Undoubtedly, the answer is yes.
What is the metaverse?
According to the Oxford Languages dictionary, the metaverse is a virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users.
In manufacturing and supply chain, AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality) and digital twins (digital representation of an intended or real-world physical product, system or process) are a few exciting opportunities with a multitude of uses. They are especially valuable in today’s business environment with limited high-skilled resources available, concerns of recession (leading to the need to manage costs), and the need for a superior customer experience. I recently talked with Manufacturing Dive about the vast potential of metaverse. Stay tuned on our blog to read the full article.
The bottom line? Find an area to pilot, and jump into the metaverse!
Opportunities for metaverse in manufacturing & supply chain
Luckily, you have many opportunities to use AR and VR in manufacturing to add value to your customer’s experience and mutual bottom line.
- Training employees: Proving training on how to use and maintain equipment through VR headsets is becoming the smartest and safest approach. It can also be expensive to train on heavy equipment, and so in addition to being safer and more attractive and engaging for employees, it can save money. It also minimizes the negative impacts of mistakes.
- Trial/ simulations: It is far better to run a simulation before a physical deployment to catch issues and find improvements. For example, BMW used simulation to for six months at a new factory and was able to incorporate several improvements prior to finalizing the layout and designs for the factory. The same can occur to design a warehouse, logistics footprint, and more.
- Collaborative product design: What is in common at every client is the lack of the appropriate skills to develop new products, avoid issues, incorporate customer input, and collaborate with materials and equipment suppliers to minimize waste and maximize operational performance. By using the Metaverse, these collaborations can speed up product development and improve upon the results.
- Virtual work for hands-on work: Technically challenging hands-on work can be vastly improved with AR. For example, field technicians, maintenance mechanics, and more are ripe for these applications.
- Remote monitoring & factory audits: Metaverse can enable real-time equipment health and status to build predictive maintenance plans and simulate scenarios within the Metaverse.
- Bring demand and supply together: The Metaverse can bring together what customers want with what customer have. In essence it can put your SIOP: Creating Predictable Revenue & EBITDA Growth.
Choose an area that can add value in your company, put together a trial and jump into the Metaverse.
Please contact us with stories, issues, and opportunities on what you’re doing to succeed and differentiate yourself from the crowd. And, please keep us in the loop of your situation and how we can help your organization get in a position to thrive for years to come. Learn more about these topics in our blog and download your complimentary copy of our recently released special report: The Road Ahead: Business, Supply Chain & The World Order.