Patrick Durrant | Sydney
Global enterprise applications company IFS has launched a proof of concept to reinvent field service management via the use of Microsoft’s innovative self-contained, holographic computer known as HoloLens.
IFS Labs has developed an integration between the enterprise applications suite IFS Applications and Microsoft HoloLens that enables service engineers to visualise holographic IFS software data on the HoloLens screen, which is plotted directly on the asset they are to service.
If you’re a smaller company and you want to beat the bigger players you have to be smarter
The data is displayed directly in front of the engineer’s eyes, enabling technicians to use both hands when servicing the asset. By displaying information as a real-time overlay, engineers get immediate access to relevant asset-specific data such as service history, performance analysis, and temperature levels. HoloLens will also make it possible to action the data in real time by clicking a “work guidelines” button to access service instructions stored in IFS Applications.
“We are very excited to present this proof of concept that we believe has the potential to revolutionise the way we think of field service management,” IFS Labs director Bas de Vos said. “By leveraging HoloLens, we can help service personnel navigate complex environments and access critical asset information to realise major benefits such as increased productivity and first-time fix rates.
Mixed reality integrated with enterprise software will benefit particularly service- and asset intensive industries, like manufacturing, oil and gas, energy and aviation. These rely heavily on asset efficiency and uptime for overall business success and equipment malfunctioning can result in substantial financial loss.
De Vos explained the production of such a tool is still some years away, with the Hololens still only available in a development edition. It was important, however for IFS to prepare in advance for the impact such devices will bring.
“We feel it’s very important to help our customers that are engaged in the vertical supply chains across the various sectors that are either asset, or field service or product centric,” de Vos told ADM.
“We have to make sure that whenever the market demands the need for a certain product we need to be ready for it. By researching these technologies and concepts pre-production we can position ourselves to help them take advantage of the product when the time comes.”
A great deal of field service work is still very much paper-based, according to de Vos, although the aviation industry tends to be a little ahead of the curve, with some pratictioners now making use of tablets where practicable.
“It's a step in the right direction – a tablet will cut out the paper and facilitate remote support to the field service engineer but it will never be able to provide the advantages of hands-free use where the application reacts to whatever your gaze is focused on.”
De Vos said the digital transformation represented by such technology offered an opportunity for SMEs in particular to establish a real point of difference via disruption.
“If you’re a smaller company and you want to beat the bigger players you have to be smarter. So that means doing things better and cheaper and new technology might be an angle that allows you to achieve that.”
Setting cost aside, de Vos said adoption of such radical technology across a smaller employee base presented fewer challenges than for the larger primes. Developer editions of Hololens are currently priced in the vicinity of $3,500, but he said if rumours proved correct, production models may well be available in 2019.
“What effect this might have on the price is difficult to ascertain but some downward pressure is not inconceivable,” de Vos said.