Four Ways Connected Worker Technology is Helping Frontline Workers Operate in Today’s New Normal

The impact of COVID-19 has placed pressure on manufacturing operations leaders to maintain business operations and business continuity. Here are four ways that connected worker technology is shaping the future industrial workforce.

Four Ways Digital Technology is Helping Frontline Workers Operate in Today’s New Normal

The global pandemic has changed frontline work and given workers a new type of normal – and for many manufacturers, the change will be permanent.

The impact of COVID-19, and subsequent changes in how factories are located, staffed, managed and digitized, as well as how customers are supported is placing pressure on manufacturing operations leaders. According to McKinsey & Co., manufacturing companies of every size are now turning to digital and connected worker technology as a way to maintain business operations and business continuity. Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) based remote collaboration are now central to the corporate innovation portfolio of any business leader and crucial to boosting productivity at a time when enterprises most need it.

Here are four ways that connected worker technology is shaping the future industrial workforce and helping frontline workers operate at peak levels of safety, quality, and productivity during these times.

1. Provide Remote Assistance

Travel limitations and restrictions have forced companies to re-think how they support their staff and customers. As a result of COVID-19, manufacturers have initiated policies that encourage remote working, eliminate non-essential travel and instruct employees who are sick or under quarantine to stay home. This directly impacts the progression of operations that typically take place when multiple workers collaborate onsite.

AR-based virtual collaboration tools are providing business continuity for companies that can no longer rely on face-to-face interactions.

With on-demand remote expert functionality, onsite workers can quickly pull in an offsite colleague when their expertise is required. Many manufacturers are also extending this out to support virtual collaboration with 3rd party dealers and suppliers, customers, and even field service teams for those companies that provide equipment service and support. Digital work procedures, videos, realtime data and more are readily available and allow remote subject matter experts to intelligently guide and help workers on the job.

2. Reimagine Training

One of the challenges that has emerged during this pandemic has been workforce variability. Flexible staffing is becoming more the norm, and training/re-skilling is more important now than ever.

Traditional methods of classroom training have now become impractical if not impossible, and many companies are looking towards connected worker technology to help shorten training times and accelerate onboarding for new technicians. Use augmented reality (AR), visual aids, and contextual information to guide workers through complex tasks and deliver AR-based training experiences.

For example, Bio-Chem Fluidics, a mid-sized manufacturing company, was able to reduce new employee training time by over 80% – from three months down to two weeks. The use of visual aids and short training videos within digitized work procedures allowed their operation to onboard technicians at a faster rate and reduce downtime during learning periods, resulting in improved productivity.

3. Improve Quality and Productivity through Augmented Work Instructions

Another area where connected worker technology helps is through augmented work instructions. Equipped with digital devices that could include tablets, mobile phones, or even AR-enabled industrial smart glasses, frontline workers are able to receive fully augmented, guided instructions on any device to improve productivity, quality and allow workers to perform their jobs more independently. These help guide workers with visual aids, AR/MR experiences, and contextual information.

Digital work instructions enable manufacturing workers, customers, dealers, and field service technicians to complete assembly, installation, maintenance, or repair procedures at 100% quality without requiring face-to-face support. Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) can be used to amplify the value that digital work instructions bring to the connected worker. AI is used to personalize the instructions to each worker’s proficiency level, which helps intelligently close the skills gap and enable workers to perform at their best.

4. Uncover Continuous Improvement Opportunities

It’s critical for manufacturers to monitor processes and track progress during this time so that they can make quick adjustments to ensure overall optimization. Our view at Augmentir is that the purpose of a connected worker platform isn’t simply to deliver instructions and remote support to a frontline worker, but rather to optimize the performance of the connected worker ecosystem.

Incorporating AI into a connected worker strategy enables true organizational optimization using the rich stream of activity data to recommend improvement actions to frontline workers, continuous improvement specialists, trainers, manufacturing engineers, and operation and service managers.

