Towards a mobile assistance system to raise productivity in maintenance

Abstract

In the course of digitization, the availability of machinery and equipment data is becoming an increasingly important productivity factor. Mobile devices have the potential to provide maintenance-relevant information at any given time, context-specific and in real time. However, currently available industrial tablets are poorly accepted by maintenance workers. This paper shows that mobile assistance systems created in a user centered design process with maintenance workers included in the design process are significantly better accepted than current commercial alternatives. The presented prototype is a first comprehensive approach to a mobile assistance system that covers the requirements of maintenance workers in a production setting. The paper provides details on how the prototype developed and evaluated in course of the research holds potential to save time and thus increase productivity by obtaining information through the system. Furthermore, it is shown that the prototype provides a basis for useable mobile devices in an industrial context.