Worker guidance: making work easier and increasing quality
In the past, worker guidance was usually analog, for example by means of manuals or laminated instruction boards that were displayed at the station or, for tasks with precision requirements, sometimes with large positioning or inspection templates. Due to increased complexity and the growing number of variants in the industry, companies are now increasingly relying on digital worker assistance systems such as dynamic laser and video projection.
What is worker guidance?
A basic distinction can be made between free-order worker guidance with any sequence of work steps and fixed-order processes with a fixed sequence of work instructions. The more complex the latter are, the more steps the worker has to carry out in a specific sequence in an exact order. Many companies therefore already use digital worker guidance in the form of so-called pick-by-light systems or simple screens that display step-by-step instructions at the workstation. For work where the spatial context is important, however, dynamic laser and video projection comes into play: it displays CAD data, work instructions or other important information directly on the part or assembly in the correct position and with precision – even while the part or assembly is moving. In this way, even more complex processes can be mapped by worker assistance systems and high precision ensured.
3 Key benefits in the assembly process:
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Improve quality: Convenient, digital worker guidance ensures that no work step is forgotten. With this solution, companies reduce the risk of errors and increase quality.
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Increase efficiency: With short cycle times or a large number of variants, it is often cumbersome for assembly workers to manually count which hole they need to insert the next plug into, for example, without making a mistake. Digital worker assistance systems significantly speed up these processes.
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Defy skills shortages and fluctuation: The more support the worker management offers the fitter, the less prior knowledge they need. Specific training is no longer absolutely necessary to get started quickly. The intuitive visual guidance also overcomes language barriers. This enables companies to better counter the consequences of the shortage of skilled workers and high fluctuation in the assembly process.
Why worker guidance with EXTEND3D - Part of Atlas Copco Group?
Sustainable cooperation with our customers is very important to us. That’s why we ensure that our worker assistance systems are scalable – even if the production environment changes. We also offer our customers maintenance contracts for software and hardware, which ensure that updates are installed regularly. This is because it is always possible that some systems may need to be migrated to a more up-to-date Windows version or a different CAD format. As part of software maintenance, our specialists ensure that digital worker guidance continues to run stably. At the same time, we ensure downward compatibility so that the solution continues to work with older systems.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions about worker guidance in the industry