The pandemic has played a pivotal role in convincing a wide array of manufacturers to move forward with technology deployment decisions. Goodyear’s decision to embrace RealWear is a prime example. After all, the headset-based solution helps a global organization like Goodyear address real challenges.
Consider the example of an electric or mechanical engineer getting a phone call at two o'clock in the morning from a maintenance technician saying a machine or process is down. The engineer would typically drive to the factory to provide support and help get the machine or process back online. While not a big deal as a standalone event, with similar events over weeks, months and years, it can be hard on engineers and their family life. Having the ability to provide engineers with a remote video connection to be able to talk with a technician can be a huge help.
Obviously, this scenario can play out at any given point in time – especially for a large manufacturer with many moving parts. As such, the pandemic was not the first time Goodyear considered embracing a headset style solution. Going back a few years, the engineering group had been working with Microsoft and the HoloLens. At the same time, Goodyear’s IT organization was working with RealWear. "We were focused on how to provide support and training to our resources out in the field, address challenges in our factories, or facilitate helping strategic partners (i.e. machine builders with questions),” said Dallas Olson, VP of global manufacturing and engineering at Goodyear.
New rules
However, the pandemic served as an impetus for Goodyear to effectively deploy, in part because people realize there was no other way to do it. “I'm not sure we would have been as successful if we wouldn't have had pandemic driving rapid deployment,” said Olson. Being able to quickly put eyes on a project or challenge versus putting somebody on an airplane was a huge benefit. The interest in doing this kind of remote video collaboration was not only intriguing, but the technologies came together at the right time to be able to act, explained Olson. “Fortunately, our IT organization had spent a fair amount of time making sure the infrastructure was right, that the hardware the configurations were correct and already had a few pilots deployed,” he said. “When the pandemic hit, the rules changed, and that's when we knew we needed this technology. If we're not going to be able to get on airplanes, we still need to continue supporting our factories, machine suppliers and our ongoing projects around the world.”
In March, Goodyear decided to accelerate headsets into key plant locations, enabling Goodyear to continue meeting business deliverables, avoiding downtime and maintaining scheduled costs. “We also identified key people to serve as trained experts on using the headsets. As with new technologies, there's always going to be some reluctancy at the user level when moving away from traditional ways of getting it done,” said Olson.
However, even pre-pandemic Olson acknowledges it does not always make sense to put an engineer on a flight to help solve an issue. After all, even a short plant visit usually translates to a week when factoring in travel time. “The result is that you lose that engineer's ability to contribute to other projects during this period of time,” he said.
Teams player
The Microsoft Teams integration is what sealed the deal for Goodyear. “Before Teams we were using the Oculavis version and it was far more challenging to integrate,” said Olson. “Teams made the process easy and accelerated adoption. While there is some functionality that's not on Team that exists with Oculus side, at our maturity it's not a problem.”
According to Olson, Teams can play a key role in enabling more people to take part in ability to crucial conversations. For instance, a few months ago a weather event impacted Goodyear’s Columbia plant with straight line winds causing significant roof and facilities damage allowing water into the plant. “Right after the weather event, we quickly helped them configure their headset and we were able to take the Latin American leadership team on a plant tour of the site to see the damage,” he said. “It allowed us visualize – through the eyes of the person walking through the plant – where to put additional resources to recover. We were able to assess where damage was most significant, and we had to get contract engineers in place. Also from the production side, it gave them an idea of how much time it would take to get the plant back online.”
The number of applications climbs as people become more comfortable with the technology. For instance, Goodyear uses RealWear for training events without having associates travel to the factory. Plus, it now has the ability to set up a two-hour leadership meeting, where it’s possible to go to multiple locations within a facility leveraging presenters stationed on the plant floor ready to provide information. “It allows leaders to be more efficient. This doesn't mean we're not going to get on planes anymore, but there are times where we can do what we need to do with a regular session over a couple hours on RealWear versus that being out of the office for a week,” he said.
Sage advice
Getting the most value out of technology such as RealWear starts with a deployment strategy. Olson recommendations are as follows:
- Firm-up infrastructure. The IT infrastructure has to be correct. Your wireless bandwidth must be able to support the unit's operation.
- Embrace training. People need to be able to properly use the headset. They really need to learn how to walk and talk -- almost like they're a personal driver because you don't want to get the choppy frame effect when moving so aggressively that the camera can't keep up. There are tricks you learn over time through communicating with the person wearing the headset about slowing down and pause. Being able to give the right command as well as taking/sending pictures or videos. This is all really helpful to the person on the Teams side watching, learning and providing needed assistance.
- Encourage ownership. Appoint somebody to serve factory leader. A someone who knows how to use the headset, it ensures that some is accountable for the headset and maintaining it. They also can help another department or area use the technology effectively.