  • AI-based connected worker platforms can use granular data to identify the largest opportunities across the frontline workforce
  • For example, Augmentir’s AI-powered connected worker platform looks through all job data and uses AI to cleanse the data set and recognize the largest improvement opportunities for your company in productivity, training, quality, and delivers them to your team automatically through insights in the system
  • In doing that, the system learns a lot about each worker, and can dynamically match the instructions to each worker’s proficiency and capability, intelligently closing the skills gap
  • Finally, AI bots allow you to accumulate tribal knowledge (that your subject matter experts know) and convert it into a scalable, digital corporate asset

With an ecosystem of content authors, frontline workers, subject matter experts, operations managers, continuous improvement engineers, and quality specialists, there are dozens of opportunities to improve performance.

Now is the time to consider these and start digitizing and connecting your frontline workforce. These technologies are proving to be practical and effective ways to close skill gaps and transform training efforts – allowing your frontline workers to work safely and efficiently in today’s new normal. Book a personalized demo to learn more.

 

Augmentir Highlighted as a Key Connected Factory Worker Vendor in Gartner Hype Cycle for Consumer Goods Manufacturing

August 16, 2021

Augmentir was once again recognized by Gartner as a key vendor for Connected Factory Worker technology. In the latest Gartner Hype Cycle for Consumer Goods, Augmentir was highlighted as an important vendor for Connected Factory Worker software and Immersive Experiences in Manufacturing. This marks the seventh time in 2021 that Augmentir has been recognized by Gartner for leadership in emerging technologies for manufacturing.

Digital Technology – A Key Priority for Consumer Goods CEOs

This Gartner report identifies technology as a key priority for consumer goods CEOs, and states that “79% of Consumer Goods CEOs plan to increase their investment in digital capabilities.”

According to the hype cycle report, “Investments in long-delayed digital initiatives came to the forefront due to the pandemic.” Digital transformation initiatives were put into focus and brought to the forefront due to the impact of the pandemic, increased remote working, and supply chain disruptions, and many leading consumer goods manufacturers were “jolted to invest in long-delayed digital plans.”

Gartner highlighted Connected Factory Workers and Immersive Experience in Manufacturing as offering transformational benefits for consumer goods manufacturers, and mentions Augmentir as a key software vendor in each category.

  • Connected Factory Worker: Connected factory workers use various digital tools to improve the safety, quality, and productivity of the jobs they perform. In consumer goods manufacturing, this may include enabling digitization of maintenance procedures, changeover procedures, EHS lockout/tagout procedures, quality checklists, and plant walkabouts via digitized step by step instructions or guided workflows. This technology helps connect workers to the “digital fabric” of the business, providing insight into the tasks they perform so that they can be optimized and continually improved on.
  • Immersive Experience in Manufacturing Operations: According to Gartner, immersive experiences refer to enabling the perception of being physically present in a nonphysical world or enriching people’s presence in the physical world with content from the virtual world. Gartner sees using immersive experiences as important for “accelerating problem solving and broadening continuous improvement dialogue through virtual or remote access.” This approach is being use for quality and maintenance tasks, remotely connecting with employees that are not able to be on-site, or wearables for safety management.

These hype cycles and innovation profiles are provided by Gartner to help organizations decide which new innovations and technology to adopt and when, as well as what value they can provide to their manufacturing operations.

Accelerating Your Digital Journey with Augmentir

Many leading consumer goods manufacturers, including Colgate-Palmolive, have adopted Augmentir to connect their frontline workforce and accelerate their digitization efforts. Augmentir’s AI-based connected worker platform offers connected worker technology with augmented work instructions. Equipped with digital devices that could include tablets, mobile phones, or even AR-enabled industrial smart glasses, frontline workers are able to receive fully augmented, guided instructions on any device to improve productivity, quality and allow workers to perform their jobs more independently. These help guide workers with visual aids, AR/MR experiences, and contextual information.

For example, since the selection of Augmentir in November 2020, Colgate has already seen tremendous progress towards their digital transformation goals and has digitized over 1000 workflows across 10 global plants, resulting in significant value and productivity improvements in maintenance tasks, line changeovers, and shift changes.

