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3 Ways Augmented Reality Advances Assembly Operations

3 Ways Augmented Reality Advances Assembly Operations

3 Ways Augmented Reality Advances Assembly Operations

As part of Solutions Review’s Contributed Content Series—a collection of articles written by industry thought leaders in maturing software categories—Wendy Mlynarek, the Strategic Business Development and Marketing Director at DELMIA, explains how augmented reality (AR) technologies can improve your assembly operations.

Despite its potential, it’s not uncommon for augmented reality (AR) to be left out of conversations around manufacturing assembly lines. This is unfortunate because, during the assembly phases, products and equipment are increasingly complex and subject to variable configurations. These complexities can be difficult for operators to grasp, and current methods are either unavailable or not easy enough to handle, reinforcing the difficulty of assembly operations. 

Work assembly documentation is often in paper format and is not always readable, easy to maintain, or updated. Moreover, complex assemblies can be challenging to understand, and the risks of errors due to wrong interpretations are high. Thus, it contributes to increased cycle times and potential non-conformities and does not support an efficient rise in your operators’ skills or good traceability. 

The challenges these issues can create include: 

  • Time-consuming preparation timelines before and after execution
  • Risk of errors due to misinterpretation of tasks
  • Complex increase in the competence of operators

Therefore, industries face productivity and quality issues in the context of a shortage of qualified technicians in specific sectors. However, there are effective ways to meet these challenges, including technologies and software based on industrial augmented reality. 

How Augmented Reality Transforms Assembly Lines


Using AR in your factory brings many advantages that can lead to almost immediate ROI when deployed on the production line and in the proper use cases. For example, replacing your paper-based work instructions with AR-based 3D sheets allows you to solve many problems at different levels. 

Here’s how: 

  • Digitize your assembly instructions and then project them directly onto the surface to be assembled via a projection system and a camera. This gives you access to the correct information—at the right place and time—to capture everything happening in real-time. 
  • Deploy a solution composed of an industrial camera on a table that will display instructions on a screen to guide your assembly operations on individual parts and make them more reliable. 
  • Display digital instruction sheets via a tablet or equip your operators with connected glasses such as hololens. 

These technologies allow the information to be displayed directly on the element assembled in real-time so that the work information appears in the right place. 

1) Accompany the Operators in Their Assembly Tasks 

With these solutions, you can efficiently guide your operators throughout their complex assembly tasks by overlaying work instructions in digital format directly on the product/equipment to be assembled. As a result, you can say goodbye to the paper sheets and welcome digital and contextualized work instruction.

The work performed by the operator during preparation, assembly, or machining procedures on complex equipment becomes intuitive, and technicians become more autonomous and achieve the “first time right” in short cycle times. The information displayed in RA can be so precise on the location of elements that it reduces the risk of error during assembly and improves your production’s quality. 

2) Accelerate the Development of Technician Skills 

Let’s go back to our paper-based work instructions. When a new operator arrives in your factory and has to handle workflows for the first time, chances are that he will be quickly overwhelmed because of their complexity. As a result, you have a higher risk of human error and a long and time-consuming learning curve for your teams. 

Augmented reality technology will allow your operators to follow step-by-step work instructions in the field for each assembly task. For example, paint paths can be projected directly onto the surface to guide operators during painting activities in a guidance operation for painting operations. In addition, these instructions can be adapted to allow a perfect understanding of the operators: color code, drawings, and pictures.

In other words, getting to grips with the processes is simplified and boosts the skills of your operators. 

3) Improve the Working Comfort of Your Operators 

Finally, an AR solution integrated into your teams’ work environment can allow assembly operators to perform their tasks in a more intuitive and user-friendly way—even completely hands-free when the chosen hardware device allows so. You can use a projection system or HoloLens to do this. Still, above all, you should select the equipment best suited to the ergonomics/environment of the workstation that will host the augmented reality solution. 

For example, in the case of an assembly on a large flat panel with multiple elements to be mounted, the most suitable solution would be a projection system that displays the steps to follow directly on the structure.  As you select the instructions to be displayed according to the operation, you can also include important safety information to reinforce it, as safety is a crucial issue in production sites. 

Examples of AR Use Cases In a Production Context 

There are many use cases where AR can bring value in a production context in an industry, such as: 

  • Production of large flat surfaces 
  • Assembly of fasteners on complex equipment 
  • Replacement of paper templates 
  • Assembly in a pre-production context 
  • Cables and harnesses positioning 

The Benefits of AR on Your Industrial Assembly Line 

In light of everything you have just read, remember that augmented reality technology in a manufacturing context can help achieve operational excellence and respond to the many challenges you may face. The list is not exhaustive, but with AR technology you can: 

  • Reach “first time right” 
  • Reduce your cycle and preparation times 
  • Accelerate the development of operators’ skills 
  • Reduce the error rate 
  • Significantly increase the production rate 

 

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