Material Handling: how to use Augmented Reality
Logistics and Material Handling were among the first sectors to implement Augmented Reality solutions to streamline their processes. A well-known example is DHL that introduced Augmented Reality on smart glasses in 2014 as a visual assistance tool for picking and training and registered 40% of error reduction in its processes since the first tests.
In addition to ensuring more efficient management of the warehouse and inventory, Augmented Reality platforms allow companies to improve their operations by supporting process innovation in the industry 4.0 perspective.
In Italy, more and more industrial companies, especially medium-small ones, are taking the first steps towards greater digitization of some critical processes, such as sales and maintenance, driven by the need to be more flexible, especially after the Coronavirus crisis.
JoinPad has recently collaborated with MH Material Handling in the integration of our Augmented Reality remote assistance system, Smart Assistance, implementing it in three main processes carried out within the Brianza-based company.
Internal handling systems. Source: MH Material Handling
Material Handling: how to use Augmented Reality
Logistics and Material Handling were among the first sectors to implement Augmented Reality solutions to streamline their processes. A well-known example is DHL that introduced Augmented Reality on smart glasses in 2014 as a visual assistance tool for picking and training and registered 40% of error reduction in its processes since the first tests.
In addition to ensuring more efficient management of the warehouse and inventory, Augmented Reality platforms allow companies to improve their operations by supporting process innovation in the industry 4.0 perspective.
In Italy, more and more industrial companies, especially medium-small ones, are taking the first steps towards greater digitization of some critical processes, such as sales and maintenance, driven by the need to be more flexible, especially after the Coronavirus crisis.
JoinPad has recently collaborated with MH Material Handling in the integration of our Augmented Reality remote assistance system, Smart Assistance, implementing it in three main processes carried out within the Brianza-based company.
Internal handling systems. Source: MH Material Handling
MH Material Handling's AR Visual Remote Assistance
An increasing number of companies in the logistics and material handling sectors are adopting Augmented Reality systems to improve the management of production, maintenance, customer, and sales process while reducing operating costs.
MH Material Handling is an important Italian industrial automation company founded in 1986, focused on the production of conveyor belts and accessories for the production and packaging processes of food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic goods.
The annual turnover is around 8-9 million euros, and its work extends globally. In addition to collaborating with the most important multinationals in the Food & Beverage sector, MH Material Handling works directly with other manufacturers of packaging systems. The latter integrate MH-branded handling systems and then sell them, turnkey, to the end customer.
Automated handling system. Source: MH Material Handling
The company typically manufactures prototype plants based on the specific needs of the customer and the manufacturing process. Conveying systems must adapt to the spaces available, taking into account the machinery involved in the production and packaging process.
In a world that is becoming hyper-technological, the demand for tailor-made automation in factories follows a positive trend, posing significant challenges for manufacturers of automated lines.
Luca Fontana, Business Development Manager of MH Material Handling, tells us that “the food packaging production reaches high speeds and cadences, meaning that the problems that occur in the startup phase of the line are difficult to formalize.”
One of the cases reported by Fontana concerns a specific packaging of confectionery products, which, given the conformation and the materials used, was retained on the transport line due to the electrostatic charge. “It’s something you can’t predict; it happens.” Besides, the company cannot completely outsource maintenance as technical know-how requires a long period of training and “the ability to imagine what the problem might be.”
For over ten years, MH Material Handling has been looking for a solution that would allow communication and collaboration in real-time during the installation, maintenance, and sales processes through video streaming.
The impossibility of standardizing the assistance procedures requires an ‘agile’ tool, capable of allowing the expert technician and the operator in the field to intervene in a short time, quickly solving the problems.
The choice fell on JoinPad’s Smart Assistance, a multi-platform real-time video transmission tool that integrates Augmented Reality functions for remote industrial support.
The use of Smart Assistance by MH is designed to solve problems related to three processes. First of all: the remote technical assistance during maintenance; before Smart Assistance, the company often used messaging and video call applications for daily use (such as Whatsapp), combined with more advanced digital graphics programs, for assessment procedures on the state of the machine, troubleshooting, the resolution of the problem and finally the feedback.
A rather slow and complicated process compared to the simple video call with Smart Assistance which allows experts to overlay directly on the video the AR notes necessary for the operator in the field to carry out maintenance. The latter will display them in the correct point of the object on which they must intervene. Information can be stored using the photo-sharing mode to capture images, save them in the cloud, and share them in real-time with the other person.
AR remote support with JoinPad Smart Assistance. Source: MH Material Handling
In Luca Fontana’s words, «Smart Assistance saves time. Not to mention that most video call applications are quite unstable from the point of view of the streaming video: very often, this type of solution does not adapt the video quality in relation to connectivity, causing the call to be suddenly interrupted. Smart Assistance, on the other hand, can regulate the quality in favor of the bandwidth, allowing the continuity of operations.
Smart Assistance is also ideally suited for Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT), which MH Material Handling was able to carry out even during the Covid19 epidemic. The tests usually include a visit to the plant supplier’s plant to assess whether all the requirements of the order have been met, from the material used to the correct functioning of the various applications; these assessments often represent important milestones for customer billing.
In addition to the possibility of annotating information on the video in real-time, MH Material Handling has appreciated, like other JoinPad customers, the freedom of being able to choose the role of the operator in the field and the expert alternatively. In some cases, the functions cannot be fixed: «During FATs, the roles are reversed. We have to show the machines to the customer, so we become the on-field operators. Through video streaming with Smart Assistance, we can allow the customers to indicate which parts of the plants they want us to investigate. It really makes a difference for us, especially during a period like this and often working with customers who are on the other side of the world.” explains Fontana.
