In times of volatile commodity markets, it is becoming more and more important for plastics processing companies to save costs in the service sector, while ensuring high machine availability. The use of modern technologies such as Augmented Reality opens up completely new possibilities on the way to Service 4.0.

The young bavarian engineering firm pm-tech Peter Mayer now uses this technology also in the industrial sector. pm-tech demonstrates support for field service and maintenance work at the booth of SESOTEC, (hall 10, booth E 60) one of the leading manufacturers of plastic sorting machines. In case of service, the machine operator at site puts on a set of smart glasses and connects to the manufacturer's service-center. The manufacturer's expert can now follow the on-site situation in his browser and provide instructions for repairing the machine via a see-what-you-see connection.

The smart glasses receive information such as notes and markings, or necessary documents and wiring diagrams which are directly projected as an overlay to reality into the smart glasses and can thus guide the repair of the machine. For the machine operator, this means minimal downtime, there is no need to wait for the arrival of a service technician. In addition, there is no travel expenses for the service. For the machine manufacturer, the use of service support via smart glasses means a much better use of resources by its service experts since they can use nearly 100 percent of their working time to solve problems. In addition, the high machine availability represents a clear competitive advantage.

"The use of smart glasses for service support will have a decisive impact on the global service business over the next few years," says owner Peter Mayer, "and will completely change the service landscape." The use of commercially available smart glasses, which are already available well below 1000 Euro, will often amortize investment costs at the very first service stage. Support from the vendor is browser-based and does not require any special hardware.
For further information on Assisted Self Maintenance visit www.industrie40.tech

Company portrait
The engineering company pm-tech Peter Mayer is a young company with a focus on the use of smart technologies for production and service. The owner Peter Mayer has more than 25 years of experience in mechanical and plant engineering in leading functions.