While the gadget-loving world has already pushed Google's Glass to the sidelines - including the search engine giant itself - tractor builder thinks Agco very different about that. About a hundred employees in the American factory wear the glasses when building and checking tractors and self-propelled vehicles. That saves a lot of time and therefore money.
A lot has been said, written and speculated about the Google Glass. Also on Boerenbusiness† Still, Google put the product on hold. At least for consumers. Manufacturers still see an important future for technological glasses. Full liner Agco has even been using them for over two years and is therefore one of the founders, writes an American news site.
One hundred of the nearly XNUMX employees who assemble tractors and self-propelled vehicles in Jackson, Minnesota, work with Google Glass on the assembly line. The glasses serve as a reminder during assembly. It automatically scans the serial number of the part you are working on, so that it is not mounted incorrectly.
It may seem a bit strange, but assembly errors are a big problem. 'In the car industry you work with about 4.000 different parts on the assembly line,' explains chief supply officer Hans-Bernd Veltmaat. 'So a group of 1.000 employees only needs to remember four items per person. In our factory there are 40.000 parts, which translates to forty per person.'
Agco now mainly uses tablets to support employees with assembly instructions and checks. The biggest problem is that employees drop them. Especially in quality control, when they climb on a tractor. With Glass you have both hands free, which means that quality checks are carried out twenty percent faster. In the end, it's all about speed and efficiency.
According to Veltmaat, employees are on average three to four percent more productive with Google Glass. For all employees, this results in a saving of 1 million dollars. One pair of glasses costs $2.000, but it comes as no surprise that Agco will double the number of glasses this year. Boeing and General Electric, among others, are just starting to apply this technology. In the agricultural sector, Agco is the first major manufacturer to use Google Glass. In Europe , the German Amazon recently announced that it will use smart glasses in machine production .
In Jackson, Agco builds Massey Ferguson and Challenger products. The 7700 and 8700 series wheel tractors are off the production line for North America. They also come in Challenger colors as the 500E and 600E. In addition, the tracked tractors 700E and 800E and the 900E articulated tractors are being built. In addition to tractors, it also produces the Rogator field sprayers and Terra-Gator self-propelled machines for the application of (fertiliser) fertilizer.
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