Embraco uses virtual reality to manage production risks

Since January 2018, manufacturer Embraco has adopted virtual reality tools to design and use industrial equipment. It allows visualizing a machine on a real scale to check its ergonomic aspects, identify possible security holes, validate technical concepts, and correct any mistakes long before it is even built. The adoption of virtual reality allowed to reduce, on average, 3% of the total cost of equipment, accelerating the implementation in the production lines.

Items such as safety, ergonomics, maintenance, and ease of operation are evaluated by all teams involved – specialists, maintenance technicians, ergonomics, and operators – still in the design phase. As an example, it is possible to note whether it is necessary to change the panel position, the access position for maintenance, or any other change in a given piece of equipment. “Virtual reality reduces development and deployment time, as well as cost the cost of equipment, by avoiding rework and ensuring that the machine reaches 100% safe and secure to the factory,” says Claudemir dos Santos, operations director of the Brazil plant.

Another advantage of the technology is the possibility of offering training to operators, trainers, and maintenance personnel during project development. Consequently, upon the installation of the piece of equipment, everyone already knows how it works.

Virtual reality is just one of the initiatives within the digitization journey that Embraco has begun to follow in recent years. It’s aimed at ensuring greater quality and agility to production while reducing costs, preventing failures and helping the company to make decisions.