Airbus and Boeing (AREA member) both had booming 2017s in terms of deliveries and orders.

The world’s largest aerospace manufacturers – Airbus and Boeing – both had booming 2017s in terms of deliveries and orders.

Airbus received 1,109 orders and delivered 718 finished aircraft. Boeing received 912 orders but managed to deliver 763 finished aircraft (an industry record).

Yet, their backlog of orders continues to rise –7,265 for Airbus, and 5,864 for Boeing. The exponential growth in aerospace is happening at the same time that demand for lighter, more efficient aircraft has never been higher.

“OEMs are having to deliver an ever-increasing number of aircraft from their mostly existing and aging facilities,” noted Scharlock. “With Airbus and Boeing both targeting double-digital profit growth, we are seeing them invest heavily in new production systems and digitally-connected supply chains.

“Quality benchmarks have to be achieved right-first-time as they can’t afford to operate with high non-conformance rates; which requires complete control of production, materials, suppliers and processes.”

The forerunners of the global manufacturing race all demonstrate four characteristics, according to Scharlock:

End-to-end digital integration of their engineering across the value chain

Vertical integration and network manufacturing systems

Horizontal integration across their entire operation

Humans are at the centre, helping to shape and direct the value chain

Scharlock offered a case study with Airbus as a real-world example of this in action.

Working with Dassault Systèmes and the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University at the 3DEXPERIENCE Center Wichita, Airbus chose a project that could not only revolutionise a critical aircraft component for its business and that of its competitors, but also change the speed of Airbus product innovation.

Airbus sought to develop a prototype of a thrust reverser unit (TRU), a component that slows down an aircraft upon landing. It wanted to simplify the design and improve its efficiency in record time.

While this type of development project would normally take 18-24 months, Airbus set a goal to complete the work in a focused 90-day ‘sprint.’

Leveraging the Innovation Center allowed the team to take advantage of its unique capabilities, including one of the world’s largest flex caves, a cutting-edge Multi-Robotics Advanced Manufacturing (MRAM) cell, and robust additive manufacturing and reverse engineering capabilities.

Trained on using the full capabilities of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform for three weeks, the team and multiple partners and suppliers worked concurrently to deliver the project in just 12 weeks.

Team members stayed in sync through a common project dashboard and conducted design reviews through the platform. In just 84 days, the joint team was able to accelerate new system development from concept to full-scale functioning prototype.

In the past, components went through cycles of physical testing and fine-tuning. With co-simulation, working on a single platform, and rapid prototyping, teams from across the globe could use the virtual world to collaborate together to ensure a finished product that came out right the first time.

“The Airbus TRU project provides a tangible example of what the industry renaissance can mean to the aerospace industry. This new age brings the benefits of new ways of inventing, learning, producing and trading that result in an acceleration of innovation which will transform the next century of flight,” concluded Scharlock.

To read the full article please see here.

This is excellent news for the company and demonstrates enterprise commitment to augmented reality.

XMReality has signed a third order to improve the service operations for an US defense company.

The order includes XMReality Remote Guidance™ software, XMReality PointPad™ and AR glasses with a value of approx. 0,5 MSEK and revenues will be recognized during 2018 and 2019. Including this order, the total order intake from this customer for the previous 12 months amounts to approx. 1,7 MSEK.

The initial order from the company was signed December 2017 and included XMReality Remote Guidance software, XMReality PointPad and AR glasses to a value of approx. 0,6 MSEK. This was followed up in July 2018 with additional software of a value of approx. 0,6 MSEK.

Further info: see XMReality’s AREA member profile and their company website.

Some of the key concepts from the article include:

Training and certification through AR pays for the creation of content in a new way but delivers savings straight to the bottom line.

There are a broad number of use cases here, but it boils down to saving money, saving time and improving safety:

• Knowledge transfer
• Empowering new works
• Save on travel costs
• Mitigate risk

The value of AR is directly tied to its ability to impact human workforce experience and performance and the three critical questions to ask before adopting AR pilots.

A good example of a real-world recent application of AR in supply chain is in warehouse picking and packing. A number of major companies have seen significant improvement in order fulfilment by as much 30% to 40%, providing warehouse workers with optimized vision picking directions and locations in line of sight.

