Worldwide labor shortages coupled with COVID-19 travel restrictions is making onsite equipment installation a challenge for many companies. Everyone from car manufacturers and construction companies, to oil & gas and green energy are facing significant project delays. They are waiting for equipment to arrive and then be expertly installed. The solution many of these companies are now using? It is now to employ a visual support app that enables engineers to expertly guide equipment installation remotely.
How A Visual Support App Can Fill Labor Gaps
Help Lightning’s remote visual assistance technology enables engineers to engage AR features, and guide remote equipment installation from anywhere. The Help Lightning app provides a 3D shared view. This allows people on either side of the screen to virtually reach into the other person’s view. This offers a ‘hands-on’ collaboration that is as effective as in-person.
Help Lightning’s visual support app allows engineers to virtually guide customers through the installation process. This helps even with very large and complex machinery. Several experts can engage at one time, providing directions, auditing for safety, and demonstrating proper maintenance.
What Equipment Installation Looks Like Using a Visual Support App
Remote visual assistance technology allows users to engage in a merged reality where both sides see the same view on their desktop or mobile device. For equipment installation, there will be a team of engineers on both sides. The equipment manufacturer’s engineers can guide installation virtually touching components. They can make annotations and drawings overlaid onto the shared view. And they can demonstrate how to do something as if both sides were in the same room together.
An Example of Remote Equipment Installation
- A manufacturing company specializing in industrial equipment for construction companies has shipped a large, complex piece of equipment to a construction company’s job site. The manufacturer is unable to immediately send a team of engineers to build it.
- The construction company receives the equipment and schedules time for a team of engineers to conduct a Help Lightning call with the manufacturer’s engineers.
- The Help Lightning call is initiated at the agreed upon time, and both teams of engineers are able to view and engage with the equipment as if they were onsite together.
- The manufacturer’s engineers confirm all components are on site. Within the merged reality view, they are able to reach into the screen and point out what each component is for, demonstrate where it goes, and how to install it properly.
- As the construction company’s engineers piece the machine together, they receive a 3D view of exactly what they should be doing. This includes annotations and drawings overlaid onto their field of vision to guide precise measurements and very specific placements. They see the manufacturing team’s hands in their field of view. This shows them exactly what to do within each step of the process.
- Over the course of several hours, both teams work together to build the machine. Once complete, they can test it for proper function and safety.
- The machine is built and confirmed for safe use within a day. The construction company is able to start using it immediately, helping their project timeline remain on track.
With a visual support app like Help Lightning, two engineering teams in different locations are able to effectively collaborate. The work is complete in a timely manner, without having to wait for an onsite engineering team to be available from the manufacturer.
Remote Visual Assistance for Efficient Collaboration
The ability to merge video screens and collaborate using live video support enables efficient collaboration, even when technicians and engineers cannot physically be onsite together. In-person collaboration can be costly and result in project delays. The side providing visual assistance doesn’t have to spend time and money sending specialists to a jobsite. The side receiving visual assistance is able to get the help they need quickly and effectively.
Remote visual assistance technology supports several Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for companies that give and receive installation support.
The KPIs Help Lightning Customers Experience Using Remote Visual Assistance Include:
- Avoid unnecessary dispatches
- Reduce engineer downtime
- Increased customer ease of use
- Faster service
- Increased net promoter score (NPS)
- Save travel costs associated with sending engineers onsite
Interested in learning about more use cases and how other companies are using remote visual assistance? Review our full list of 20 remote assistance use cases. Or download a shareable guide.
Contact Help Lightning to Learn What a Visual Support App Can Do for Your Company
With a visual support app like Help Lightning, technicians, engineers, and other specialists collaborate for greater productivity, and deliver better results.
Contact us for a free, no obligation demo of Help Lightning.
Our team is waiting to show you exactly how Help Lightning’s remote visual assistance software can help your company’s specific business needs.
