In recent decades, the focus has been on the digitalization of work processes in traditional office jobs. However, areas such as manufacturing, warehousing and logistics are now following suit. Necessarily so, as around 80% of all employees worldwide work in industrial environments, there is enormous potential to make industrial value chains more efficient.

Teamviewer, a provider of solutions for remote connectivity and the digitalization of work processes, says it wants to proactively help shape the digital transformation of companies. To this end, the company uses technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) - technologies that will become increasingly important in the industrial environment this year.

AR in use for onboarding

In contrast to virtual reality (VR), which creates an immersive virtual environment, AR augments a real situation. AR technology has been in use in some areas for some time. According to Gartner, it has now left the "hype cycle" behind it. This means that it has developed from a "technology under observation" to a "technology in use".

The use of technology is already widespread in employee training. AR makes long text documents superfluous in training and maintenance. As production processes or tasks can be explained very well using videos, 3D animations or drawings, among other things, employees are prepared for working on the machine in a realistic way. A recently published survey by Teamviewer clearly demonstrates the advantages over traditional training. According to the survey, companies that use AR for training purposes are around 2.5 times more likely to achieve their onboarding goals. The greatest benefits are seen in tracking, error reduction, work experience and the ability of employees to remember. Teamviewer therefore expects to see increased use of AR in onboarding, training and development in 2023.

AR in production and quality control

While meetings, communication and documentation in the office have been digitized for years, employees in production or quality control still work with printed manuals and documents. But this is already changing. GlobalFoundries, the largest semiconductor factory in Europe, for example, relies on digital warehouse processes. The implemented software guides the warehouse workers through the entire picking process with clear step-by-step instructions. By displaying the information on the data glasses and thanks to integrated voice control, the workers have both hands free for their actual tasks. The results speak for themselves: by implementing the Teamviewer AR solution Frontline, the company has achieved up to 25% faster execution of warehouse processes. In addition, workplace ergonomics have been improved, the error rate during order picking has been minimized to almost zero and paper waste has been reduced by around 100,000 sheets per year.