We spoke to Stephen Tulip, Membership Development Manager – South West, who said:

“I’m delighted to announce that EEF has joined the Augmented Reality for Enterprise Alliance (AREA).

The adoption of AR technology is crucial to the progress of the 4th Industrial Revolution.  I’m really looking forward to working with AREA and its members to demonstrate the benefits of Augmented Reality to manufacturing businesses.

From revolutionising training to doing away with bulky instruction manuals, businesses are already seeing real increases in productivity from this emerging technology.”

About EEF:

Everything we do, from business support to championing manufacturing and engineering in the UK and the EU, is designed to help our industry thrive, innovate and compete locally and globally. We work with and for a whole range of people, including industry leaders, managers, professional staff, apprentices, policy-makers, and the media. No matter their size or field, EEF members are supported by our array of tools, campaigning and business support services. We believe in UK manufacturing and its contribution to the economy and community.

We’ll be publishing more news soon about benefits for members of our partnership and about collaborative events coming up.  Look out for details!

AR Case Study

When SmithGroup took on the design of a new headquarters building in Washington, DC, the project’s unique site required an innovative approach. We designed a continuously curvilinear building with a facade broken down into four-foot modules, each calibrated precisely to the site using a computational methodology that takes into account facade energy performance, as well as views, viewshed and constructability.

With the new headquarters nearing completion—construction is expected to finish later this year—we needed a similarly innovative approach to complete the project’s construction administration phase.

A traditional process for construction administration review of the building’s new facade would involve an architect on site with a 2D, flattened elevation. The architect would have to interpret a 2D drawing of the building and choose an alignment point—perhaps the intersection between glass and metal panel on the 2nd floor— from which they could attempt to count approximately 200 panels per floor and verify their correct construction type against the elevation. Not only is this technique hugely laborious and imprecise, it is flawed in its logic. If the transition between curtain wall and metal panel on the 2nd floor was installed at the wrong location, there is no way to verify that the entire facade has not shifted one unit over, therefore nullifying the precise process that calibrated each building panel.

To avoid the pitfalls of a traditional process when it came time for construction administration, the project team looked to our internal Technology in Practice group—a firm-wide team that specializes in technological applications that range from data analytics to computational design methodologies and how to best utilize BIM. The group helped eliminate inefficiencies in the headquarters’ quality control process by developing an AR workflow that takes advantage of the architectural design model, overlaying digital panel tags on top of the installed building skin. The design model is three-dimensional, and by anchoring the model to a site survey point, individual identification tags appear to be fastened to the exterior face of their corresponding panel when walking the site with a Microsoft HoloLens.

Using AR, vital construction data can be transferred instantaneously from the design model to the augmented reality overlay. This enables visual surveys to provide quick, precise quality control. If a panel is found to be incorrectly placed, a simple click brings up the identification number of that panel, its correct panel type, and its precise X,Y, and Z coordinates for placement.

“We pushed the boundaries of design technology to create a solution that was functional, beautiful, and uniquely site specific,” said SmithGroup Design Director Sven Shockey. “AR has allowed us to streamline our construction administration process to ensure that every bit of labor and ingenuity that went into the design process shows in the final result.”

See the full article for more information including the future of augmented reality.

Whilst this is not directly related to AR in the enterprise, this surely represents a huge step forward in widespread understanding and availability about AR wearables in general.

The article claims the North are aiming to beat competition by introducing the technology slowly and keep devices as unobtrusive as possible.

A 3D model of the customer’s head is made via cameras in a booth; there is also an optometrist consultation.

Early adopters will need to visit one of the retail stores.

Functions of the new smartglasses are similar to those on a smartphone and can be viewed on the original article here.

The technology projects 2D, 3D and 4D images of patients interactively by overlaying them onto the patient’s body, according to a Novarad press release published Oct. 24.

OpenSight specifically utilizes the Microsoft HoloLens headset that allows simultaneous visualization of the 3D patient images in AR and the actual patient and their real-world surroundings. The technique may decrease operative times and improve surgical planning and the understanding of anatomic relationships.

