Effective Visualisation in Maintenance: Beyond the Basics
It’s difficult to cover maintenance as a universal topic because the differences across domains are vast. For example, a technician working on a precision wafer deposition machine may not immediately see similarities with a team of rope-access technicians on a North Sea oil platform. However, despite the differences, many common threads unite these various scenarios—and all those in between.
Safety and Efficiency in Maintenance
One of the universal threads is operator and site safety, a fundamental aspect of daily operations. Safety is often ingrained to the point where it’s rarely overlooked. However, there’s room for improvement in how safety is managed more efficiently while still maintaining its effectiveness.
Predictive Maintenance and Scheduling
One area where innovation is reshaping the landscape is predictive maintenance. By scheduling maintenance proactively, organisations can increase plant uptime and strike the right balance between minimising the impact of preventative maintenance and avoiding unexpected breakdowns. In today’s era of leasing capabilities rather than purchasing products—exemplified by the power-by-the-hour model in aerospace—predictive maintenance has become particularly significant.
Expertise and Experience: Not Always Enough
Experience is still a valuable metric, but it’s not always foolproof. High levels of configuration variability, even in nominally "off-the-shelf" machines, mean that even the most experienced technicians can encounter unfamiliar setups. Often, their experience is demonstrated not in the direct knowledge of the system but in their ability to sift through vast documentation and complex wiring diagrams to find relevant information.
Clearly, this isn’t an ideal scenario.
The Importance of Context in Communication
There’s no magic solution to reduce the complexity and risk in modern field operations, but effective communication is essential for a successful organisation. What complicates this is that effective communication changes over time and varies by region, culture, profession, and even department. Additionally, the recipient may be under pressure, tired, or working remotely—factors that can limit their ability to absorb critical information.
This is where visualisation plays a crucial role. Its purpose is to reduce the cognitive load required for technicians to understand new information, especially under stress. The superpower we often refer to in our messaging is about this very concept: achieving rapid understanding—whether of a colleague’s issue or a complex scenario—within seconds.
How Visualisation Simplifies Maintenance
Visualisation has the ability to place technicians in the right context and situation, even if they are far removed from their actual surroundings. This eliminates the need for technicians to expend significant cognitive resources understanding complex diagrams or manuals. Historically, teams have managed to overcome these challenges, but at great cost and with a high likelihood of error. Visualisation offers a way to shortcut this process.
It’s About Communication, Not Just Technology
Why do we say visualisation can solve this problem rather than does? Because simply producing a visualisation—no matter how advanced the technology—isn’t enough. It must be part of a larger, structured approach to communication.
This is why, at Virtalis, we’ve developed Virtalis Reach with a focus on the entire information pipeline. Our aim is to reduce the effort required to produce and distribute visualisations while removing barriers to accessing information. We ensure that information is controlled, maintained, and always relevant.
Effective Visualisation for Maintenance and Repair
The result is a system where pipelines for items like service bulletins can be automated. Source data from the engineering group is used directly, with unnecessary or sensitive data stripped out and relevant service information added. Field technicians can access this information on handheld devices and interact with it as needed.
For larger or remote installations, tasks can be planned in advance using the latest immersive 3D environments. These virtual run-throughs ensure that everyone understands their role and that any potential issues are identified before anyone goes onsite.
The Virtalis Reach Superpower: Information Flow and Security
Effective visualisation for maintenance and repair isn’t just about rendering technology or delivery methods. It relies on an organisation’s ability to consistently deliver comprehension and understanding to those on the front lines. This is the superpower we’re working to harness in Virtalis Reach—streamlining information flow, ensuring accessibility, and maintaining security. Ironically, sharing information freely can only happen when you’re confident it’s being done securely.
This is particularly important in maintenance operations, where remote teams and partner companies are often involved. Ensuring that those at the front lines have access to the right information while controlling sensitive data will be a critical differentiator for service operations in the digital age.
I’ll delve deeper into this topic in an upcoming blog on the contextual digital twin.