The Trützschler Group is a renowned German manufacturer of textile machinery headquartered in Mönchengladbach. The company operates worldwide and runs ten production sites that manufacture machines, systems and accessories for spinning preparation and for the nonwovens and man-made fiber industries. In addition to its four facilities in Germany, Trützschler also has production facilities in China, India, the USA, Brazil and Switzerland.
The challenge
Supporting Trützschler's service stations with repairs or support requests requires either sending an employee to the site or reviewing a large number of documents to find a solution for each support need. This process is often very time-consuming and costly. AR glasses were therefore to be introduced to optimize the process and improve support through remote maintenance.
For this remote maintenance, it was essential that the person wearing the glasses on site could work on the textile machine with both hands while a remote colleague sees a live image of what the on-site person sees. Using voice, the remote colleague can then give precise instructions on how to carry out each step. The device also needed to be compact and quickly ready for use without requiring much setup, so that introducing the glasses into the workflow would be as straightforward as possible for all employees.
The solution
VR Expert advised the Trützschler Group on its requirements and provided various AR glasses for testing. After consultation and testing of several models, Trützschler opted for the Vuzix Blade 2.
The Vuzix Blade 2 stands out for its compact size and ease of use. Its sunglasses-like shape made it easy to put on, and its intuitive design meant employees quickly accepted it. Another convincing factor was its affordable price compared to other AR glasses. Since the glasses are not used in explosive industrial environments, Atex certification is not required for Trützschler.
When selecting remote maintenance software, Trützschler placed particular importance on the remote employee being able to see the live image seen by the employee on site. This enables effective communication, as the remote employee can describe the necessary steps by voice. Since Teamviewer was already in use at the company and had been successfully implemented, they chose Teamviewer as the software solution for the Vuzix Blade 2.
In addition, VR Expert provided training on the Vuzix Blade 2 and Teamviewer for the senior supervisor of the service stations to ensure that employees fully understood the glasses and their functions before they were used in the workflow. This facilitated the seamless integration of the Vuzix Blade 2 into the process and helped make remote maintenance more efficient.
"The Vuzix Blade 2 is extremely compact and comfortable to carry, which makes it very well suited for quick support. VR Expert proved to be extremely flexible, and their service was outstanding. From the comprehensive advice to the fast delivery, everything was top-notch!"
Eugen Krämer, Head of the Trützschler service stations
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