Optimizing Worker Performance with AI

Gartner further recommends that consumer goods manufacturers: “Make your focus the creation of a “data-driven” culture in manufacturing operations.” This includes not only integrating factory workforces with their virtual and physical surroundings, but also driving a culture change towards data-driven performance optimization and workforce development.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a key foundation for data-driven transformation within the manufacturing workforce.

As workers become more connected, companies have access to a new rich source of activity, execution, and tribal data, and with proper AI tools can gain insights into areas where the largest improvement opportunities exist. Artificial Intelligence lays a data-driven foundation for continuous improvement in the areas of productivity, quality, and workforce development, setting the stage to address the needs of a constantly changing workforce.

Our view at Augmentir is that the purpose of a connected worker platform isn’t simply to deliver instructions and remote support to a frontline worker, but rather to continually optimize the performance of the connected worker ecosystem. AI is uniquely able to address the fundamental macrotrends of skills variability and the loss of tribal knowledge in the workforce. With an ecosystem of content authors, frontline workers, subject matter experts, operations managers, continuous improvement engineers, and quality specialists, there are dozens of opportunities to improve performance.

Interested in learning more?

If you’d like to learn more about Augmentir and see how our AI-Powered connected worker platform improves safety, quality, and productivity across your workforce, schedule a demo with one of our product experts.

3 Ways Manufacturers are Using Technology to Train, Develop, and Retain Talent

AI-powered technology may be the missing puzzle piece for today’s workforce crisis.

AI-powered technology may be the missing puzzle piece for today’s workforce crisis in manufacturing.

Is it just us or does recruiting, training, and retaining top talent today feel a lot like searching for that one elusive puzzle piece? The seismic shift in the workforce is forcing us to get creative and be adaptable like never before.  It’s a new generation and if we want to be competitive in hiring in this ultra-competitive environment, we need to re-access how we train, develop, and retain talent, embrace the variable nature of the labor market, and meet workers where they are. 

We can no longer try to force-fit the old model of staffing and training into a space that looks drastically different. It’s not just about a labor shortage or the supply chain challenges created by the pandemic. Workers themselves are changing. What they want from work, and how they want to work.

The solution to this head-scratching puzzle? AI-based technology. Digital work instructions and individualized training and on-the-job support can improve productivity, reliability, independence, and safety for every worker. It offers flexibility in scheduling for operations managers. It reduces downtime. All of which contribute to a more efficient – and profitable – operation.

Sound too good to be true? Brace yourselves. It’s not. Here are three ways that AI-powered technology can help.

1. Moving onboarding and training closer to the point of work

Imagine if we could train and develop someone in the context of doing their work, leading to increased engagement and allowing organizations to retain top talent. Furthermore, we could see an increase in productivity as they constantly evolve their learnings.

AI is allowing companies to understand a worker’s skillset and provides the ability for personalized digital work instructions to guide them in the context of work while they are doing their job, whether it’s a new worker or one with dozens of years of experience. With an AI-based onboarding approach, organizations are able to hire a wider range of individuals with varying skill sets and get those individuals productive faster.

2. Give support at the moment of need

Are you a people watcher? We are. Ever take notice of who is on the factory floor? Last time I checked, we got the “newbies” and “veterans”. The variability of the workforce, both skilled and young, proves that there’s not a one size fits all approach to troubleshooting and performance support.

Enter AI.

Give workers the support and guidance they need, at the moment of need, whether it’s immediate access to a digital troubleshooting guide, or connecting virtually with a subject matter expert.  Delivering personalized work procedures for every worker allows for continuous learning and growth.

3. Improve engagement and retention

Workers that are connected and empowered with digital technology can discover and nurture diverse skills based on their unique competencies and experience. They can earn greater responsibility and independence. This increases confidence and job satisfaction. Which in turn can improve employee retention and slow the revolving door of continual recruiting and training. 

The aftermath?

Workers are likely to stay and want to grow in the company when they feel included. Shortly, workers begin walking with poise and a “can-do” attitude to their next job task.

 

What else is possible with AI-powered connected worker technology?

