In high-wage countries in particular, the repetitive manual tasks that used to dominate are now almost exclusively found in large-scale production. Today, the majority of employees in production carry out complex activities, so that the procurement and processing of information is of great importance. To support these activities, the IPMT has been developing digital assistance systems since 2012.
 

With digital assistance systems, companies can realise process-safe workflows and documentation and thus significantly reduce the effort required to generate, provide and process information as well as errors in assembly, maintenance and documentation.

What the assistance systems have in common is

• the consistent use of information in a shared digital twin,
• the connection of user-friendly mobile assistance systems,
• the continuous updating of the digital twin (e.g. automatic recording of construction progress when using the assembly assistance system),
• the provision of problem-specific functions with a clear benefit,
• the clear visualisation of geometries with augmented reality or a customised section of the CAD model,
• linking information with components and the CAD model,
• testing the assistance systems with industry partners in real or realistic applications,
• the modular architecture of the assistance systems, which allows functions to be used in different applications.

All assistance systems are connected to a common platform for the data management of projects and products, which includes a digital twin as well as interfaces to other production-related IT systems.

Web-based user interfaces not only support data management, but also offer operational value-added functions, such as dashboards that provide information on the progress of the project or production.

The IPMT's modular software platform enables the rapid development of new assistance systems and web interfaces. However, the software modules also allow simple expansion with specific functionalities for new use cases.

Through the use of test environments and the modular concept, project partners gain early and continuous access to software demonstrators so that agile development phases with rapid feedback on practical suitability can take place.