Engineering changes in manufacturing systems supported by AR/VR collaboration

Abstract

Various triggers in manufacturing operations lead to engineering changes, such as the conversion of a machine or changes in the factory layout. In companies, the priority is often to avoid engineering changes as they are time-intensive and lead to change costs. If changes cannot be avoided, the implementation must be simplified and accelerated as much as possible. This can be achieved through structured, efficient change processes, which are specifically supported by methods and tools. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) show great potential to facilitate processes and to improve collaboration in the context of engineering changes. By combining these methods and tools, the implementation time of engineering changes can be shortened, and the likelihood of cost-intense planning errors can be reduced. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to present an approach which identifies whether AR and VR are suitable to support the engineering change process steps. The goal is to support the process of recording the current layout, identifying machines, determining the material flow, and visualizing this information and thereby simplify and accelerate the engineering change process. Furthermore, potential collaborations between AR and VR in each engineering change process are identified and described.