AR in AeroSpace
Big savings, quick ROI materialize for industry with the use of Augmented reality
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SME Media: Karen Haywood Queen – January 30, 2020
Big Savings, Quick ROI materialize as a result of the augmented reality industry
Imagine using tools and content from the augmented reality industry and achieving savings of over a million dollars in just the first day. That’s the example given by Karen Haywood Queen in her comprehensive article for SME Media, in which she describes how ScopeAR, a company helping teams at Lockheed Martin build critical equipment for NASA spacecraft, prevented an engineer from placing the wrong module in a key location — an error that would have destroyed a million-dollar piece of sheet metal. That’s an incredible Return-on-Investment, and that was only the first day of the teams using AR!
Nor is Lockeed Martin alone. Airplane manufacturers around the world have also realized that they can speed up key tasks such as measuring holes in key components of the plane — moving from hundreds of identifications to literally thousands. This may seem trivial, but the reality is doing so can literally triple the amount of airplanes that a company can build — from one a month to three.
The main competitor to AR? Doing it the old way. Scope AR CEO Scott Montgomerie pointed out that organizations are sometimes just more comfortable doing things the way they’ve always done them, even if there’s clear evidence that the augmented reality industry can enhance business operations and drive growth. But when the technicians and engineering staff are seeing things clearly, the ROI provided by AR is as obvious as an image floating in front of your face.
AR has also proven to be easy enough to use that even less tech savvy people can use it — older generations and younger people alike. Therefore, engineers fully deployed on AR in less than 24 hours. People who started using technology from the augmented reality industry early on are definitely reaping the benefits: it’s easier to cut down mistakes because it’s so easy to visualize what actually needs to be done — you’re seeing it literally in front of you, rather than having read or remember complicated text. This is light years from the old world of trying to turn a two dimensional idea into a 3D reality: the ability to communicate and describe the finished object using actual space and dimensions is a game changer.
Incredible Savings for NASA – and the augmented reality industry is only getting started
The article proceeds to describe several more use cases where the augmented reality industry has saved money and enhanced key projects, often supplanting VR with AR (“why not have the real object present, with the annotations and context needed to train the workforce?”) The point is also made that AR is much more immersive; rather than zoning out in the middle of a presentation, people stop checking phones and instead envision how they plan to use what they’re being taught in their day-to-day work.
And finally, the augmented reality industry has had a major impact on careers: people have chosen their next company based upon whether AR is supported, and some have even decided to postpone retirement because they are energized by this new tool in their professional arsenal! Clearly, the adoption of AR is only getting started, and will continue to have a major impact on enterprises worldwide.
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Augmented Reality in Aerospace Reduces Complexity and Training Time While Increasing Accuracy
The Aerospace industry sits on the cutting edge of technology. The components and products developed in this industry must withstand great temperatures, pressures, and forces, all while ensuring the safety of the eventual cargo, especially human passengers. Aerospace manufacturing, therefore, demands extremely accurate build and assembly processes, resulting in equally extreme manufacturing costs and complexity performed by highly trained technicians.
It’s that combination of high complexity, high cost, and need for accuracy that’s brought Augmented Reality technology and applications into the Aerospace industry. Augmented Reality in Aerospace is helping manufacturing teams work smarter, transfer training knowledge faster and more effectively, and increase the speed and accuracy of Aerospace manufacturing. These Augmented Reality solutions are driving time and cost savings that reach into the 90% range — and higher!
For example, Lockheed Martin is using our Augmented Reality in Aerospace vehicles, which can contain thousands of miles of electrical and communication wiring. This then requires hundreds or thousands of fasteners and clips, all with precise attachment points. The process for simply marking the location of these attachment points can take weeks, not to mention the prerequisite training.
We have reduced an eight hour activity to 45 min. An eight shift activity was completed in 6 hours. And with multiple shop floor activities since 2017, would you believe that not a single error has occurred while AR has been in use!?
Shelley Peterson, Lockheed Martin Space
Lockheed Martin is using our Augmented Reality technology to enable both faster and more accurate location of the attachment points. The result? A process that originally required 8 shifts and 2 technicians was reduced, using AR, to just 2.5 hours and a single technician. That’s a touch labor savings of 93%.
Augmented Reality in Aerospace is also reducing the training time for technicians. In a specific drilling application, Augmented Reality lessened ramp-up times by 85%. In another application, our Augmented Reality platform is enabling Aerospace technicians to determine if wiring harnesses are positioned correctly, even after the engine is installed on the aircraft wing. Our Augmented Reality software is also helping speed knowledge transfer and reduce work interruptions by putting contextual information in the technician’s field of view. In an actual scenario, the time to complete an Aerospace torque application process was reduced from 6 weeks to 2 weeks for an ultimate touch labor savings of 50%.
Augmented Reality in Aerospace is helping speed manufacturing processes, even in highly complex applications that used to require extensive ramp-up times. By placing the required information on work surfaces or overlayed on components, technicians can be more efficient and more accurate even with less training. This increased accuracy of Augmented Reality applications then reduces risk, increases safety, and lowers the overall cost of production.
The complexity inherent in Aerospace manufacturing is ideally suited for Augmented Reality solutions, and Scope AR is ideally suited for your Aerospace applications.
To learn more, read The Ultimate Guide to Enterprise AR ebook