AI-based technology is ideal for training workers in this variable environment. AI-based systems individualize information about workers based on previous training and data-driven performance insights and augments their capabilities. It offers step-by-step guidance at the moment of need for regularly scheduled maintenance as well as troubleshooting. It helps managers learn about workers’ existing skills and build a rationale for specific roles, resources, and certification support and then make clear recommendations based on demands.

Technology should fit into your business as simply as sliding that last puzzle piece into place. Workers are the heart of your business, and you should adapt technology to fit your business, not the other way around.

Technology should fit into your business as simply as sliding that last puzzle piece into place. That includes how you train your workers. But no two workers are exactly alike. Each will learn and approach problems differently. So why not use the technology that recognizes and adapts to those differences to your advantage?

 

To learn more about how Augmentir can help you embrace this opportunity, contact us for a personalized demo.

Stop Panicking About the Skilled Labor Shortage in Manufacturing

Augmentir’s take on the trending Workforce Institute’s staggering survey numbers.

Everyone is talking about it. The skilled labor shortage. It’s not a temporary problem. It’s here to stay. So instead of panicking and trying to use the same old strategies to identify, recruit and retain the increasingly rare skilled and experienced worker, let us present a different way of looking at the labor challenge. Spoiler alert: we see opportunity!

But first, let’s unpack some recent survey findings about the labor market. 

According to a survey by the Workforce Institute, a whopping 87 percent of manufacturers are feeling the ramifications of the shortage of skilled labor, including staff misalignment along the production lines, burnout, and supply chain disruption. 

Finding workers with the right skills, education and certifications can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack–hopeless and painful. The shrinking talent pool is forcing companies to rehire former employees who previously quit with limited skills or individuals with no manufacturing experience; it probably feels like the only viable option for production survival.

Where do you start with this new variable workforce? Standardized training programs? Excel spreadsheets for tracking and monitoring? These methods pose a concern for all workers on your production lines, regardless of their experience or skill set. Who needs what training? Who is responsible for tracking productivity and capturing relevant data? How confident are you in endorsing skills and assigning production teams with limited or imprecise information?

The old way would have led to panic. Today, there’s a better, smarter way. Today’s variable workforce in the manufacturing world is perfectly suited to adopt smart technology that will reduce, if not eliminate, the challenges associated with the labor shortage. Remember that thing we said about opportunity? Here it is.

Stay calm and carry on: smart digital tech can have an immediate and direct impact on learning about and managing worker skills.

Imagine if you could learn about a worker’s skills by tracking their performance in real time, immediately deliver training resources tailored to them based on their proficiency and certifications and then match them confidently to a production team where they’ll make a meaningful contribution. Sound like wishful thinking? It’s not.

Smart connected worker technology can collect data on worker patterns by tracking their performance journeys. It pulls relevant resources from the company inventory to deliver customized training programs. With the right training in place workers are engaged and feel safe while performing tasks. And, your teams are equipped to meet productivity goals.

The labor shortage is just a statistic. A smart connected worker suite is the solution.

Augmentir’s smart connected worker suite closes the gap between training and worker execution. Digitized instruction and skills management programs display and organize workers’ proficiencies based on levels of expertise. AI-driven insights monitor and easily match workers with procedures by assigning skills criteria. This proprietary Smart AI technology intelligently prompts workers for continuous training and accurately identifies appropriate skills endorsements to managers, helping them create better production lines. It’s the only solution of its kind on the market.

Kylene Zenk, Director of the Manufacturing Practice at UKG sees opportunity, too:

“If you can offer training or can tailor a job to meet candidates’ flexible qualifications, filling open headcount becomes more realistic in a tight labor market.”

We couldn’t agree more. Find out more about how and why manufacturers are taking smarter approaches to building a strong talent pipeline with Augmentir. Contact us for a demo today.

Digital Transformation and The Cost of Doing Nothing

Prior to Augmentir, our founding team was involved in founding Wonderware Software in 1987, Lighthammer in 1997, and ThingWorx in 2008. In 2017, we recognized that the technology and market forces were aligned yet again, for a fourth industrial software revolution. A revolution that focused on increasing the productivity and quality of processes involving front-line workers.

