Dive Brief:
- AGCO, the Jackson, Minnesota-based manufacturer of agricultural equipment, announced in a statement that the use of Glass-assisted reality wearables has increased workers' productivity and accuracy while performing complex assemblies.
- Introduced as a tool to help employees, AGCO reports that Glass wearable use has led to a 50% reduction in new employee training time and a 30% reduction in task processing.
- AGCO’s Director of Business Process Improvement Peggy Gulick said that the use of smart glasses in employee development is highly effective, particularly for new hire training, multi-operational concepts and new product launches.
Dive Insight:
Wearables are but one innovation in the blue-collar learning space, which has grown to embrace different forms of augmented reality and e-learning in order to teach fundamental skills. From Fitbit bracelets to goggles to Glass, wearables as a category tend to include various non-obtrusive technologies that enhance human capabilities.
In a manufacturing workplace, the ability to be both efficient and see the details in assembly work are critical to success. Training employees from day one, using artificial assistance tools can be a good way to get them accustomed to the future of work.
Other organizations use wearables to help employees better deal with stress on the job. But Glass' function as a real-time augmented reality device follows a trend that exploded into popular culture with the release of Pokemon Go and similar apps. L&D pros saw promise in the technology back then, too. Employers can and should be looking for new ways to integrate wearable technology into learning processes.
