This is especially true for the Volvo Group, which had a nearly 260,000 order in-takes for trucks in 2018. To adapt to this changing landscape, Volvo is undertaking significant digital transformation and industry 4.0 initiatives, rethinking how it improves its physical processes, products, and people with current and emerging technologies.

The Challenge

Volvo prides itself on strategically differentiating its vehicles on quality and engineering excellence. In today’s rapidly changing market, customization has become the new normal. This presents new quality assurance challenges as product complexity and unique configurations increase in volume and rate of change.

“Volvo’s engines are very sophisticated with 4,500 different engine information variants for just one plant and 13,000 variants for the full plant for referencing,” explains Geoffrey Blanc, Manufacturing Technology Manager at Volvo.

Engine quality control and assurance in Volvo’s manufacturing plants are subject to rigorous quality checks, a task reserved for Volvo’s most experienced technicians. In one plant, each engine requires 40 checks, with 200 possible quality assurance (QA) variants, which must be completed at the QA station in only eight minutes.

Training new operators on these complex inspection procedures takes five weeks, which adds to the overall cost of quality. The laborious process is paper-based, not only creating extraneous cognitive load for the operators, but also mobilizing time and resources to update, print, and distribute QA materials regularly.

Indeed, the challenge is to establish and maintain a consistent data flow and systems connections to create operational efficiency across the value chain. “As we know, the trucking market is subject to significant variations. To us, flexibility in the plants means how fast we can implement new shifts in production to follow the market,” says Bertrand Felix, Manufacturing Innovation and Technology Manager, Volvo Group.

Volvo piloted an incumbent augmented reality (AR) provider to improve engine quality control processes but found the offering incapable of scaling and integrating across applications, processes, and desired use cases.

As they looked at alternate solutions, agile support for the increasing product complexity and custom configurations coming out of engineering and upstream manufacturing processes and scalability across global operations were critical requirements.

Read the full story on PTC’s website – case studies. 

Protective face shields 3D printed for NHS workers https://www.amrc.co.uk/news/amrc-3d-prints-protective-face-shields-for-nhs-workers Joe Palmer, the Senior Design and Development Engineer who is leading the AMRC’s response, said the team has coordinated its efforts with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to ensure visors are being delivered to the local hospitals with the greatest need.

He said: “We know these visors are needed now and not in a few weeks’ time, so we’re really pleased that we were able to get almost 1,000 out of the door by Monday and into the hands of the frontline NHS workers who so desperately need them in order to stay protected as they battle this deadly virus to save lives.

Find out which manufacturers have been involved in the COVID19 ventilator challenge.  As part of the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) is closely involved in the discussions with Government to step up production of vital medical equipment, such as ventilators.

In addition to the Prime Minister’s briefing, the call has gone out from Government for anyone who supplies ventilator equipment to step forward. There is also a further challenge to the wider engineering and manufacturing community to fast-track a simpler ventilator system. We understand that five design companies, with a medical equipment track record, are now working on five specifications, with clinical input. These specifications will be reviewed by a group at PA Consulting, which is acting as project manager for this challenge. We understand that the five specifications will be down-selected to one or more key contenders. This will then be the opportunity for the engineering community to look at a specification.

Continue reading the story in full.

This Challenge is organized as an Industryhack FastTrack online process to help tackle the effects of COVID-19 both in terms of finding solutions for the host’s challenge quickly on one hand, but also to provide new assignments for the solver companies fast on the other.

Back in April we shared the news that AREA member and other companies Finwe and Wapice had been selected to take part in this challenge.

We can now share the news that Augumenta won the remote process challenge. You can read the full story about this on Augumenta’s website. 

AR training simulator software are intended to train users for a certain role in a partially virtual environment. Trainees utilize the augmented reality in these solutions to learn the vital skills needed for a new job. These differ from virtual reality training simulators, as the latter provides training simulations to users in a completely immersive, virtual environment. By integrating 3D images into the real world using a phone or other mobile device with a camera, AR training simulators replicate real-life situations, which makes the learning experience more retainable and engaging.

Market Drivers include increasing Demand for AI-Based Applications.  Growing Interest of the Large Tech Companies in AR Training Simulation.  And thirdly, rising demand in Training and Skill Development by Various Companies to Train Employees for Certain Jobs.

Market Trends include High Adoption Of 3D visualization In Medical Sector and an upsurge in Demand from AI-based Applications in Retail and E-commerce Sector

Restraints revolve around Limited User Interface (UI) Affecting the Navigation Performance of AR Applications

Opportunities include Rising Expenditure in Training Simulation Technology. Technological Advancement and Development in the AR and Rising Adoption of the AI Technology

Current Challenges were found to be Low Adoption Rate due to Privacy Issues and Complexities in the Design and a lack of Skilled Working Professionals

Free Sample Report request link.