Times have changed since 1985 when relying on tribal knowledge was the only option for a frontline worker, and today, via digital transformation efforts, we are lucky enough to have new technologies and resources that enable frontline workers to do their best work in a complex world. Although taking the steps toward digital transformation can seem scary or overwhelming, the longer you wait and “do nothing”, the more difficult it becomes to modernize. Not having the proper resources or being unsure about the digital transformation process are common hesitations for most organizations.

Beginning your digital transformation is like beginning your journey to the gym after a long day. You can come up with a million excuses for not wanting to get your workout and usually, the hardest part is actually taking the first step to get there. But once you’ve started, you never regret it! According to LNS Research, most manufacturing companies have at least begun their digital transformation journey, and for those that have not, the hardest part is just taking the first step.

Here’s what doing nothing is costing you today.

“Doing nothing” is costing you $234,900 every year with 1 changeover

If you could reduce variability in the execution of one changeover you could save 15,660 hours each year.

If the variability in completing a changeover between 2 operators is 1 hour and a changeover is performed 1/day, you are losing 261 hours each year for 1 operator.

Now, let’s look at shifts – if the average variability between A-shift, and B-Shift is +1 hour and C-Shift is +2 hours – with a total of 20 frontline workers on each shift and each operator performing 1 changeover /day the variability in hours relative to A-Shift is equal to 60 hours every day and 15,660 hours each year.

Multiply that times at the national average of $15/technician, over the course of 1 year, “doing nothing” for just 1 task is costing you $234,900 in employee time alone.

Quantify increased throughput, proficiency, productivity, and quality though frontline digital transformation, and there is even more impact!

“Doing Nothing” for manual data entry is costing you $97,875 per year

If you could save 15 minutes per day for an operator by eliminating data entry, after 1 year you would save your employee 3,915 minutes!

Multiply that time across 100 employees at the national average of $15/technician, “doing nothing” is costing you $97,875 per year.

“Doing Nothing” for apprenticeship programs is costing you $5,742,00

The average time for a new unskilled hire in an apprenticeship program is 2 years. If you could reduce the time that the new hire spends in the apprenticeship by 25%, you would save 1,044 hours for each new worker you hire. Reducing apprenticeship time by 50% would save 2,088 hours for each new hire. Reducing apprenticeship by 50% for 50 unskilled new hires would save you 208,800 hours.

Multiplying that time at the national average of $15/hour across 50 new hires, “doing nothing” to reduce a 2 year apprenticeship program by 50% is costing you $1,566,000.

Quantifying the impact on the skilled workers giving their time to the apprenticeship program, at $40/hour across 50 new hires amounts to an additional $4,176,000.

Why not start today?

If increasing proficiency can pave the way towards frontline worker digital transformation and save you the cost of doing nothing, why wouldn’t you start today?

If reducing variability can pave the way towards frontline worker digital transformation and save you the cost of doing nothing, why wouldn’t you start today?

If one simple digital procedure can pave the way towards frontline worker digital transformation and save you the cost of doing nothing, why wouldn’t you start today?

The business impacts of doing something are clear:

  • Accurate Data Entry
  • Job Visibility
  • Execution variability insight
  • Downstream impact
  • Decrease downtime
  • Increase throughput
  • Reduce/ Eliminate training
  • Easily accessible documentation

With the proper AI-powered Connected Worker tools, your workers become more integrated and you gain access to a new rich source of activity, execution, and tribal data that lead to valuable insights into areas where the largest improvement opportunities exist. AI lays a data-driven foundation for continuous improvement in the areas of performance support, training, and workforce development, setting the stage to address the needs of today’s constantly changing workforce.

If you don’t start now, there’s always going to be something that happens in the next 6 months that will also prevent you. This was a trend that was occurring before the pandemic, but the pandemic has accelerated it greatly. There is pressure to keep up with the new normal and the faster you start the better equipped you will be. You could continue to fight this fire with a firehose and keep it at bay, but the fire isn’t going away until you solve the root problem.

