Immersive Technology in Manufacturing

While industry-wide efforts continue to drive the development and adoption of fully automated "lights out" manufacturing systems, a significant portion of the activities involved in manufacturing still require human skill and dexterity. The use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in manufacturing can help humans perform these tasks with precision and accuracy.

Immersive technologies have transcended their origins, from works of fiction to mainstream applications now appearing in the real world. The advent and popularization of smartphones has accelerated the spread of these technologies among the public. While attracting the attention of the global public, they have also attracted the interest of businesses that have capitalized on the fascination with immersive technologies. This has led to the development of immersive technologies in customer-centric applications, such as the use of immersive technologies in digital marketing, i.e., virtual reality and augmented reality, which are increasingly being adopted by companies large and small. But now, as the novelty begins to wear off among consumers, organizations are turning their attention inward and designing applications of these technologies to improve their critical business operations. The use of technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality in the manufacturing industry is an example of the shift in immersive technologies from consumer-centered applications to employee- and process-centered applications. Immersive technologies are proving to be a natural fit for manufacturing processes due to their ability to enhance user visibility into processes and provide them with the right information at the right time, as demonstrated by the implementation of immersive technologies by major manufacturers.

Manufacturing's need for immersive technology

According to SEED Manufacturing, since the introduction of automation and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), manufacturing processes are relying less and less on manual labor. More and more manufacturing facilities are working towards what is known in industry jargon as "lights out" manufacturing, which is particularly suited to areas that require extremely high precision and little need for customization, variation, and inspection. Industries where lights-out manufacturing makes sense include materials and chemical processing plants, oil refineries, food processing and packaging, and mass manufacturing plants for simple products.

However, most products manufactured today are constantly changing as customer needs evolve. As a result, the manufacturing industry needs to be highly flexible, but equally, if not more so, intolerant of non-conformity. While eventually these processes will be automated through the use of general-purpose robots, for now they will require the dexterity of the human hand and the decision-making power of the human brain. Unlike general-purpose robots, which have superhuman information-processing capabilities, humans cannot process large amounts of information quickly and therefore cannot make decisions based on all the available information. They cannot perceive or see hidden patterns as well as AI-based systems, so human workers will need help in performing the different tasks involved in the manufacturing process, from initial design to final inspection.

Virtual and Augmented Reality in the Manufacturing Industry

The adoption of virtual and augmented reality in manufacturing, though still in its infancy, has proven to be a major game changer for manufacturing participants. It has helped the manufacturing process become more by increasing worker productivity and factory utilization, and even contributing to design improvements.

Interactive Design

A great deal of planning and design work usually precedes the production of a product. Functional product design is the essence of product quality and a key driver of product value, and manufacturers place great importance on getting it right. Traditionally, designers have been using 2D computer-aided design models to test and try out products that are essentially 3D. For products that must be tested in real time, designers typically use physical prototypes to test product designs. These prototypes are difficult to create and even more difficult to redesign for experimentation and retesting. In addition to being expensive, it slows down time-to-market (TTM) because physical prototypes require multiple re-models, so each iteration requires time to physically recreate the prototype.

With virtual reality, designers can conceptualize products in 3D space and test those products in a simulated environment until the design is complete. In addition to minimizing time to market, virtual reality provides the ability to test products under expected conditions and identify design flaws that cannot be highlighted using traditional testing methods. This ensures that the products produced are as designed and minimizes the likelihood of product recalls and other adverse consequences of product failure.

Intelligent Decision Making

Manufacturing operations need to be agile to keep up with the changing needs of the market and customers. To achieve this, they need to be able to make decisions quickly, but only if the available information is analyzed and in detail. However, the amount of data that needs to be analyzed for safe and effective decision making is too much for decision makers to easily process and understand. This can lead to delays in the decision-making process, thus delaying necessary operations and ultimately achieving the opposite of agility. It is becoming increasingly clear that the use of data visualization enhances executive decision making and ensures that not only can answers to questions be easily found, but that new questions that can drive higher performance and further growth can also be identified.

The use of virtual and augmented reality in manufacturing-related data visualization can accelerate the decision-making process at all levels of a manufacturing organization, from high-level strategic decisions to critical operational decisions.

Informed Maintenance

Equipment failure is an issue that causes unplanned interruptions to production and requires an immediate response from the maintenance team. At times, the maintenance team may not be around to restore the equipment to a fully functional state in a timely manner. Visualizing data related to the performance and health of manufacturing equipment can enable maintenance teams to identify equipment health issues that typically go unnoticed. Using AR equipment to guide amateurs while resolving these issues can ensure that manufacturing facilities are up and running without too much extended downtime, and greater plant and equipment utilization.

Quality Inspection

According to SEED Technical Documentation, quality inspection is an important part of the manufacturing process. As organizations strive for greater productivity, they also emphasize improving the quality and consistency standards of their products. In order to ensure high product quality, human quality inspectors often have to inspect hundreds of units to find defective units, in addition to using automated inspection methods. Due to staffing constraints, this results in inspectors missing subtle indicators of nonconformity. Using augmented reality in conjunction with artificial intelligence and sensor technology, even subtle deviations on manufacturing cells can be elucidated, leading to higher product quality standards.

Immersive Training

For manufacturing employees, on-the-job training is necessary to perform their duties effectively and efficiently. This process takes time, and deploying inexperienced new employees to perform critical operations can reduce the quality of work and even lead to safety issues. Training new employees in a virtual reality environment allows them to gain experience and proficiency in performing their duties without compromising productivity, quality and safety.

The indispensability of virtual reality and augmented reality in manufacturing will become a common trend in the coming years, less so before high-performance and generally intelligent robots replace us. However, it is also possible that as these and other technologies improve to make it easier for humans to participate in manufacturing, we may not need robots for a long time after all.