COVER STORY | CONNECTED WORKING
why people automate – whether
they’re forced into it because
something happened or because
they’re being proactive to make
sure that accidents don’t happen,”
Brambley continues. “And it’s not just
accidents and fatalities, it’s injury and
strain. Whether that’s moving things
around or just augmenting the people
that do the job.”
Equally, protection from toxic and
hazardous materials, such as paint
shops in car manufacturing plants
or anywhere that’s dusty or uses
chemicals, automation is used to
reduce exposure to those elements
by continuous monitoring of the
environment.
Brambley adds: “Finally,
According to
the recent PwC
‘Seeing is Believing’
Report, wider adoption of
VR and AR is going to add
£1.5trillion to the world
economy over the next ten
years. It’s not something
businesses can ignore
reducing stress and
anxiety might not be
always directly obvious,
but the idea that if we
provide information
to people to help them
do their jobs, it actually
takes away some of their
worries. For example, ‘have
I remembered all the things I
have to do?’”
THE ‘CONNECTED WORKER’
Industrial software and services
company, PTC’s president and CEO,
Jim Heppelmann, also believes the
use of AI and Augmented Reality
(AR) can protect the knowledge
and expertise of retiring workers
by training next-gen and existing
employees. He says the rise of the
‘connected worker’ could help end the
UK’s skills drain being accelerated by
an ageing workforce.
The chief executive of the
company, that has its UK of ces in
Farnborough, pointed to an increased
uptake in the number of companies
investing in AR as a way of protecting
traditional skills and securing IP.
In its simplest sense, PTC’s Vuforia
Expert Capture lets experienced
designers and engineers record
a task as they carry it out using a
wearable device, such as Microsoft’s
HoloLens. The content is then turned
into a step-by-step video guide with
instructions for other workers to follow
through the wearable tech – locking
valuable skills in place forever.
“The terms Arti cial Intelligence
and Augmented Reality automatically
conjure up images of robots taking
human jobs – well, the
‘connected worker’
paints a completely
different picture,” explains
Heppelmann.
One of the biggest threats to
UK industry is an ageing workforce,
with recent data from a European
Labour Force Survey revealing that
16% of the total EU workforce is aged
55 and over. There is a real danger
that these experts will retire before
the next generation has had the
chance to learn from them.
Heppelmann continues: “This no
longer needs to be the case. Adoption
is growing thanks to the ability to
combine AR and AI to offer costeffective
solutions to manufacturers,
not to mention a change in mindset
from industry, who have now
realised the importance of investing
in business-ready software and
hardware.
“We have countless examples of
small, medium and large rms that
are embracing ‘connected worker’
technology to protect knowledge
when workers retire, to reduce the
costs of onboarding new employees
and even the ability to quickly reskill
and cross train existing staff.
“I can only see this trend
continuing, especially as we see
technology and platforms mature to
meet the requirements of the modernday
manufacturer. These technologies
can bring the superpower of
computing into the arms and legs of
the workforce.
“According to the recent PwC
‘Seeing is Believing’ Report, wider
adoption of VR and AR is going to add
£1.5trillion to the world economy over
the next ten years. It’s not something
businesses can ignore any longer.”
AR is still a relatively new
technology, with its use in industry
only dating back ve years or so.
Previously, it has mainly been used
to enrich static views by information
being overlaid on to reality, but
now new functionalities are being
developed and rolled-out over the
next twelve months.
This will overlay information
dynamically and, using low-cost
or high-quality glasses, enabling
nearly every industrial application
imaginable to bene t from
Augmented Reality.
Heppelmann concluded:
“Augmented Reality is one of the
most effective user interfaces ever
developed, but it isn’t that useful if it
never makes it out of R&D as a true offthe
shelf business tool.
“PTC is heavily investing
and working hard to ensure that
organisations can leverage the
additional technologies related to
the Internet of Things (IoT), Product
Lifecycle Management (PLM) and
Generative Design, ultimately
leveraging the full spectrum of what
Industry 4.0 has to offer whilst also
ensuring people are at the centre of
Digital Transformation.” !
any longer
JIM
HEPPELMANN
President and
CEO of industrial
software and
services
company PTC.
14 WWW.EUREKAMAGAZINE.CO.UK | APRIL 2020
/WWW.EUREKAMAGAZINE.CO.UK