MH’s staff at work during a technical acceptance test. Source: MH Material Handling
Finally, Smart Assistance is used by MH Material Handling as a commercial tool, to be able to make an offer without taking measures directly on the field. How? By asking the customer to move around inside the plant, marking the dimensions of the machinery or the speed of an assembly line on the screen.
“We can ask customers real-time information that through alternative ways – phone calls, technical drawings, screen sharing – would be more difficult to obtain,» concludes Luca Fontana, underlining the significant reduction in travel costs and time that can be achieved with this innovative tool. Besides, communication is perceived to have a more “human” quality to it thanks to the personal presence, which benefits the customer care strategy in ways not always possible with a simple email exchange.
MH Material Handling's AR Visual Remote Assistance
An increasing number of companies in the logistics and material handling sectors are adopting Augmented Reality systems to improve the management of production, maintenance, customer, and sales process while reducing operating costs.
MH Material Handling is an important Italian industrial automation company founded in 1986, focused on the production of conveyor belts and accessories for the production and packaging processes of food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic goods.
The annual turnover is around 8-9 million euros, and its work extends globally. In addition to collaborating with the most important multinationals in the Food & Beverage sector, MH Material Handling works directly with other manufacturers of packaging systems. The latter integrate MH-branded handling systems and then sell them, turnkey, to the end customer.
Automated handling system. Source: MH Material Handling
The company typically manufactures prototype plants based on the specific needs of the customer and the manufacturing process. Conveying systems must adapt to the spaces available, taking into account the machinery involved in the production and packaging process.
In a world that is becoming hyper-technological, the demand for tailor-made automation in factories follows a positive trend, posing significant challenges for manufacturers of automated lines.
Luca Fontana, Business Development Manager of MH Material Handling, tells us that “the food packaging production reaches high speeds and cadences, meaning that the problems that occur in the startup phase of the line are difficult to formalize.”
One of the cases reported by Fontana concerns a specific packaging of confectionery products, which, given the conformation and the materials used, was retained on the transport line due to the electrostatic charge. “It’s something you can’t predict; it happens.” Besides, the company cannot completely outsource maintenance as technical know-how requires a long period of training and “the ability to imagine what the problem might be.”
For over ten years, MH Material Handling has been looking for a solution that would allow communication and collaboration in real-time during the installation, maintenance, and sales processes through video streaming.
The impossibility of standardizing the assistance procedures requires an ‘agile’ tool, capable of allowing the expert technician and the operator in the field to intervene in a short time, quickly solving the problems.
The choice fell on JoinPad’s Smart Assistance, a multi-platform real-time video transmission tool that integrates Augmented Reality functions for remote industrial support.
The use of Smart Assistance by MH is designed to solve problems related to three processes. First of all: the remote technical assistance during maintenance; before Smart Assistance, the company often used messaging and video call applications for daily use (such as Whatsapp), combined with more advanced digital graphics programs, for assessment procedures on the state of the machine, troubleshooting, the resolution of the problem and finally the feedback.
A rather slow and complicated process compared to the simple video call with Smart Assistance which allows experts to overlay directly on the video the AR notes necessary for the operator in the field to carry out maintenance. The latter will display them in the correct point of the object on which they must intervene. Information can be stored using the photo-sharing mode to capture images, save them in the cloud, and share them in real-time with the other person.
AR remote support with JoinPad Smart Assistance. Source: MH Material Handling
In Luca Fontana’s words, «Smart Assistance saves time. Not to mention that most video call applications are quite unstable from the point of view of the streaming video: very often, this type of solution does not adapt the video quality in relation to connectivity, causing the call to be suddenly interrupted. Smart Assistance, on the other hand, can regulate the quality in favor of the bandwidth, allowing the continuity of operations.
Smart Assistance is also ideally suited for Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT), which MH Material Handling was able to carry out even during the Covid19 epidemic. The tests usually include a visit to the plant supplier’s plant to assess whether all the requirements of the order have been met, from the material used to the correct functioning of the various applications; these assessments often represent important milestones for customer billing.
In addition to the possibility of annotating information on the video in real-time, MH Material Handling has appreciated, like other JoinPad customers, the freedom of being able to choose the role of the operator in the field and the expert alternatively. In some cases, the functions cannot be fixed: «During FATs, the roles are reversed. We have to show the machines to the customer, so we become the on-field operators. Through video streaming with Smart Assistance, we can allow the customers to indicate which parts of the plants they want us to investigate. It really makes a difference for us, especially during a period like this and often working with customers who are on the other side of the world.” explains Fontana.
MH’s staff at work during a technical acceptance test. Source: MH Material Handling
Finally, Smart Assistance is used by MH Material Handling as a commercial tool, to be able to make an offer without taking measures directly on the field. How? By asking the customer to move around inside the plant, marking the dimensions of the machinery or the speed of an assembly line on the screen.
“We can ask customers real-time information that through alternative ways – phone calls, technical drawings, screen sharing – would be more difficult to obtain,» concludes Luca Fontana, underlining the significant reduction in travel costs and time that can be achieved with this innovative tool. Besides, communication is perceived to have a more “human” quality to it thanks to the personal presence, which benefits the customer care strategy in ways not always possible with a simple email exchange.
Conclusion
The new technologies of Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence allow companies to be ever more present and attentive to customer needs, reducing costs, and intervention times. The applications for smart working, remote working, and all its derivations will spread more and more becoming an integral part of the work also in SMEs, as is happening in MH Material Handling.
Conclusion
The new technologies of Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence allow companies to be ever more present and attentive to customer needs, reducing costs, and intervention times. The applications for smart working, remote working, and all its derivations will spread more and more becoming an integral part of the work also in SMEs, as is happening in MH Material Handling.
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