Mixed reality technologies open new vistas for maintenance technicians

22 August, 2017

While SKF’s main focus is on the installation and maintenance of mechanical and electromechanical rotating machinery, mixed reality solutions are equally applicable to the maintenance and installation of fluid power transmission systems, particularly with regard to the installation and maintenance of seals, an area in which SKF has invested heavily and gained considerable expertise. For fluid power installations, so long as the appropriate documentation can be overlaid and a suitably qualified, remote systems expert deployed, then there is no reason why SKF’s augmented and mixed reality solutions cannot be used by applications and maintenance operatives in this sector.

Natural next step

“SKF has been at the heart of rotating equipment performance since 1907,” said Peverill. “We were one of the first companies to industrialise and develop condition monitoring solutions and we have also been leading the development of sensor-equipped bearings. For us, developing augmented reality solutions is a natural next step in our digital journey. However, many of our development partners saw us as a traditional ‘steel and grease’ bearing company. Positioning ourselves as a software development company, as well, was a key challenge for us to overcome.”

Peverill comments that having access to an SKF application engineer or service technician on-demand and in real-time is easily facilitated for those located close to an SKF Solution Factory. However, as most of SKF's customers are based in remote locations, the task is to give them at least the same level of access to the company's large pool of knowhow where and whenever it is needed – and augmented reality is the way forward here.

Peverill concludes: “In many ways, augmented reality tools are an enabler. For our customers, they enable access to large amounts of data in an aggregated form that allows for smarter and quicker decision making. For SKF, they enable a closer, more efficient working relationship with our customers, and gives us the ability to do more with the data that we are able to generate through the use of these tools.”

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