(Virtual) Boots on the Ground

Thanks to mixed reality technology, JLS® is providing customer service and training in real-time from any location.

JLS®is utilizing a virtual, mixed reality monitoring technology to offer customers remote service and support. JLS View uses Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 technology and helps the company stay connected with its customers whether they have a support need around the corner or around the world. “The purpose of JLS View is to be hand-in-hand with our customers and to see and hear exactly what they are seeing and hearing at the plant,” said Bill Stratford, Director of Aftermarket Sales and Services, JLS Automation. “JLS technicians can see the machine from the customer’s point of view in real time.”

The service and training platform incorporates technology with customer support. Customers use the HoloLens technology, a webcam that the customer wears on their head. This shows JLS technicians what customers are seeing on the packaging line and experiencing with the machinery as if the technician were physically at the plant. Because technicians are literally seeing what the customer is seeing, they can provide guidance and instructions right then and there.

This is a tremendous benefit when it comes to time and costs, according to Stratford, because JLS View allows immediate diagnosis and troubleshooting of a machine. If a customer is shut down, this helps them get back up and running faster. There’s no waiting for a JLS technician to arrive onsite or incurring travel costs.

Another benefit, Stratford says, is that JLS View enables a strength in numbers methodology, or “more minds are better than one” approach. Instead of sending a single technician to the customer’s plant, now JLS can virtually bring a team of techs, lead engineers, programmers and others into a meeting setting to collaborate and provide a successful solution. “JLS View helps us be the virtual boots on the ground. Now we can get a group of people in a room—it’s no longer a one-on-one effort,” he said.

Initially introduced as a tool for remote machine service calls, JLS is now also using the technology to offer virtual training, provide technical support and perform recipe creation and modifications for products. This is especially helpful in training and recertification with the high turnover rates of operators and maintenance personnel that are commonplace in today’s manufacturing environment.

“JLS View is the link that makes training easier from anywhere at any time. While the concept of JLS View remains the same, we’re continually searching for better ways to utilize technology to offer the best customer support that we possibly can and also provide training. Our vision of JLS View is to make customer support seamless and efficient,” Stratford said.