The Record - Issue 19: Winter 2020

68 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om automotive reality V ehicles are becoming electric, connected and ever more personalised. These advances will likely be accompanied by changes to the manufacturing process, with greater use of factories that are smaller, more flex- ible and closer to the end user. This will, however, increase the complexity of training workers and delivering expertise to the factory floor. With over eight million people working for original equip- ment manufacturers worldwide and many more working for companies providing vehicle compo- nents, this promises to be a huge challenge. One of the new solutions helping to manage this transformation is mixed reality, which is giving automotive companies a range of new capabilities to deliver greater efficiency. Mercedes-Benz United States has chosen MicrosoftHoloLens 2 andDynamics 365 Remote Assist to help speed up its ability to diagnose and fix problems in vehicles at dealer service centres. Frontline workers can be connected to experts through their HoloLens headset, enabling them to see what they see and provide remote assis- tance, inspection and collaboration. “We save so much time not having to go back and forth, uploading information, asking questions, waiting for a response,” said Marias Scolnik, shop foreman for the Mercedes of Coral Gables dealership. “A remote expert can draw on the holograms around the car to any spot where they want to pull our attention. They can show us in no time. To get cars back to the owners in a fraction of the time it used to take – diagnosed, fixed, washed and ready to roll – has a huge impact on our ability to provide excellent cus- tomer service.” Learning and performance experts CraneMorley worked with Mercedes-Benz to develop a training course that helped to familiarise technicians with the technology and its capabilities. “CraneMorley has worked closely with the Mercedes-Benz USA Academy team to pro- vide training on their use of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides authoring tool and we also developed a discovery learning course as part of the new model launch training for the GLE vehicle,” said Thomas Pratt, president of CraneMorley. “HoloLens supported the intro- duction of complex new technology by giving Superman-style X-ray vision to technicians to see how the components in the new suspen- sion system work together to support a variety of ride modes, ranging from off road to giving highway driving the feel of a sport bike.” BY A L E X SM I TH Microsoft HoloLens is enabling automotive companies to manage the move towards increasingly complex connected and electric vehicles P RODUC T FOCU S : M I C ROSOF T HOLOL ENS The new