“This is transformative technology that will unite preoperative imaging with augmented reality to improve the precision, speed and safety of medical procedures,” Wendell Gibby, MD, Novarad CEO and co-creator of OpenSight, said in the release. “This internal visualization can now be achieved without the surgeon ever making an incision, improving outcomes in a world of more precise medicine.”

The technology also allows for a multi-user experience, as multiple HoloLens headsets can be worn among users for training or clinical purposes. A teaching version of the software is also available for medical students to perform virtual dissections on cadavers, according to the press release.

Augmented reality (AR) is quickly becoming mainstream as enterprises including Boeing, Caterpillar and others are seeing the benefits of using AR to transform their field operations.

The maturing and integration of smart glasses, wireless communication, mobile devices and augmented reality software is opening up new solutions to age-old problems that utility operations managers and their field crews encounter every day, such as:

–          An expansive set of field assets that make it difficult for field technicians to be experts with all equipment, increasing maintenance time and exposing potential safety challenges

–          Lack of time and qualified inspectors to complete the number of required inspections

–          Safety risks due to lack of experience with the broad array of tools and assets

–          Pressure to reduce costs while improving restoration times

–          Inability to easily record field work for further evaluation, inspection, and training

–          Loss of institutional knowledge due to retirements or attrition.

Other discussion topics within the article:

• How does the integration of emerging technologies, centred around AR, solve these issues?
• What an ideal solution should offer
• Integration
• Supportability
• Security
• How to successfully implement the solution

The worker pictured wears the HMT-1 helmet by RealWear, one of our alliance members at The AREA.

Key points of the article:

• Previous suggestions for schools: modernize training technology; reinforce partnerships with industry; propose new alternative curricula; and ensure recurrent training for instructors
• Advice is given for in-person training conferences for maintenance training personnel and the types of content covered on these courses
• VR has been spoken about for over a decade in terms of training but now it’s live and real I selected maintenance training applications – case studies are given from various aviation training organizations
• Exmaples of how Augmented Reality is used in aviation training are given including widnshielfs with heads up digital messages, smart glasses for maintenance training, and simple handheld devices to obtain maintenance instructions as well as telephone based AR.
• The author discusses the influencing factors on training technology and its impact

The author concludes by stating:

“As I participated in the Asia Pacific Aviation Training Symposium, it dawned on me that the justifications for advanced technology training have been consistent and true for decades. Training technology evolves as an enhanced substitute for the real equipment and the real world. Compared to live equipment simulation and computer-based training, including VR and AR, VR is the better alternative. It wins on comparisons of cost, speed, effectiveness, availability, reliability, learner safety, and more. I feel confident in that positive trend.”

This year, the event challenges its guests to take a step back from the hype around XR and get to the core of what’s really happening in the industry; where the biggest opportunities lie and what’s really holding immersive tech back from greater adoption.

The full line-up has been announced, with a who’s-who of VR and AR innovators from across both consumer and enterprise, taking their place throughout the programme.

Just some of the 90+ speakers include:

Pearly Chen, Chief of Staff to CEO & Director of Vive X, HTC

Tim Bates, IT Fellow, Immersive Technologies Strategy, General Motors

Steven Kan, Head of Global AR/VR Strategy, Google

Curtis Hickman, CCO & Founder, The VOID

Timoni West, Director of XR Research, Unity

Lee Burrell, Director of BD – Automotive, Engineering & Manufacturing, DHL

Ted Schilowitz, Futurist in Residence, Paramount Pictures

John Canning, Executive Producer, Digital Domain

Connor McCollough, Product Architect, Innovation & Business Transformation, GE Power

Denny Unger, CEO, Cloudhead Games

Jennifer Magee-Cooke, Head of Production, Dreamscape Immersive

Andy Mathis, Head of Partnerships, Oculus

Christine Koppinger, Global AR/VR Innovation Lead, Nestlé

In addition, the expo alongside will feature 40 of the latest technological innovations and business solutions from across the industry, including sponsors and exhibitors as HP, Siemens, ZeroLight, Varjo, Bose, Happy Finish, Qualcomm and many more.

As event partners, AREA has been given a 15% discount on all ticket types, including full 2-day passes and 1-day start-up passes. To claim your discount, enter the code AREA15 when you register

AREA event page for VRX.