DXC Technology, a leading Fortune 500 global technology services company, helped Bridgestone, one of the world's largest tire manufacturers, improve health and safety efficiency in production work by developing a digital environment for employee training.
With only four months of operation, the DXC platform, which is based on virtual reality technology, helped the manufacturer to minimize the machine downtime or with low performance during the training period for new operators, since part of the training that was previously performed exclusively on a production machine is now performed on a Virtual Machine, the Virtual Reality Training Project directly impacted productivity, with a 30% reduction in the use of a production machine for training, in addition to helping to reduce the training period by 17%. “These numbers show that the implementation of this solution was the right choice, and we are studying the possibility of taking it to other plants”, comments Rioji Hirokawa, Executive Director of Manufacturing for South America at Bridgestone. For the time being, this solution is being used at two Bridgestone plants: Santo André (São Paulo) and Camaçari (Bahia).
By integrating the DXC platform into existing employee training practices, Bridgestone was also able to improve health, safety, and the environment. Since the gain in operational skill takes place in a controlled environment (Virtual), this is evident since right after the virtual training, the employee assumes a real machine with familiarity and confidence to perform the operation. The virtual education environment also allowed the reduction of production loss by reducing the time that each employee needs in an active operational station, improving the workers' knowledge about the same.
“Our support of Bridgestone is a clear example of how DXC Technology helps our manufacturing customers meet their challenges by designing and deploying digital solutions at scale, modernizing their technology to improve production performance and maximize return on investment,” says Ricardo Ferreira, VP and General Manager of DXC for Latin America.
“The project was also made possible thanks to two key partners, Dassault Systems, a world leader in creating 3D drafting software, and Virtual Plant, a technology specialist for real-world digitization, reverse engineering, As built 2D and 3D using laser scanning technologies and 3D modeling for the industrial sector”, he adds.
With partnerships made with industry leaders and the digital talent ecosystem, the client benefits from them, achieving scale, speed, and agility. In this case, the development process lasted about eight months and included 3D laser scanning of tire production machines, Digital Twin generation and 100% programming of a tire production process.
