Leading solution provider for the Nordics food industry uses RealWear’s Industrial Strength Assisted Reality voice-controlled wearable devices to keep wide-ranging food supplies safe for the Nordics, and passes on a ten-fold fee reduction to customers in certain scenarios
RealWear, Inc., a global leader of assisted reality head mounted displays, has announced that Nemco, the leading provider of solutions for the food industry in the Nordics, has selected the RealWear HMT-1 assisted reality device for its frontline workers collaboration with remote experts as a new way forward.
Due to the travel restrictions that hit the Nordics during the pandemic, Nemco was unable to put specialists on the road to help food manufacturers maintain their specialised equipment for the food industry. Travel across borders to sites became nearly impossible to keep the projects running smoothly. As a result, Nemco explored innovative methods to support its frontline operators. After looking at different technologies, Nemco found RealWear assisted reality devices for remote collaboration met its needs.
Nemco is a specialist in the areas of sourcing machinery, technical equipment and packaging for the Danish, Swedish and Finnish markets. The company is focused on offering a high level of service to its customer base, which encompasses a number of food industries and companies, from the meat industry — including beef, pork and poultry factories — all the way to fish farms and candy factories. Nemco provides its customers with servicing and maintenance packages that cover the heavy machinery it sells. It has a team of approximately 14 technicians who travel regularly, ensuring that the machines are running smoothly while maintaining service level agreements.
“RealWear’s device has created a new way of working for us that will extend beyond the pandemic, even when travel restrictions are loosened,” commented Claus Skræm, Service Manager, Nemco. “Our teams and customers have experienced benefits in the short space of time we have been using wearables. We currently have 12 devices in operation, with plans for more to be deployed. Thinking ahead to the future, we are looking at designing an AfterSales concept, which will involve rolling out RealWear’s devices directly to more customers as part of a maintenance package.”
According to Nemco’s team, the company chose RealWear because the product worked out of the box and included built-in features such as a high-resolution camera, noise cancellation functionality and video stabilisation that was far superior to other devices on the market. The device was also hands-free, a vital factor from a health and safety standpoint. The device also had a built-in micro-display that fits just below their line of sight. There were also numerous remote collaboration applications to expand the device functionality including Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex Expert on Demand and Zoom.
Innomize ApS, a RealWear partner, managed the solution implementation, with Nemco receiving its first RealWear HMT-1 wearable device in June 2020. The RealWear devices were set up to run proprietary software Remote eye®, an Android app that enables service teams anywhere to provide real-time, visual assistance. Nemco’s experts can virtually see a physical environment via the wearer of the device, and provide guidance using on-screen annotations, thereby reducing resolution time and improving machine productivity.
Expanding the Solution from Internal to Customer-Facing
Nemco initially began its rollout internally by supplying its new technicians in Denmark, Sweden and Finland with devices. Typically, new technicians require a specialist to accompany them to a site, a procedure precluded by the COVID travel restrictions. Thanks to the deployment of RealWear devices, however, new technicians are able to have instant access to a specialist working remotely, mitigating travel and providing an effective workaround in light of the travel restrictions. Nemco’s second phase of deployment saw RealWear devices rolled out to a small number of its customers, enabling technicians to provide remote support directly to the customer. In practice, not only has this provided an environmental benefit by eliminating the need for specialists to travel, but it has also resulted in a significant reduction in the fee invoiced to the customer.
“Nemco’s use of wearables has enabled its teams to benefit from remote support out in the field, which has had a positive impact on its bottom line and that of its customers. Whilst this new approach to working was born out of necessity due to travel restrictions imposed by the pandemic, Nemco has realised the benefits offered by having a fully connected workforce, paving the way for the food industry to embrace a new approach to working,” said Jon Arnold, VP of Sales, EMEA, RealWear Inc.
On the business front, by deploying RealWear assisted reality devices, Nemco has even gained an advantage over its competition. For instance, at a recent installation project in Denmark, during one of the trials, machines coming from Italy required Italian specialists to be physically onsite during installation. However, these specialists were not allowed to travel. The customer was immediately shipped a RealWear HMT-1 to use on site, so that the specialists could view the Danish installation and offer their expertise remotely. Not only was the installation a smooth one, but the invoice to the customer was reduced tenfold as a result, thanks to the travel and time savings. The saving in Co2 emissions was also significant given that the need to travel was eliminated.
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