You have an opportunity, right now! Older workers are aging out, and you’re working hard to hire new, young, bright, excited workers. These younger workers expect tech. They’ll embrace change. If not now, when?

National Roots Day – A History of Manufacturing Software Innovation

Prior to Augmentir, our founding team was involved in founding Wonderware Software in 1987, Lighthammer in 1997, and ThingWorx in 2008. In 2017, we recognized that the technology and market forces were aligned yet again, for a fourth industrial software revolution. A revolution that focused on increasing the productivity and quality of processes involving front-line workers.

National Roots Day is celebrated on December 23rd as a chance to celebrate one’s history, heritage, and ancestry. It’s often said that a combination of each person on one’s family tree helps to shape them into the person they are today.

At Augmentir, we agree that the past is important, and it has definitely shaped Augmentir into the company it is today. This year, we’re using National Roots Day to reflect on our history and how Augmentir came to be the modern Connected Worker platform that you use and trust today. The Augmentir founding team, Russ Fadel, Phil Huber, and Lawrence Fan, has been at the forefront of the most important software technology revolutions. Prior to Augmentir, our founding team was involved in founding Wonderware Software in 1987, Lighthammer in 1997, and ThingWorx in 2008. 

In 2017, the founders of Augmenir recognized that the technology and market forces were aligned yet again, for a fourth industrial software revolution. A revolution that focused on increasing the productivity and quality of processes involving front-line workers. 

Transforming How Machines Run

In 1987, Wonderware transformed how machines run, with the introduction and mass commercialization of Human-Machine Interface software. Wonderware enabled the first software-based industrial revolution and is still in evidence today by Wonderware’s continued leadership position.

Revolutionizing the Factory Floor

In 1997, Lighthammer transformed manufacturing yet again with the introduction of the first Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence platform. Lighthammer revolutionized the factory floor by bringing both real-time intelligence and live synchronization with the ERP software layer. This enabled the second software-based industrial revolution and is still evidenced today by the ubiquity of this software (currently under the SAP MII brand).

Catalyzing the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

In 2008, ThingWorx catalyzed the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) with the introduction of the first application platform for IIoT. ThingWorx transformed both manufacturing and service, becoming synonymous with Industrie 4.0/Brilliant factory, and Connected Service. This enabled the 3rd software-based industrial revolution and is still evidenced today by the ubiquity of IIoT software and the market leadership of PTC’s ThingWorx brand.

 

Today, at Augmentir, we are continuing this trend of bringing innovative software into the manufacturing sector by focusing on the people that make up such an integral part of the digital transformation equation.

Remote Expert in Field Service – Treating the Cause not the Symptom

As a leader in the connected worker software market, we have experienced the highs and the lows that the pandemic has brought to the industrial frontline worker market. One area that stands out in particular is the equipment field service space. Equipment OEMs typically support the installation, startup, maintenance, and repair of their products through […]

As a leader in the connected worker software market, we have experienced the highs and the lows that the pandemic has brought to the industrial frontline worker market. One area that stands out in particular is the equipment field service space. Equipment OEMs typically support the installation, startup, maintenance, and repair of their products through some combination of a direct service force, a dealer service network, or their customers. This created a real problem when the COVID pandemic spread since the “instructions” available to support these services were designed for technicians who already knew how to perform the work, and much of the equipment was highly sophisticated requiring visits to the customer site.  OEMs had to quickly find a way to project some type of virtual presence or ‘remote expert’ solution, to mimic being on-site as closely as possible. 

This led to a rush to implement either industrial remote expert tools, enterprise collaboration products like Cisco Webex and Microsoft Teams, or consumer products like FaceTime to support field service activities.

While these solutions have been good at providing a short-term band-aid to relieve the symptom, they don’t really address the underlying problem – the lack of rich, interactive workflows that are able to guide technicians with a wide range of skills to perform these tasks safely, correctly, and at an acceptable level of productivity. It’s a similar scenario to taking aspirin to treat a fever from an infection – aspirin may provide short-term relief, but ultimately it masks the presence and reduces the urgency to treat the underlying cause. Without looking forward and taking the next step in the connected worker journey, OEM’s will forever be required to provide 100%, synchronous, live support to make sure these tasks are done correctly and that customers are satisfied.

