Efficient Plant March 2020 - 24

department | on the floor

is becoming an everyday experience and will
eventually become commonplace in industrial applications.
I've been looking for affordable,
easily implemented, and practical AR
applications. The technologies exist,
but it's been rather challenging to
assemble the correct people to develop
the content and experience/learn from
early failures and usability shortfalls.
Those steps must occur before we are able
to scale up the technology at reasonable costs.
Several large companies are spending significant money to eventually end up with a workable
solution. Some of them are seeing the benefits in
operations and maintenance.
I am going to focus primarily on the maintenance
opportunities of AR. There are several potential
benefits, including reducing human error, faster jobtask learning, shortened repair time, increased use
of knowledge to enable more precision maintenance,
and regulation compliance. This will lead to reducing breakdowns/increasing uptime, which results in
lower costs and better return on investment.
The challenge is to develop "plant-floor-friendly
and affordable" AR applications that enable such
things as:
Real-time access to safety reminders, breakdown
data, maintenance manuals, and step-by-step repair
instructions
Proper disassembly and assembly steps
Mapping out and inspecting assets
Receiving and closing out work orders
Assistance in finding issues and suggestions for
potential fixes
Being able to accurately document work performed, and track parts used and on what assets
Checklists and where/how to look for potential
condition-based issues
Easy remote assistance when needed and for
training
Improved safety practices overall (but making
sure that wearing goggles does not become a safety
issue).

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EP2003onthefloor.indd 24

In the short run, and because of cost effectiveness,
I anticipate more use of smart mobile devices, likely
in combination with some wearables. According
to a 2018 Statista survey, "smartphone-based VR/
AR (virtual reality/augmented reality) devices were
used by 77% of the respondents in the United States"
(https://www.statista.com/statistics/830508/us-virtual-augmented-reality-users-by-device/). However,
the complexity of today's machinery, equipment, and
controls will, at some point, require some type of
headset or smart glasses for hands-free use to allow
the necessary level of intervention.
Another related term that you'll be hearing more
often is human augmentation (or Human 2.0), which
is the use of technology to enhance a person's cognitive and physical experiences. This can be something
on the body or inside the body, i.e., wearable devices
that sense whether you're falling asleep while driving
or working heavy equipment on long nightshifts.
Human 2.0 also has many obvious medical benefits, such as aiding vision and perception, prosthetics,
strength-increasing gloves, and exoskeletons. AR
and wearable technology, interacting with each other
and the internet, is all about human augmentation.
This also touches on many areas of human factors/
ergonomics.
The organizations that understand how instilling
a robust reliability and maintenance (R&M) culture
and process can contribute to achieving a highly efficient and effective operation will have a competitive
advantage. Proper implementation of R&M best practices typically results in better safety, greater uptime/
throughput, improved quality by reducing variation,
and lower costs. By planning for and integrating AR
with maintenance technologies and practices, the
current R&M benefits can be further improved. EP

Based in Knoxville, Klaus M. Blache is director
of the Reliability & Maintainability Center
at the Univ. of Tennessee, and a research
professor in the College of Engineering.
Contact him at kblache@utk.edu.

MARCH 2020

2/18/20 3:27 PM

https://www.statista.com/statistics/830508/us-virtual-augmented-reality-users-by-device/ http://www.EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM

Efficient Plant March 2020

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