The study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering was conducted as part of an implementation project by the SME 4.0 Competence Centre Stuttgart in collaboration with Memex. The aim is to reflect the current use of digital assistance systems in the production environment and also to determine their prospects for the future. Production managers from a total of 144 companies were asked about their expectations as to which assistance systems will become established on their production lines in the future. This refers to techniques and/or technologies designed to help workers adapt to an ever-increasing variety of products as a result of Industry 4.0 and the trend towards "batch size 1".

One of the key findings of the study: almost all respondents see digital assistance systems in the form of visualization being used in companies over the next five years. Almost 95% of participants are even planning to use digital visualizations in their own company.

Rising demand also among providers
Memex has been active in the field of video instruction for 15 years. Over the years, the company has become an established name, particularly in the field of visualization. In the meantime, well-known companies from the mechanical and plant engineering, medical technology and automotive sectors have joined the constantly growing customer base.

One of the product highlights is the "Utility Film", which can be used to visually communicate production processes in a time-saving and comprehensible way. The company has not only technically established this form of instructional video, it also trains companies to create such utility films themselves and integrate them into their respective environments.

The environment can be, for example, the assembly workstation on the store floor or on the production line. "With the Utility Film and the associated web-based platform, we provide users with the best possible support for their upcoming tasks and ensure that processes of any complexity can be carried out error-free from the very first application," says Robert Rothenberger, Managing Director at Memex. Referring to the survey results, he emphasizes: "We have noticed a growing interest in our applications and training courses in recent years, which is now also reflected in the study." This is why a new version of the clip editing software was launched in the fall of 2019. The web-based platform makes it easier to create and manage utility films.

Visualization: More than 90 percent plan with this technology
Showing workers the right methods directly on the production lines with tailored videos - many companies see this as the way forward. According to the study, digital visualization as an assistance system is very popular with the majority of companies. Of the 144 companies surveyed, more than 90 percent plan to use this technology in their companies in the next five years. This is considered particularly useful in the production and assembly divisions. "A strong sign that visual instruction is becoming increasingly important for qualification in times of digitalization," says Rothenberger.