The business disruptions caused by the pandemic highlight an opportunity for augmented reality (AR) tech firms to step in and help organizations maintain operations.

AR’s ability to link the digital and physical worlds and empower real-world collaboration makes it primed to preserve enterprise operations in this time of need. Already, companies are racing to embrace AR technology — and we think we could see a lasting impact on enterprise AR adoption that extends beyond the pandemic.

Business Insider Intelligence spoke to Scott Montgomerie, cofounder and CEO of Scope AR, to discuss the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on Scope AR’s business and how the firm is strategizing in response.

Through our conversation, we discussed what has changed for Scope AR in the past few weeks, how companies such as telecoms are changing their business strategies amid the crisis, and what these changes mean for the enterprise AR industry in the long term.

Read the interview on Business Insider.

Many frontline workers need to implement out of control action plans. These events require immediate action and can occur regularly. Traditional procedures even at some of the most advanced facilities direct workers to the paper binder and the appropriate responsive actions. This is fraught with issues.

5G technology will lower latency of wireless connection to a delay that is virtually undetected by humans.

It should be no surprise that digital transformation is providing tools to address such scenarios.

Simply digitising information and storing it in the MS Azure cloud or making it available on a tablet are big steps in the right direction.

AREA member Taqtile’s spatial computing solution, Manifest, is addressing these issues on the next level. Their solution makes job instruction information used for task guidance nad training, maintenance and diagnostics, accessible via a head mounted spatial computer such as MS HoloLens 2.

Further reading includes the original article by Kelly Malone, Chief Revenue Office at Taqtile on page 88 of the Spring issue of The Record and view Taqtile’s AREA member profile. 

In today’s engineering and manufacturing environment, products, especially large complex ones such as planes or cars, are not made by one manufacturer. Companies have to collaborate and very often that means that your CAD and PLM data has to be shared. Nearly all products involve complex and multi-continent supply chains, which often use different CAD and PLM tools for design and manufacturing.

Different CAD systems may be used by different companies which can cause incompatibility issues when it comes to sharing data from one system to another. But those who manufacture many different parts for many different products can’t be expected to have the same CAD system that everybody else in each of their supply chains have.

To overcome the problem of sharing incompatible data, some companies will buy a specific seat of a different CAD system, just so they can access the data being sent; but this can be expensive, and require a member of the team to be specially trained. So it’s not always the best option, especially for smaller companies.  And even if you’ve spent the time and money on doing this, the data still might need to be accessed in another different CAD system further down the supply chain.

Data Exchange

CAD/PLM data exchange is the process which supports the movement of 3D design data, metadata and supporting documents between collaborating design, engineering, and manufacturing companies. It is often a bi-directional process, where data iterates between collaborating partners, but in some cases may just involve the creation of data for the manufacture or analysis of parts.

Translation

The obvious option is to be able to simply translate your 3D CAD data from one system to the other. Data translators are available that enable data exchange and sharing of incompatible data formats. They are a high quality, cost-effective method of exchanging data between CAD or visualization systems and remove the need to buy additional CAD seats, as they can be used interactively from within your vendor specific application.

If using a translator, especially a bi-directional one, there are a few points to think about in relation to the sending and receiving of data to make sure the translation is as seamless as possible.

When sending data

• Send only high quality data
• Know what your data will be used for and only send lightweight data if possible
• Send only the data that the recipient needs
• Think about whether features and history are definitely required.

When receiving data

• Know what you expect to receive and check it when you get it
• Understand what you have received
• Treat incoming data with care
• Only translate what you need

The ideal solution would be the removal of the process altogether to remove the need for data translation. However, just as it is unrealistic to expect the whole world to speak the same language, for all CAD data to held in the same format is very unlikely to happen.

There is no one size fits all solution for Data Exchange, so thought needs to be given to the type of data and its content, whether it’s for manufacturing, viewing only, or if it needs simplifying to protect intellectual property and to what data exchange solution would fit that purpose.

Read Theorem Solution Blog 

Read Theorem Solution AREA member profile 

The Global Resource Guide to XR Collaboration is an interactive and comprehensive online tool that helps companies utilize XR collaboration and remote work tools for businesses.  The resource guide will serve as a central repository of detailed information about XR collaborationproducts and platforms and include an easy-to-use interactive tool for matching to specific business needs, a feature that will be available by the end of this month. All of this will be free to use and free to share.

XR collaboration products and platforms prove increasingly valuable for business users across all sectors of the economy. These can help teach classes, run workshops, deliver sales presentations and enable more personal meetings and real-time training. Sectors such as
manufacturing, engineering, retail, marketing, education and healthcare can particularly benefit from XR with its enhanced real-time collaboration capabilities and ability to share valuable or sensitive information remotely. And beyond the necessity to enforce social distancing, XR collaboration platforms can create a tangible ROI to enterprises by reducing work travel expenses and more efficiently fostering real-time knowledge and expertise sharing. By 2030, VR and AR has the potential to add $1.5 trillion to the global economy, as projected by PwC’s “Seeing is Believing” report.

