thyssenkrupp transforms the delivery of home mobility solutions with Microsoft HoloLens

Microsoft at the Hannover Messe Industries show

This week, at the Hannover Messe Industries show in Germany, the HoloLens team is participating alongside our Microsoft colleagues, customers, and partners to showcase digital transformation in the manufacturing industry.

Digital transformation reimagines people, data, and processes within an organization to accelerate business impact and to create value for customers. Increasingly, that digital reimagination includes deploying HoloLens into core workflows. Microsoft HoloLens is opening up new areas of business, reducing the cost of operations, and arming employees with improved data visualization in the context of their real world.

thyssenkrupp and HoloLens make the design process more personal for the customer and reduce turnaround time

thyssenkrupp’s mission in providing mobility solutions is to help people overcome physical limitations. A home mobility solution is a particularly personal product; it becomes a part of the customer’s home, and it’s a tool that preserves their ability to maintain independence and have full access to their space. The decision to invest in a mobility solution can be difficult – it goes beyond financial tradeoffs, encompassing as well the emotional impact of changing abilities. Removing obstacles from the process helps turn a potentially uncomfortable customer experience into one that is quick and easy, thereby increasing the percentage of accounts that move forward.

Prior to using HoloLens, thyssenkrupp had used the same process for almost 20 years, which involved a complex system of labels and cameras and manual data entry to ensure that all the nuances of the highly customized mobility solutions were measured precisely. The combined sales, manufacturing, and installation process for a new stair lift involved numerous complex and time-consuming processes, which ultimately resulted in lengthy delivery times and detracted from the overall customer experience.

Contrast this to the new process that has been digitally transformed, allowing the salesperson to measure the staircase using the mobile HoloLens solution during their first visit. The measurement data is then automatically shared with the manufacturing team via Microsoft Azure, which allows for quicker decision making and near real-time approval of the design without redundant data entry. The digitization of the sales and manufacturing processes has reduced delivery times as much as 4x.

With HoloLens, the sales rep can now provide the customer with a visualization of the stair lift so they can see firsthand what the new addition will look like in their home. HoloLens is allowing thyssenkrupp to fundamentally disrupt its business processes with durable improvements that save time and costs internally, and at the same time help their customers make an emotional decision with much more confidence. The addition of HoloLens is revolutionizing turnaround time, and as a result, is increasing productivity for employees and satisfaction for customers.

Microsoft HoloLens passes basic impact tests for protective eyewear standards in North America and Europe

Additionally, to the benefit of our manufacturing customers, we are thrilled to share that Microsoft HoloLens has passed the basic impact tests from a number of protective eyewear standards used in North America and Europe. It has been tested and found to conform to the basic impact protection requirements of ANSI Z87.1, CSA Z94.3 and EN 166, the most common protective glass certification standards. This opens the door for more companies to use HoloLens in innovative ways as part of their manufacturing process and for employees to unlock new personal potential, and we can’t wait to see what they achieve in the future! Find out more about HoloLens in manufacturing here.

Lorraine