Extended Reality: What Can it Do for Your Business?

It’s been several years since the public first got a taste of augmented reality (AR) through the popularity of smartphone gaming apps. Since then, visibility of AR from a consumer perspective has been relatively limited, awaiting the next blockbuster application. In an industrial context, however, the next generation of immersive technologies is already starting to take hold, finding use cases across a range of applications, including design, manufacturing, training and operations.

The commercial appeal of augmented and virtual-based technologies, commonly referred to as extended reality (XR), is evident in how the technologies support business imperatives. Improving collaboration and efficiency, while reducing costs and waste, has been high on the agenda for industrial decision makers for several years. These are all areas in which leaders are finding that XR can support better outcomes.

Now, given the impact of social distancing and remote working measures over the past 18 months, the appeal of XR has grown significantly and as a result more manufacturing companies are prioritising the implementation of such capabilities into their production environments and processes.

From Attractive Idea to Real-World Concept

Extended reality is an umbrella term that covers various innovations in immersive technologies, including AR, virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR) and spatial computing, that enable manufacturers to blend virtual and physical worlds together in live production environments.

There have been several key drivers behind this increased adoption. Firstly, the advancement in the technologies themselves has helped to raise them up to enterprise standards, both in capabilities and in reliability. Immersive technologies are continually improving from both a hardware perspective, including developments in tablets, smartphones, and smart glasses, as well as in relation to the software. This rapid progress is increasing the ease of adoption and the utility they can bring to industrial companies.

Secondly, there has been an evident shift in the way organisations manage their operations. With a global focus on digitalising working processes, these innovations are quickly becoming an integrated part of the technological stack in both discrete and process manufacturing.

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This has involved a shift from siloed manufacturing operations towards a more open, ecosystem-based model that relies on fast and effective communication and collaboration between different sites and even across international boundaries.

Finally, we’re seeing vastly improved user experience owing to major developments in network connectivity. This includes the lower latency connections that are being realised because of the roll out of 5G, allowing XR to be applied to ever-more remote and rugged environments.

Value of XR for ManufacturingAs the range of use cases for the technology increases, business leaders are looking more closely at how the use of XR can bring substantial improvements to their day-to-day operations. Based on what we’ve observed among our customers, there are several major benefits that industrial decision makers can expect from adopting XR in their own environments.

Sharing expertise and knowledge transfer – Enabling workers to tap into the collective expertise of colleagues and external specialists creating a hands-on experience that transcends physical limitations.

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Reducing travel and eliminating borders between plants – Facilitating interactions between workers across different locations, allowing them to collaborate on projects without the need for disruptive and costly travel.
Resolving issues remotely ¬– Enabling remote plant monitoring and for specialists to work on urgent repair and maintenance projects from their own site or from socially distanced locations.
Boosting productivity – Enabling easy access to information, facilitated by AR with a PLM system to leverage CAD and product data-management tools, which in turn creates more immersive experiences for interacting with physical assets on the factory floor.
Making the company attractive to prospects – Living up to the promise of becoming a modern manufacturing company by offering the type of environment attractive to a new generation of talent.
Creating two-way interactions with stakeholders – Transforming interactions between company and their ecosystem of partners, OEMs, and customers. This includes sharing data from machine sensors to enable a fast resolution of potential issues and ongoing product or machine-part improvement.

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Using AR as a game-changer for the marketing and selling of industrial products – Shortening the sales cycle with AR experiences that remotely demonstrate mass customisation and strengthening the bond with customers through more personalised and immersive experiences.

As an ongoing effect of the reflexive relationship between the evolving technology and more digitally savvy end users, these benefits will continue to produce significant business value over time.

At the Tipping Point

The current manufacturing landscape is favourable to the increased adoption of XR capabilities. Just as applications such as video conferencing have become default tools in the post-lockdown digital workplace, the scene is set for a range of new digital capabilities to become integral parts of how and where we work.

In manufacturing, the innately physical nature of the work has conventionally limited the collaborative potential of disparate sites and experts. Now, with the growth of XR, manufacturing organisations can embrace the notion of the borderless company and facilitate improvements in productivity and collaborative innovation. We’re still in the early stages of this journey, but there’s massive room for growth over the coming years.

If you’d like to know more about the technology supporting modern digitalization, take a look at the resources available in the Management Perspectives technology playlist.