2024/08/02
TeamViewer Frontline: Leading the way in industrial digitalization
TeamViewer Frontline was recently ranked the #1 connected worker (AR) platform in 2024. Here’s what makes Frontline’s technology stand out.
On July 25th, Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) released its 2024 PAC Innovation Radar, ranking TeamViewer Frontline as Best in Class in the Connected Worker (AR) segment. But what is it that sets TeamViewer’s solutions apart?
In this article, we discuss how TeamViewer Frontline brings leading digital technology into the industrial world. We illustrate this with a real-world case study from the logistics sector.
For more insights, download the full PAC Innovation Radar report.
In this article:
Bringing digital technology into the industrial world
While the majority of office workers interact with digital technology every day, most industrial workplaces are still anchored in the analog world. Just think of manufacturing floors with manual assembly lines. Or warehouses, where workers retrieve or pack orders with paper checklists in hand. The physical nature of industrial work makes it more difficult to digitalize.
But to get ahead in highly competitive markets, businesses need to start exploring new possibilities. Many companies already use digital technology at the machine and process levels. Industry leaders have started scaling digital solutions to their entire operations.
A key element of this transformation is augmented reality (AR). AR overlays real, physical environments with digital information, making it a great way of bringing digital technology into a non-digital space. For instance, AR-enabled digital twins (i.e., virtual 3D replicas of physical equipment or machinery) create an immersive virtual setting where frontline employees can practice new skills and engineers can experiment with their products.
In addition, AR guidance solutions are used in real-life industrial settings to enhance manual work processes. This boosts worker efficiency and ensures high-quality output, especially when the AR solutions are integrated with existing digital platforms. The warehousing and logistics sector is a great example of this.
Shaping the future of warehousing and logistics
Manual logistics processes, such as picking orders, sorting items, and running inventory, are critical to almost any supply chain. But they’re prone to errors and can be physically demanding for workers, especially when using handheld devices or paper lists.
With AR-powered vision-picking technology, such as TeamViewer’s Frontline Pick, leading organizations are improving both the speed and accuracy of their logistics workforce.
When combined with wearable devices such as smart glasses, the AR software displays relevant information and visual cues right in a worker’s field of vision. This allows them to work more quickly while avoiding mistakes. Vision picking becomes even more powerful when integrated with warehouse management systems (WMS). This enables warehouse workers to receive orders and alerts straight from the centralized system.
It also offers operators the opportunity to gather data and optimize picking processes. For example, TeamViewer’s vision-picking technology integrates with industry-leading WMS to provide customers with an all-in-one smart warehouse solution. These integrations include systems from SAP and, more recently, Manhattan Associates. The independent analyst firm PAC emphasizes the value of these strategic partnerships, highlighting wholesaler Nadro as a key example.
Case study: How Nadro transformed order picking with TeamViewer
Nadro is the leading wholesaler in the Mexican pharmaceutical industry. In the past, Nadro used handheld scanning devices with multiple screens for order picking. This process was time consuming and prone to user errors.
Today, Nadro has modernized its warehouse operations with TeamViewer and SAP. Together, they’ve rolled out an integrated AR-based picking solution to all 14 warehouse locations. Nadro’s warehouse workers can now easily access information right from the warehouse’s backend system. Running on smart glasses, TeamViewer Frontline Pick pulls relevant order data from SAP Extended Warehouse Management (SAP EWM) and displays it within the workers’ field of vision.
This has transformed Nadro’s operations in two major ways. First, workers can access the information they need hands-free, making their work more ergonomic and efficient. Second, Frontline Pick feeds data back to SAP EWM and triggers notifications in real time. This keeps supervisors up to date and allows them to take action, e.g., when items are missing or in bad condition.
Thanks to TeamViewer Frontline and SAP EWM, Nadro has improved its order-picking speed by 30%, reduced the time needed to onboard new employees by over 90%, and eliminated the need for employee overtime
TeamViewer Frontline, the leading AR platform
TeamViewer’s enterprise productivity platform, TeamViewer Frontline, makes information easily accessible to industrial workers using AR technology.
PAC recognizes TeamViewer’s portfolio for addressing today’s most relevant AR applications. The report highlights order picking as one of the most promising use cases and sees TeamViewer’s vision-picking solution at the forefront of this field. TeamViewer also provides AR solutions for assembly and quality assurance, maintenance and repair, and remote technical assistance.
All these solutions can be combined and tailored specifically to meet customer needs. They’re compatible with a wide range of hardware, from scanners and mobile computers to smart glasses.
PAC also emphasizes TeamViewer’s global presence and established market position which make it an excellent technology partner for enterprises looking to digitalize their operations at an international scale. TeamViewer continues to grow in the augmented reality space, most notably through partnerships with other leading vendors. PAC cites these partnerships as proof of TeamViewer’s leading market position.
For instance, TeamViewer has joined forces with Siemens to integrate its Frontline technology into Siemens’ product lifecycle management (PLM) platform, Teamcenter. This allows users to interact with 3D models of their products using existing PLM information in Teamcenter, enhancing the quality and speed of training or quality assurance processes for frontline workers.
Through its integrations with WMS from SAP and Manhattan Associates, TeamViewer ensures Frontline Pick works seamlessly with customers’ existing warehousing platforms. This allows workers’ devices and the backend system to exchange information in real time, collecting valuable insights and boosting worker efficiency.
Summary
While digital technology is commonplace in the corporate world, many industrial workplaces have yet to fully embrace digitalization.
As a leading provider of AR technology, TeamViewer helps businesses around the world digitally enhance their operations, from immersive training to visually guided logistics processes. PAC Innovation Radar commends TeamViewer for its solution portfolio and integrations with leading vendors like Siemens and SAP. The case study with major wholesaler Nadro proves that businesses benefit greatly from introducing AR into their industrial processes.
TeamViewer continues to shape the industrial world by developing its AR solutions and forming strategic partnerships with other technology leaders.
Want to know more?
Download the PAC Innovation Radar report to get the full picture.