Manufacturing may well be the vertical where Augmented Reality (AR) is currently being used and accepted most frequently. That’s not surprising if you consider that so much of the manufacturing process requires a lot of training, engineering and documentation. AR is already assisting production lines to create faster, more up-to-date processes that in the end lead to increased efficiencies and better ROI.

According to Statista, an online statistics and business intelligence platform, the use of AR in conjunction with VR in the manufacturing sector has grown from $5 billion in 2016 to $29.5 billion in 2019. Manufacturers and their employees are embracing the new technologies as evidenced in the 2018 IDC study of AR Use Cases. In that study, 82% of those surveyed responded positively to the use of AR in the manufacturing process.

We’ve already talked about training with the use of AR–and that’s still a large part of the manufacturing use case. According to the IDC May 2018 study, production line training is still the number one reason manufacturers are using AR and for the following reasons:

• Increased efficiencies and safety
• Improved training (hands-free) and easier knowledge transfer
• Better collaboration
• Easier remote training with lower travel costs
• Up-to-date documentation

But there are other compelling reasons to adopt AR as part of the manufacturing process, including:

• Greater team collaboration for product line planning
• Assisting with product design
• Faster, more economical product iteration for increased manufacturing efficiency and improved product quality

With the help of AR, product planning teams can address the aesthetics and functionality of a product. Designers, product engineers and other team members will have greater insight with a 3D visual of the proposed product. Multiple prototypes can be created virtually, viewed, tested and analyzed in real-time in real-world situations, from anywhere. The result is a product with improved design and optimized functionality created with fewer iterations–at a lower cost for a positive ROI.

Are you ready to talk about how AR can improve your business processes? Whatever your use case may be, call 800-803-1050 or Contact Us to see how easy it is to get your business AR ready. We are enabling digital transformation for everyday business.