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The ability to imitate a conveyor belt on the work floor for painting is one of extended reality’s key benefits. The existence of a conveyor system only for training reasons is economically impossible. Additionally, doing so can avoid having to pay to stop the conveyor belt when something goes wrong.

The XR is a component of a wider plan to increase output and productivity as well as the safety module.

Extended reality, or XR, is already making ripples in India Inc. in areas like marketing and staff learning. Due to its constant evolution, technology has now established itself in the automobile sector, enabling it to provide training at lower costs and with more safety.

The usage of XR labs for training in the paint domain is currently mainly reliant on the auto sector, one of the key businesses. Employers, including CNH Industrial, TVS Motor Company, Tractors and Farm Equipment (TAFE), and Hyundai, are adopting XR-VR to train staff members specifically in dexterity, a talent where deft hand movement is essential to the caliber of output.

A new area of technology called “extended reality,” or “XR,” mixes the actual and virtual worlds.

“E-learning and other techniques work well for theoretical knowledge. However, XR simulators may not only train but also assess dexterity skills for practical, hands-on skills. According to Sabarinath C. Nair, CEO of metaverse skill training platform Skillveri, “this method has helped most customers save an average of 30 to 40 percent on rejections and rework-related costs.”

The ability to precisely choose and combine the modules one uses is particularly beneficial for the automobile sectors.

Therefore, auto companies choose for a combined simulator that has one welding type and two painting kinds rather of purchasing one welding simulator with four types and another painting simulator with four types.

The capability of simulating a conveyor belt on the work floor for painting is the other factor. A conveyor system built specifically for training purposes is economically unfeasible, and internal training facilities often train on stationary objects rather than objects moving on a conveyor.

The simulation contains many levels and a gamified pedagogy that move from easy basic levels to difficult lessons that a student will unlock in order.

For instance, TVS Motor Company personnel begin with a set of basic abilities that are absolutely necessary to carry out their jobs.

“In the painting domain, after fundamental knowledge training, function-specific fundamental skills like part-loading and unloading, surface preparation, paint spraying, part inspection, and graphics application are provided,” stated Rajesh. K., Head of LOM at the TVS Institute of Quality and Leadership.

Assessing progress

The XR is a component of a wider plan to increase output and productivity as well as the safety module.

TAFE was able to evaluate the painting competence more objectively and, as a result, pinpoint the region that needed development on the actual part by employing painting operator simulation training. The coverage, film thickness built, and painting speed are crucial factors for painting operators that a tractor manufacturer can enhance with this training.

Guru Subramaniyan V, DGM-PED-Paint of TAFE, stated that “based on the skill rating, we depute the highly skilled operators for ‘A’ class painting.”

Similar to this, the agricultural machinery manufacturer CNH Industrial places an emphasis on abilities like optimal paint consumption, optimal paint thickness, and preventing flaws. A few instances include triggering paint guns at precisely the right moment, keeping the proper distance from an item while following the proper pattern and flow, and maintaining the proper slant.

The business currently has plans to expand metaverse-enabled training to include other areas of skill development, such welding and assembly. Punit Pandey, Process Owner and Paint Expert at CNH Industrial, stated that the use of AI-related approaches may be the next step in this business to increase its adaptability.

Not without difficulties

However, as Moneycontrol previously noted, there is a shortage of experienced talent in the market for businesses trying to develop these applications.

Second, technologies like XR-VR work by deceiving the senses into thinking they are in a real world.

“Finally, XR-AR-VR is currently in a stage akin to that of late-2000s smartphones. There is a lot of room for growth and potential, but it will be necessary to demonstrate its worth on the shop floor if it is to stop being the exception and start being the rule.