The Global Resource Guide to XR Collaboration aims to be a resource that outlines how immersive XR technologies can support human interaction and empower us to collectively leverage technology to support the way we work, learn and generally interact with one another in a viscerally more personal way, to help everyone make the best of an extraordinarily difficult situation. The global coalition believes that by coming together (virtually) we have the best chance of overcoming the great challenges that lie ahead. For more information, please visit the website which will periodically be updated at XRCollaboration.com

For many organizations, the current crisis – caused by the spread of COVID-19 – is creating disruption on a level not seen in generations, placing their collective resilience under significant stress.

The full political, social, and economic effects of COVID-19 will continue to emerge over the months, but at the business level, it’s clear. The impact that travel restrictions, social distancing, and the need for mass remote working are challenging the ability of organizations to sustain day-to-day operations and protect their people.

Based on a quick review of our clients, across a range of sectors (Aerospace and Defence, Oil and Gas, Nuclear, Mining, Manufacturing, Engineering, and Healthcare), we’re seeing the impact of the current crisis. Those organizations that have already underpinned their operations with more agile ways of working, leveraging digital technologies, and building a culture of innovation have both an enduring resilience, as well as a potential springboard to recovery.

We’re fortunate to have clients who had the foresight to adopt remote worker support technology into their everyday working practices, and in doing so enhance their resilience and recovery capability. I’ll refer to one of them to emphasize the point.

Rogers Electric & Machine is an electric motor (among other equipment) sales and service company with facilities in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador serving clients in Oil and Gas, Mining, and other industries. Many client sites are in remote locations. Rogers integrated secure, low bandwidth remote worker support technology into their service processes, originally, to reduce response times and client equipment downtime.

The return under normal operations was already being realized: enhanced quality of client support and rapid response, increased expert availability, and reduced travel costs. Under COVID-19 restrictions, particularly social distancing, this has also provided the capability to continue supporting their clients’ essential services and operations, while protecting both their own staff and their clients’ staff through:

• reduced physical touchpoints for their personnel through remote troubleshooting activities;
• remote peer assurance and review of the required maintenance or repair task;
• concurrent and secure access to digital versions of manuals, diagrams and 3D models (no need for manual handling);
• reduced the risk of errors.

We’ve curated exactly how our client Roger’s Electric & Machine is using RemoteSpark to sustain their operations safely in this current situation.

In a general sense, before COVID-19, daily disruptions to field service support were often caused by weather, visa delays, the availability and cost of travel to a client’s locations, even civil or political unrest. All remain extant, but COVID-19 is going to reshape the way we do business. And as digital networks become more robust, we will continue to identify and provide technological solutions to keep operations flowing and our people safe.

Read the original article on Kognitiv Spark’s website.

“Police, fire, and emergency medical services crews cannot respond efficiently without proper situational awareness. Up to now, they’ve relied on eyewitness, radio, and traditional communications channels for information,”  a statement from NIST said. “But IoT devices, smart buildings, and smart cities also have the potential to provide tremendous amounts of information that remain largely inaccessible by first responders and incident command officers.” 

The competition is asking engineers and developers to create AR interfaces that can be used on headsets such as the Magic Leap 1 and can integrate IoT data to help first responders make faster and more informed decisions in emergency situations. Entrants are being asked to submit a concept and mock up paper detailing their AR use case. Those that move on will be loaned hardware from Magic Leap and other sponsors to prototype and eventually test their solution at a public safety training center. In total NIST is offering $1,100,000 in prize money. Those that advance from the first phase of the competition will be judged on idea feasibility, potential real-world impact, and the extent to which their solution improves on an available technology or technical outcome.

NIST is highlighting four major scenarios for the competition: a wildfire, active shooter, mass transit accident, and a flood. In the wildfire scenario, developers could create an AR solution that provides firefighter with visualizations related to the speed, intensity, and direction of the fire; forecasting evacuation areas; and indicating where to deploy personnel or drop water and fire retardant.

The scenario mirrors real world use cases that have emerged for AR. Edgybees, an AR software company, lended its technology to first responders who dealt with the devastating 2019-2020 wildfires in Australia as well as the 2018 wildfires in California. Edgybees overlays geo-spatial information over live footage captured by drones to enhance first responders’s situational awareness.

Using Edgybees’s technology, Australian firefighters were able pinpoint and mark the locations of fires, burnt structures, roads, ground teams, and civilians on a shared virtual map.

The CHARIoT Challenge will run concurrently with another from NIST that is tasking IoT engineers with developing a smart city solution that will capture and leverage the type of data that could be used by those in the AR competition.

The submission deadline for the first phase of the augmented reality contest is May 6, 2020. More information is available on the CHARIoT Challenge website.