Engineering news
Thyssenkrupp will use Microsoft HoloLens technology to improve the safety and efficiency of its elevator service operations worldwide.
The mixed reality glasses, which overlay high-definition holographs on the physical environment, is set to be used by more than 24,000 of the company’s service technicians in a bid to do their jobs more safely and efficiently.
Using HoloLens, service technicians will be able to visualise and identify problems with elevators ahead of a job, and have remote, hands-free access to technical and expert information when onsite. Thyssenkrupp said it hopes this will result in significant savings in time and stress. Initial field trials have already shown that a service maintenance intervention can be done up to four times faster than before by using the device.
Andreas Schierenbeck, chief executive of Thyssenkrupp Elevator, said: “Our goal is to dramatically increase efficiency, raise elevator uptimes and speed up service interventions to ensure mobility equipment is always running as it should, providing each passenger with the safest and most comfortable travel experience possible.
“This application of HoloLens in our service operations was made possible through our collaboration with Microsoft, and the close integration with their software experts has even allowed us to explore dedicated HoloLens apps to meet Thyssenkrupp’s specific requirements.”
Scott Erickson, general manager for Microsoft HoloLens, said: “As the first fully self-contained holographic computer running Windows 10, Microsoft HoloLens has been helping companies and industries innovate in entirely new ways.
"By utilising the out-of-the-box Skype experience without any additional development required, Thyssenkrupp’s 24,000 service engineers can now do their jobs safer and more efficiently. Triaging service requests ahead of the visit and getting hands-free remote holographic guidance when on site has reduced the average length of Thyssenkrupp’s service calls by up to four times.”
The launch of HoloLens follows the company’s introduction of IoT predictive maintenance software MAX.
Launched by Thyssenkrupp in 2015, MAX is already connected with thousands of units in the pilot countries of US, Germany and Spain, and is on track to be connected with 180,000 units by the end of 2017. The successful implementation in the pilot countries has also set the stage for rollouts in additional countries by the end of 2016.
The global elevator service industry is valued at more than £33 billion a year, with more than 12 million elevators transporting more than one billion people each day.