BEUMER Group, a designer and manufacturer of overland and pipe conveyors, has tackled the need to address machine malfunctions and standstills as soon as possible by developing the BEUMER Smart Glasses.
BEUMER Customer Support technicians use these specialised glasses to take a “virtual look over the shoulder” of a customer’s service technician to solve the problem together, with the digital solution reducing travel times and costs.
“With the BEUMER Smart Glasses, our customers can get in live contact with our service experts anywhere and at any time,” Christopher Kirsch, Team Leader of BG.evolution, said.
The Smart Glasses originated from the university location of Dortmund, with BEUMER Group bringing this digital innovation into the group to address customer needs.
Together with their colleagues from BEUMER Customer Support and the Department for Research and Development in Beckum, the employees in Dortmund made this digital solution ready for the market.
“From October 2018 to January 2019, long-term tests were carried out with various customers, including one with live testing with a long-term customer from the building materials industry,” Kirsch said. “We were successful in concluding this phase.”
Kirsch explains the rationale for commercialising such a product: “If a machine suddenly breaks down, the problem must be solved as fast as possible.”
The company expanded on this: “If the users are not in a position to handle this by themselves, the BEUMER Group sends their globally located technicians to prevent longer downtimes. In addition to service technicians, Customer Support also provides qualified telephone support for troubleshooting, which is available 24/7.
“However, it can be challenging to successfully communicate complex problems quickly and clearly over the phone. Imagine if the customer had the opportunity to have a BEUMER technician take a quick and easy look at the problem at any time – on-site support, without actually being there. The BEUMER Smart Glasses make it possible.”
The employee at the machine puts on the glasses and starts the BEUMER Support app via voice command. The employee transmits a service number and a pin code to the hotline, and the connection with image and sound is established, with the BEUMER technician receiving the same image as the customer.
The technician can directly give instructions and display all relevant information in the field of vision. The employee has both hands free to follow the instructions of the expert and carry out the necessary actions. Faults can be solved quickly and precisely – at any time, BEUMER Group says.