Achieving Digital Maturity to Reduce Support Costs and Improve Customer Satisfaction 

At Augmentir, we see “Digitally Mature” organizations as those that are continually moving forward on the digital continuum and have the ability to drive continuous improvement through the adoption of tools that help digitally connect their workforce. 

For equipment OEMs, we see digital maturity happening over four stages of the connected worker journey: 

Connected Worker Journey in Field Service

Step 1 – Remote Expert and Assistance

Industrial AR-based remote assistance and remote expert solutions that provide worker guidance and support are a simple first step in the connected worker journey. Designed to be used by field service technicians or customers, these industrial solutions allow companies to provide remote expert support via rich interactive (chat, voice, video) mediums to field techs or customers to solve an immediate need.

Step 2 – Augmented, Guided Instructions 

With a connected workforce, equipment OEMs can drive greater efficiency by digitizing paper-based work instructions and maintenance/repair procedures. Digital work instructions help intelligently guide technicians (or customers) of all skill levels to complete these tasks independently and correctly. 

In this field service scenario, remote expert and assistance plays a supporting role (as it should) to ensure customer satisfaction. Customers have higher satisfaction rates because the work is done on their time schedule and OEMs see a reduction in their direct support costs.  

Step 3 – AI Support Bots

OEMs can drive further service optimization through AI support bots that provide autonomous, digital assistance.

Service technicians that require additional support can benefit from AI bots that autonomously deliver answers to questions, digital content such as drawings, pictures and videos, and rich sets of digital work instructions, to help workers resolve issues and complete the work independently. This allows a portion of customer remote assist requests to be handled autonomously, further increasing customer satisfaction and reducing direct support costs.

Augmentir Remote Assist for Field Service Technicians

Step 4 – AI-based Opportunity Insights

According to LNS Research, as workers become more connected, companies have access to a new rich source of activity, execution, and tribal data, and with proper AI tools, can gain insights into areas where the largest improvement opportunities exist for their service delivery. Artificial Intelligence lays a data-driven foundation for continuous improvement in the areas of productivity, quality, and workforce development, setting the stage to address the needs of a constantly changing workforce.

For example, after Augmentir is deployed for a number of months, our AI engine will start identifying patterns in the data that will allow you to focus your efforts on the areas that have the biggest customer satisfaction, productivity, and field service workforce development opportunities. This will allow you to answer questions such as:

  • Where should I invest to get the biggest improvement in customer satisfaction?
  • What service tasks have the largest productivity or quality opportunity?
  • Where would targeted training give me the biggest return?

Augmentir’s True Opportunity™ engine continuously updates its insights to enable companies to focus on their largest areas of opportunity, enabling you to deliver year over year improvements in key customer service metrics.

What is Your Digital Maturity?

Imagine, as you move forward on your connected worker journey, increasing customer satisfaction while reducing support costs, all while making your service delivery more productive – across your direct staff, dealers, or end customers.

Contact us today to take our digital maturity assessment and start your journey towards a digitally connected enterprise.

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Industrial Manufacturers are Facing a New Normal During COVID-19 and AI-Powered Connected Worker Technology is Here to Help

As Covid-19 changes the nature of work for manufacturing and services companies changes possibly forever, using innovations such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and connected worker technology to transform the enterprise has become more relevant than ever. For industrial companies, improving the safety and productivity of frontline workers in the COVID-19 era and […]

As Covid-19 changes the nature of work for manufacturing and services companies changes possibly forever, using innovations such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and connected worker technology to transform the enterprise has become more relevant than ever.

For industrial companies, improving the safety and productivity of frontline workers in the COVID-19 era and beyond through connected worker technology will be critical to business success and continuity. Tools like remote assistance, augmented work instructions, and knowledge sharing will be crucial to helping these companies transform their operations and continue to support their customers.

