See-What-I-See: AR App Guides Mechanics Through Vehicle Repairs

When a car owner brings their vehicle to a garage or workshop, the correct repair or maintenance procedure depends on the vehicle type and model. It is simply impossible for a workshop mechanic to know the details of every vehicle model in the world – as well as all types of repair procedures. Hella Gutmann is there to support these mechanics with everything workshops need for the maintenance of a range of modern vehicle electronics. Their diagnostic tools help technicians find the issues faster and their service center guides mechanics through repair and maintenance procedures. Until now, all communication between the Hella Gutmann Service Center and mechanics was either via email or telephone. Hella Gutmann was looking for a more innovative communication channel that reduces the time needed by specialists to understand the problem as well as describe the fix – and ideally even decreases required on-site visits of Hella Gutmann specialists to avoid long repair times.

With one simple click, the REFLEKT Remote app immediately connects the workshop mechanic to the appropriate Hella Gutmann specialist in the Service Center. Whether the technician uses REFLEKT Remote on a smartphone, tablet or the Vuzix smart glasses for hands-free work, the Service Center specialist can instantly see exactly what the workshop mechanic sees. The video call technology allows the Hella Gutmann specialist to immediately inspect and assess the issue remotely and then guide the mechanic by drawing and placing augmented instructions directly into the mechanic’s field of view.

The app brings significant time and cost saving benefits for both sides. The Hella Gutmann specialist reduces on-site and travel times by offering remote support. At the same time, the mechanic receives support much quicker and can get the workshop vehicle back on the road sooner than before.

“At Hella Gutmann we have been using standard communication tools such as emails and phone calls in our support division, which has caused a range of issues over time. The key challenges include miscommunication during remote repair procedures, increase in time-intensive on-site support and overall delays in problem-solving.
REFLEKT Remote enables our specialists to remotely collaborate with the workshop mechanic in almost the same way as if he was on site. The real-time video support empowers our specialists to communicate and directly engage with the mechanic, resolving issues without investing the time to travel and provide support on site. The functionality to draw and place augmented instructions directly into the shared video stream makes REFLEKT Remote much more beneficial for us than any common live-video app. It provides the specialist with virtual tools to guide the mechanic visually and in real time.

Augmented Reality really has turned around our support procedures, making them not only much more efficient but also more effective, which in combination significantly increased our first call resolution rates.

The global data base REFLEKT Remote offers further allows us to optimize processes going forward and benefit from solved repair scenarios long-term.”