FEATURE AI, AR & VR
The future of frontline work is in guided digital workfl ows
Intoware’s CEO, Keith Tilley, explains how assisted reality and digital technologies are connecting and empowering the industrial workforce
E
stimated to make up approximately 80% of the workforce, frontline workers are the employees that are not
confi ned to a desk for the majority of their working day – these are our fi eld engineers, assembly line workers and off shore technicians that provide the very backbone to many businesses that have simply been forgotten in the new digital era.
Why digitise? A lot of communication between frontline workers and their supervisors is unstructured with paper trails, tick lists, text messages or even WhatsApp being used to fi ll the gap. This can mean insuffi cient reporting, lack of transparency and, ultimately, poor productivity. In other words, 80% of the workforce faces the challenge of ineff ective communication with colleagues and their supervisors, where they can’t fully complete tasks to the highest standard. This is where digitalisation delivers, as to enable frontline workers to be more productive and make on-the-spot decisions, businesses need to replace out-of-date manual processes. They must instead digitise all communication and operational processes. But, how to digitise when frontline workers don’t even have access to a computer? The latest assisted-reality headsets from our partner RealWear when combined with digital work instructions provide an eff ective solution to productivity and give frontline workers access to the tools they need to speed up productivity. Assisted-reality solutions give workers instant access to the right information when needed, unlike augmented reality, it’s ‘reality fi rst, digital second’ experience. This means users can view a screen with immediate fi eld of vision, hands-free, making it ideal for industrial environments where workers need to stay safe around workplace hazards.
10 July/August 2021 | Automation
Skills first
These technologies can also help address the problem of disengaged employees, which costs the UK economy £340bn every year in lost training and recruitment costs, sick days, productivity, creativity and innovation.
It’s important then that when digital
programmes are adopted that skills and training are not overlooked. Businesses are increasingly moving towards more engaging, interactive, video-based learning. Millennials and Generation Z are tech-savvy and they don’t like learning with physical manuals or clipboards. In industrial settings, assisted-reality devices integrated with digital workfl ow software are attached to safety helmets enabling hands-free, voice-controlled access for trainees who are learning on the job. By keeping fi eld of view completely unobscured, these technologies provide a safer environment in which workers can easily use voice commands to watch short training videos, access manuals, view mechanical drawings, look up spare parts and access other materials critical for the training – even in high-noise environments. Assisted reality head-up displays (HUDs) can be as powerful, if not more than a tablet computer, and can
appear as though the worker is looking at a 7-inch display. A front-facing camera can be used for video calls and show a remote expert any problems that a trainee experiences.
This is welcome news, given that many traditional industries are at a critical stage in which the adoption of digital technology is accelerating, the volume of data is growing and the competition for new talent inevitably increases. The reality of maintaining frontline services during the pandemic and beyond remains an evolving situation. As workers practice social distancing and the task of maintaining essential assets becomes ever more challenging – digitalisation, assisted reality, AI and data analytics are a real game-changer that can keep workers safe and deliver improved cost effi ciencies as well as job satisfaction. More on this subject is available at Intoware’s new white paper, ‘The future of the frontline workplace is digital’; see below for access.
CONTACT:
Intoware
https://www.intoware.com/real- wear-white-paper
automationmagazine.co.uk
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