Augmented Reality in Service Industry

In the service industry, augmented reality is a tool that can help companies improve their operations and boost customer experience. AR enhances human work, allowing people to work faster and more efficiently.

With augmented reality, field technicians can make accurate diagnoses and provide remote support, enabling faster service resolutions. The technology can also make service jobs more convenient for customers and increase first-time fix rates.

Enhances Human Work

AR is enabling workers to perform complicated tasks faster, more accurately, and with better understanding of the work. It also improves quality by reducing mistakes that cause rework and helps technicians identify defects that can lead to product failures and production downtime.

Test programs using AR headsets for step-by-step assembly instructions routinely show productivity gains between 20 percent and 35 percent. These results have fueled early AR adoption in the manufacturing industry.

In the service sector, AR can enhance worker safety by enhancing training and providing information about how to work safely in a variety of environments. It can also help employees who have difficulty working with a specific tool or equipment by providing them with virtual hands-on training that can be adjusted for their level of experience.

This is especially useful for workers who need to learn to work with new technologies, such as IoT sensors or machines with advanced capabilities. This can speed up the learning curve and eliminate the need to take expensive employee training courses.

It can also reduce the amount of time it takes to train new employees in a particular task by allowing them to view visual step-by-step instructions as they practice on their own or with others. It can also be used to monitor the performance of new hires to ensure they meet standards.

While these advances can be impressive, they also require careful planning and implementation. It is important to keep in mind that there are some inherent risks to implementing AR into the workplace.

For example, it may be difficult to ensure that workers are trained properly when using this technology. This is because they may not be fully aware of how to use the tools effectively or understand the potential consequences of improper use.

A more important challenge is making sure that employees have the mental capacity to handle the change that AR can bring to the workplace. As with any other technology, AR requires a workforce that is ready to tackle the challenges of exploring new territories and the unknown.

This can be aided by a culture that encourages experimentation and the willingness to fail without fear of losing jobs. Cultivating a «fail fast» mindset can help to keep employees motivated, ready to adopt new technologies, and prepared for the inevitable challenges that come with embracing the future of work.

Improves Customer Experience

Using augmented reality in the service industry is a great way to ensure your customers’ satisfaction. It helps to enhance customer experience in a number of ways, from providing a better understanding of products before purchase to giving customers the chance to try products on.

AR also makes training easier and faster. It allows employees to learn about a product range quickly and effectively, without having to physically handle all the items. This can save time and money for businesses, allowing them to hire more staff and improve their performance.

For example, Lowe’s uses its 3D AR app to train staff on how to handle various products. It also makes the app available to customers who want to see how a particular item would look in their home before making a purchase.

Companies can also use AR to improve their post-sale customer support. The ability to provide advice on how to use or maintain a product can significantly increase the value of a customer’s purchase, and it can help them develop brand loyalty.

Another way that AR can boost the experience of your customers is by giving them a more immersive, engaging and interactive experience. The best examples of this augmented reality in service industry are interactive packaging, which can give customers a unique and valuable experience at the point of sale.

These can include a ‘try-it-as-you-buy’ app, where you can put a virtual version of the product on your phone to see if it fits. This can remove the doubt that consumers often have when buying a new product online, and it can improve customer satisfaction and reduce returns.

A ‘try-it-as-you-buy’ experience can be especially important for younger shoppers. McDonald’s is already implementing this with its Happy Meals.

If you’re an e-commerce retailer, you can use AR to allow your customers to ‘try-as-you-buy’ a range of products before they buy them. This can improve the customer experience and lead to more sales.

For example, the ‘try-it-as-you-buy’ technology can be used to show a customer how different types of sunglasses fit on their face before they purchase them. This can prevent the consumer from deciding to buy something that doesn’t suit their complexion or eyesight.

Increases Productivity

AR in service industry has the potential to significantly improve employee and customer experiences.

For example, a field technician who receives a call about a problem with an equipment can see a virtual overlay of the item being serviced and seek help from an expert in real time. This eliminates the need to dispatch another technician or to hire an expert for a visit, which reduces costs and time and boosts customer satisfaction.

Similarly, in warehouses, AR can provide workers with easy access to inventory information without having to leave their workstation. This data includes inventory levels and estimated order pick times, enabling employees to track their progress and get more done.

In addition, it helps them locate specific items in the warehouse more easily, and allows them to identify and navigate to their area of the warehouse. This increases their efficiency, as they can spend more time on tasks instead of walking to and fro to different locations.

AR can also be used to train new employees. The technology can be used to capture and document processes that are then shared with younger technicians, preventing knowledge loss and making the training process quicker.

It can also help in improving quality control by reducing the amount of visual inspection needed to detect errors and ensure product compliance. A quality control technician wearing AR glasses can quickly get details about defective components and specifications, and can then use the information to fix them immediately.

This reduces the need for a technician to perform a visual inspection of parts, which could cause errors and lead to delays in the production process. In addition, augmented reality can improve assembly by placing digital work instructions right in an employee’s line of sight, which can decrease training time and help minimize error.

Companies using augmented reality have augmented reality in service industry reported average productivity improvements of 32 percent. This is a huge increase in productivity for manufacturing, and it can have a major impact on a company’s bottom line.

AR has the potential to revolutionize the way companies work with customers and suppliers, and it’s a technology that will be increasingly important in the future. Companies should start evaluating how they can implement AR in their business today.

Enhances Training

AR-powered apps have already proven themselves as invaluable for employee training, enabling new hires to quickly learn and improve their skills. These apps can also serve as an easy way to transfer knowledge from senior technicians who may be retiring or leaving the company.

Augmented reality also makes it possible for companies to create a virtual replica of the equipment they are working on, which helps them avoid mistakes while troubleshooting equipment. This can help reduce the risk of on-the-job injuries and make a more accurate diagnosis of problems, as well as reducing travel costs.

As a result of this, many industries are now using augmented reality to train equipment and machine operators. In these training sessions, users can stand in front of an augmented replica of the equipment they are to operate and experience it in real-time, with digital information overlayed on the physical space.

The training process can be more immersive and engaging, allowing workers to retain more information. This means the time it takes to train an employee can be drastically reduced and the skill requirements can be lowered, increasing worker productivity.

In the field service industry, augmented reality can also increase first-time fix rates and reduce repair time. This allows employees to spend more time on the job repairing machines and less on customer support calls, which can ultimately improve customer satisfaction and decrease the cost of field service operations.

Moreover, in factories, augmented reality can display important data about equipment and processes that would otherwise be difficult to see or understand. This information can then be used by maintenance technicians to diagnose and address problems that could lead to downtime and lost production.

This will make the industrial environment more sustainable, and it can even help prevent the loss of critical manufacturing equipment. In fact, a recent survey found that augmented reality has the potential to boost factory safety by helping workers identify hazards more efficiently.

The use of augmented reality in service industries is expanding, with applications ranging from new hire orientation to product knowledge training. It can also be used to improve the quality of product assembly and disassembly.