that there was “a bit of a backlash at the time or the idea that an aging workforce was a problem for adopting XR technologies.”
Some companies are concerned about factors such as unfamiliarity with XR technologies in general, changes to existing training methods, lack of interest in learning new technological processes, and the perception that older workers may be less adaptable to new XR integrations. .
But Valdez found that:
Especially about generational differences in training. I find it really fascinating to see individuals who are seasoned professionals not only less capable or unfamiliar with using this technology, but also bringing a fundamentally different skill set to the table.
Nunez also explained that managing workplace perceptions is a key aspect of attracting new talent. Nunuz said:
When you talk about manufacturing, people have some perception of what that job is, and that perception isn’t always good. For example, they think it’s dirty, they think it’s dangerous, and they think there’s no real opportunity for growth when working in manufacturing. XR, like any other technology, can change these stereotypes and change perceptions.
Ideas for managing perceptions of emerging workers do not end with the manufacturing sector. Valdez explained that XR technology can be applied to all business sectors. This technology helps communicate the value of specific pathways to individuals who are “just coming out of high school and deciding to go the trade or college route” by offering XR methods to highlight skills that new employees can learn on the job. It can be. .
Identify problems that XR can solve
XR appeared at the beginning of the decade. Although this technology has been around for a long time, new technologies like Hololens 2 and Google Glass have brought AR/VR/MR to a new perspective. This trend will continue into the late 2010s as more trusted companies use spatial data solutions.
Feldman noted that the pandemic has “accelerated the identification” of problems that XR can help solve. “I’d love to say VR is coming at the perfect time, but honestly, five or six years ago, a lot of this would have been happening and it would have been fantastic.”
Feldman added:
But I think people are innovating faster now. I think a lot of people are now starting to realize that we don’t need to create all this cool VR technology. What do we need to create for a solution?
Traditional training methods can vary greatly due to aspects such as the physical location of the training materials and the characteristics of the mentor. But XR can provide consistency. “You can take the right training steps across the board that everyone agrees on,” Nunez said.
“Using VR in training not only increases retention but also increases confidence,” Valdez added. It also reduces the impact of travel using VR in training and product design by eliminating the need for mentors to travel, and instead using a virtual environment, both from a sustainability perspective and a broader business culture perspective.
Regarding cultural considerations among workers, Feldman explained:
When we approached digital communication, we brought out all the non-verbal communication characteristics. Many of these nonverbal cues actually lead to better communication when talking to people. Just by pointing at something, this non-verbal language can be very helpful in communication. The addition of XR non-verbal communication actually allows for greater communication across cultures as well as taking cultural variables into account.
Collaborate with workers to ensure XR scaling success
Nunez also emphasized how union members can play a role in XR integration. Understanding how to talk to people can also help you understand hardware parameters. “If you have a headset on your head, that may not be in your union contract. It is very helpful to find out this information sooner rather than later.”
According to Nunez, dialogue and collaboration with union stakeholders can help improve XR integration thanks to improved insight into employees’ day-to-day considerations and how XR can fit into employees’ daily expectations. .
Nunez added:
Understand, how can we make it better? What kind of challenges are you facing? Things like that. Treat them with respect. This is their territory, this is their environment. You need to listen to them, hear what they have to say, and really hear what their concerns and feedback are. Once you win them over, they will become your biggest advocates.
To learn more about VRARA’s research on this topic, check out our white paper.