Company can save manufacturers years in R&D

8th June 2018

Company can save  manufacturers years in R&D

DERESHIN PILLAY AR can also save manufacturing companies money spent on building, testing, rebuilding and retesting prototypes

The world of augmented reality (AR) offers manufacturers a solution that can save them years in research and development, says information and communication technology provider T-Systems manufacturing and automotive sales and service management head Dereshin Pillay.

AR can also save manufacturing companies money spent on building, testing, rebuilding and retesting prototypes, he notes. “Offering unparalleled accuracy, AR allows manufacturers to virtually ‘build’ a prototype and trial various materials, designs, and make changes without ever making or using a single component,” he enthuses.

A classic example is the prototypes created for airbuses, he states. Aeroplanes are ‘built’ in AR with different materials and design parameters, and simulations are tested for aerodynamics, resiliency, speed, weather handling capacity and much more, Pillay explains.

“This saves fortunes, as money is not being spent on physically building and testing an entire airbus – something that is costly and can chew through millions of rands should changes or rebuilds be needed. “The final, approved AR version becomes the official blueprint for manufacturing,” he adds.

He points out that most manufacturers are concerned with the impact technologies, such as AR, will have on specialist skills usually used in the concept phase. However, AR still requires expertise that only humans can provide to design and test the simulation as the engineering principles are still in effect, Pillay concludes.