Immersive Technology in Manufacturing
Although the entire industry is still striving to promote the development and adoption of fully automatic "turn off" manufacturing systems, a considerable portion of manufacturing activities still require human skills and dexterity. The use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in the manufacturing industry can help humans perform these tasks accurately and efficiently.
Immersive technology has transcended its origins, from novels to mainstream applications now appearing in the real world. The emergence and popularization of smartphones have accelerated the dissemination of these technologies among the public. While attracting global public attention, they have also sparked the interest of businesses, which fully utilize people's fascination with immersive technology. This has led to enterprises developing immersive technologies in customer-centric applications, such as using immersive technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality in digital marketing, which are increasingly being adopted by small and large companies. But now, as freshness gradually fades among consumers, companies are shifting their focus to internal operations and designing the application of these technologies to improve their critical business operations. The application of technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality in the manufacturing industry is an example of the transformation of immersive technology from consumer centric applications to employee and process centric applications. Immersive technology has been proven to be a natural choice for manufacturing processes due to its ability to enhance user visibility and provide them with the right information at the right time, as demonstrated by the implementation of immersive technology by major manufacturers.
The demand for immersive technology in the manufacturing industry
According to Yizhuo Manufacturing, since the introduction of automation and industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), manufacturing processes have become less and less reliant on manual labor. More and more manufacturing factories are committed to the so-called "turn off" manufacturing in industry terminology, which is particularly suitable for fields that require extremely high precision and minimal demand for customization, variation, and inspection. Industries that are meaningful for light out manufacturing include materials and chemical processing plants, refineries, food processing and packaging, and large-scale manufacturing factories for simple products.
However, most products produced today will constantly change with changes in customer demand. Therefore, the manufacturing industry needs to be highly flexible, but equally intolerant of non conformity. Although ultimately, these processes will be automated through the use of general-purpose robots, currently they will require the decision-making abilities of agile human hands and brains. Unlike general-purpose robots with superhuman information processing capabilities, humans are unable to quickly process large amounts of information and therefore cannot make decisions based on all available information. They cannot perceive or see hidden patterns like artificial intelligence systems do, so human workers need to provide assistance in executing different tasks involved in the manufacturing process from initial design to final inspection.
The Application of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in Manufacturing Industry
The adoption of virtual and augmented reality technologies in the manufacturing industry, although still in its early stages, has proven to be a major game changer for manufacturing participants. It greatly contributes to design improvements and helps manufacturing processes become more efficient by increasing worker productivity and factory utilization.
Interactive design
Before producing a product, a lot of planning and design work is usually carried out. Functional product design is the essence of product quality and a key driving force for product value. Manufacturers attach great importance to the correctness of design. Traditionally, designers have been using two-dimensional computer-aided design models to test and attempt products that are essentially three-dimensional. For products that require real-time testing, designers typically use physical prototypes to test the product design. These prototypes are difficult to produce and even more difficult to redesign for experimentation and retesting. In addition to being expensive, it also delays product time to market (TTM) because physical prototypes require multiple model remakes, so each iteration requires time to physically recreate the prototype.
Through virtual reality, designers can conceptualize products in three-dimensional space and test them in a simulated environment until the design is completed. In addition to minimizing the time to market, virtual reality also provides the ability to test products under expected conditions and identify design defects that cannot be highlighted using traditional testing methods. This ensures that the products produced are designed correctly and reduces the likelihood of product recalls and the adverse consequences of other product malfunctions.
Intelligent decision-making
Manufacturing operations require agility to keep up with the constantly changing demands of the market and customers. To achieve this, they need to be able to make quick decisions, but must conduct and analyze available information in detail. However, in order to achieve safe and effective decision-making, the amount of data that needs to be analyzed is too much for decision-makers to easily handle and understand. This can lead to delays in the decision-making process, thereby delaying necessary actions and ultimately achieving the opposite effect of agility. It is becoming increasingly evident that using data visualization can enhance decision-making and ensure that not only can answers to problems be easily found, but new problems that can drive higher performance and further growth can also be discovered.
The use of virtual and augmented reality in manufacturing related data visualization can accelerate the decision-making process at all levels of the manufacturing organization, from high-level strategic decisions to critical operational decisions.
Informed maintenance
Equipment failure is a problem that leads to unexpected production interruptions and requires immediate response from the maintenance team. Sometimes, the maintenance team may not be around and may not be able to restore the equipment to its fully functional state in a timely manner. Visualization of data related to the performance and health of manufacturing equipment can enable maintenance teams to identify equipment health issues that are typically overlooked. Using AR equipment to guide amateur personnel while addressing these issues can ensure the normal operation of production facilities without too much prolonged downtime, greatly improving the utilization rate of factories and equipment.
Quality inspection
According to the preparation of technical documents by Yizhi, quality inspection is an important component of the manufacturing process. When organizations strive to maximize productivity, they also emphasize improving product quality and consistency standards. In order to ensure the high quality of products, in addition to using automated testing methods, human quality inspectors often need to test hundreds of units to discover defective units. Due to personnel limitations, the inspector overlooked minor indicators of non-compliance. By combining augmented reality technology with artificial intelligence and sensor technology, it is possible to elucidate subtle deviations in manufacturing units, thereby achieving higher product quality standards.
Immersive training
For manufacturing employees, on-the-job training is a necessary condition for effectively and effectively fulfilling their responsibilities. This process takes time, and deploying inexperienced new employees to perform critical operations may reduce work quality and even lead to safety issues. Training new employees in virtual reality environments can enable them to gain experience and proficiency in fulfilling their responsibilities without compromising productivity, quality, and safety.
The indispensable role of virtual reality and augmented reality in the manufacturing industry will become a common trend in the coming years, less so than before high-performance and general intelligent robots replace us. However, it is also possible that with the improvement of these and other technologies, it will be easier for humans to participate in manufacturing, as we may not need robots for a long time.