Fujitsu launches product lifecycle management solution utilising augmented reality

Fujitsu has launched the FUJITSU Manufacturing Industry Solution 3D Superimposed* Product Design Diagnostic, a product lifecycle management (PLM) solution for manufacturers that visualises differences between product component photos and their 3D blueprints. This solution is available initially in Japan.

Source; Fujitsu. Sample screenshots of the 3D Superimposed Product Design Diagnostic in action.

As structures get larger and more complex, the visual and manual processes of accurately and efficiently judging whether a manufactured product aligns with its blueprints will become more challenging. Fujitsu, together with Tomoe Corporation, which operates businesses from general construction to steel towers, bridges and steel frames, combined 3D computer assisted design (CAD) and augmented reality (AR) technology to analyse manufacturing components. 

Since 2015, Fujitsu has conducted joint verification of the technology at Tomoe's Oyama, Japan factory.  In tests, the technology has been able to reduce the time required to perform diagnostics for one manufactured component to one-tenth that of previous methods, cutting processing time to just a few minutes. In the past, each manufacturing component had to be inspected visually or manually.

Fujitsu developed the 3D Superimposed Product Design Diagnostic PLM solution by adding more capabilities for diagnostic preparation and the management of diagnostic results to the CAD and AR technology. In the manufacturing of large-scale structures, the 3D Superimposed Product Design Diagnostic solution enables users to overlay the blueprints of manufactured components created with 3D CAD on a picture of each component taken with a smartphone or tablet using AR technology**, making comparison easy. 

Fujitsu aims to implement the solution at 100 companies by fiscal 2019. Fujitsu's fiscal year ends at the end of March.

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A server licence costs 2 million yen and a client licence begins at 4 million yen.