As we began to map out how we would undergo a digital transformation, it became clear that to be successful, we needed to implement AR” said Linda Smith, president of Standard Modern a leading regional print form located in New Bedford, MA. “Printing is an age old industry that is in the middle of some pretty significant disruption” says Doug McCaig, Managing Director of Hamilton Cornell Associates. “In this case, all of Standard Modern’s customer base and supplier base operates in a digital world.
This includes marketers, advertisers, direct mail houses, creative agencies, and the major companies who supply them cutting edge print production equipment. It only makes sense that companies like Standard Modern develop digital strategies that match up with the market around them.” he added.
One of the first things we sought to do was to reinforce good habits in the fast growing, multi shift operation. With the Thingworx IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) and the Vuforia AR (Augmented Reality) platforms from Industry leader PTC, Standard Modern was able to deploy enhanced Safety, LOTO (Lock Out Tag Out) and MSDS (Material Safety Data) protocols that promote easy learning, best practices, and a very high level of accountability for all processes. All instructional data and quality checklists are assigned to individual machines, kept in the cloud, and accessed through tablets that operators keep in and around the work area. Record keeping is instantaneous and paperless.