MARS PETCARE BOOSTS FACTORY AND TRAINING EFFICIENCY WITH REALWEAR’S HEAD-MOUNTED WEARABLES
Mars Petcare produces some of the most recognized pet brands, including Pedigree, Nutro, IAMS, Greenies, and more. A core reason for its market dominance and success has been its continued mission to increase efficiency and output across all levels of the organization.
Mars Petcare’s Challenge
The Global Mars Supply Excellence Team was tasked with streamlining its production facilities, including minimizing maintenance downtime, and increasing workers’ skills and safety.
The team needed the ability to help operators gain the skills to operate and maintain their automated equipment with the sites. Their objective was to train and support first-line teams to become true equipment owners responsible for the long-term reduction of losses. Ultimately, the goal was to free up time on the shop floor to do the proactive work and make sure the equipment stays in a healthy condition.
In their pursuit for efficiency, the team also wanted to reduce maintenance downtime and travels related with training its Associates. One team leader’s responsibility required them to spend 80% of their time visiting factories all over the United States.
They needed a highly mobile, hands-free device designed specifically for the high-distraction reality of a manufacturing facility while enabling workers to connect with equipment files and off-site expertise.
Mars Petcare’s Solution
The team found the perfect solution in the RealWear wearables which allowed Mars Associates to access equipment maintenance files while on the factory floor. With Microsoft Teams available on the device out-of-the-box, workers could instantly contact maintenance experts for troubleshooting and training.
Through preventative maintenance, Mars Petcare Associates can now keep the autonomous equipment running at high capacity to ensure factories are efficient and maximize their output.
While improving efficiency was top of mind, keeping workers safe was paramount. This was considered in choosing RealWear’s solution as the hardware is designed specifically to safely support industrial workers in high-risk environments.
The device’s high-resolution micro-display made it easy for workers to view content without impeding line of sight or taking attention off the machinery. Associates can also work with their hands while navigating their device dashboard thanks to intuitive voice controls.
The support for Microsoft Office 365 was another integral element in the decision to implement RealWear. The team is now able to pull up a document on the device’s display and connect to OneDrive, empowering associates to access files on the factory floor while connecting with colleagues in real time.
Bringing RealWear into their operations has been a resounding success for Mars Petcare. Coaches can now focus on their mission of training and supporting associates rather than wasting time and money traveling between sites. Factory workers can now collaborate with multiple remote experts at once, making processes much faster and more efficient.
Today, multiple Mars Petcare teams use RealWear to drive safe, hands-free collaboration, efficiency, and training.
