Thinking Factory for the Future: from PLM to Augmented Reality

Abstract

Virtual engineering technologies become an emerging field in industry and research. Nowadays, industrials are using Virtual and Augmented Reality in different phases of their manufacturing process (advanced manufacturing process visualization, assembly tasks, training, etc.). The purpose of this paper is to introduce the advantage of linking augmented reality application, to help employees on their daily tasks. This involves the connections with the existing components of the information system in the factory, especially PLM system used to handle the CAD models. Some principles of solutions are proposed to show how the integrative frameworks can support the realization of manufacturing activities.