COVID-19 is forcing manufacturers to change how they operate
The industrial frontline workforce – skilled technicians, associates and engineers that are performing hands-on jobs in manufacturing, installation, and service – are facing unprecedented times. Already challenged by an aging and retiring workforce and increasing skills gap, a new set of challenges has emerged during this recent pandemic.

While manufacturers aren’t stopping operations because of COVID-19, they are running into major issues as a result of it, including:

  • The need for social distancing
  • Travel limitations and restrictions
  • Disruptions in workforce due to quarantining and shelter in place

You could look at these challenges as temporary, but one of the things that manufacturing and service companies have always relied on is face-to-face visits, in-person training, and “over the shoulder” problem solving to get the job done. However, we may never go back to the day where we can rely on face-to-face interactions to keep operations running.

While temporary measures like social distancing will eventually be lifted, some changes, like remote assistance and instant-skilling, will remain because they enable employees to perform their jobs independently, without requiring in-person assistance. This also cuts down on travel and allows workers to access information they need when and how they need it. Moving forward, industrial companies must focus on:

  • Enabling workers to perform jobs independently
  • Using remote assistance the standard, not face-to-face
  • Being able to instant skill any worker in the workforce to perform any job at any time

The Promise of Industrial AR/MR
Fortunately, manufacturers are turning to emerging digital technologies such as mobile and wearable devices and augmented and mixed reality (AR/MR) that are helping to connect a new generation of workers and allow organizations to proactively deliver the right level of support and guidance. There are several areas where these technologies are changing the manufacturing industry:

  • Training: instead of the classic classroom training, using AR to provide guided assistance to technicians as they work through a manufacturing process
  • Remote Expert Support: helps teach technicians new concepts, hands-on learning and training
  • Complex Assembly: using electronic work instructions and digital overlays to help guide workers through complex assembly procedures – ensuring quality and standardization
  • QA: use digital, AR-generated overlays to verify technicians work and help determine pass/fail on manufactured parts
  • Safety: providing not just safety training but guidance to newer workers as they are performing new tasks, operating new machines, etc.
  • Equipment Maintenance: used to help streamline factory equipment maintenance, repair, and service

But rates of adoptions for these types of technologies are low due to high cost, cumbersome tools, and lack of continuous improvement opportunities. This has resulted in many early adopters stuck in pilot purgatory, unable to scale beyond an initial proof-of-concept, especially during the recent pandemic.

Enter AI
By using artificial intelligence combined with connected worker technology, manufacturers can improve the safety, quality, and productivity of their workforce both during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. At Augmentir, our vision is to use AI to empower each worker to continually do their best work and provide each worker exactly what they need, when they need it, and how they need it to close skills gaps at the moment of need.

Our vision at Augmentir is to transform connected worker technology with AI …

So, what exactly can you do with an AI-powered connected worker platform?

  • Enable independent work – empower your workforce to perform jobs more independently through step-by-step, augmented work instructions
  • “Instant skill” your workforce – use AI-based personalized work instructions that are tailored to each workers proficiency level to help them complete jobs at peak quality and performance
  • On-demand virtual support – Remote expert assistance and collaboration tools that enable remote support and guidance, amplified with AI-bots that accumulate and make available tribal knowledge for real-time virtual assistance.
  • Delivers hands-free operations – Augmentir on industrial smart glasses
  • Use AI to uncover True Opportunity™ – AI Separates “True” from “Raw” Opportunity to help identify areas where the largest improvements can be made

AI is uniquely suited to identifying capturable opportunities from the massive, noisy data set generated by frontline workers, and because of that, it can serve as the foundation for a company’s continuous improvement initiatives.

Another area where AI adds value is in using AI for continuous improvement around training and skilling-up of the workforce.

For instance, AI can identify specific individuals that would benefit from targeted training on a specific tool or procedure as well as improvements to content and instructions directed at the author.

And if you think about it – the possibilities are endless. There are a variety of areas that can be targeted for continuous improvement including the ecosystem of content authors, frontline workers, subject matter experts, operations managers, quality specialists, etc. Along with that, you’ll find dozens of opportunities to continually address the skills gap, improve quality, and improve overall performance.

View the webinar for more information