COVID-19 safety measures inspire Van Dyk’s new approach to servicing MRF customers

COVID-19 safety measures inspire Van Dyk’s new approach to servicing MRF customers
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Van Dyk Recycling Solutions announced May 4 that it has accelerated the rollout of a new product designed to help its material recycling facility (MRF) customers get faster, safer and more effective service assistance during the COVID-19 crisis. Called Van Dyk Vision-AR, the augmented reality device is a communication headset that allows the customer to receive innovative guidance from the Van Dyk service desk remotely.

While wearing the headset, the customer has the ability to call the Van Dyk service desk and speak to an expert technician. The headset is equipped with a small camera and a flashlight, which highlights what the customer is looking at and records their field of vision. The camera streams this footage to a computer at the Van Dyk desk in real time so the technician can see what the customer sees. This approach is designed to improve MRF troubleshooting and allow operators to get to a diagnosis quickly and without confusion.

In addition to seeing the customer’s field of vision, the Van Dyk technician can use augmented reality technology to give the customer directives for problem solving. Specifically, the Van Dyk technician can superimpose arrows, circles and other digital elements onto the customer’s display pod, which is a small computer positioned in front of the wearer’s eye, which appears as a 7-inch tablet screen. The computer screen alternates between a desktop display and the camera stream. When digital elements are superimposed over the camera stream, the customer can better understand where to go and what to do to fix issues.

“At Van Dyk, our customer support efforts are conducted primarily over the phone,” Van Dyk Director of Operations Christopher Bova says. “With Van Dyk Vision-AR, we can leverage that experience by now working more directly with the customer, seeing exactly what they’re seeing, when they’re seeing it. This will allow us to pinpoint their issue and guide them toward a quicker resolution.”

Van Dyk Vision-AR, which is expense-free, is also geared at improving safety in several ways. According to the company, Van Dyk Vision-AR is hands-free, allowing mechanics full dexterity to handle heavy machinery. It also comes with noise-canceling headphones, which block out loud MRF noise and allow mechanics to clearly hear directions. Additionally, since all the communication is remote, the program allows MRFs to uphold social-distancing protocols during the COVID-19 crisis.

The company says beyond trouble-shooting, Van Dyk Vision-AR can be used to conduct new employee training, machinery training and preventive maintenance refreshers. Van Dyk also plans to use the tool to upload information like equipment manuals and schematics to the user’s display pod so on-site mechanics can refer to these resources when needed.

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Source: Recycling Today
COVID-19 safety measures inspire Van Dyk’s new approach to servicing MRF customers
<![CDATA[Van Dyk Recycling Solutions announced May 4 that it has accelerated the rollout of a new product designed to help its material recycling facility (MRF) customers get faster, safer and more effective service assistance during the COVID-19 crisis. Called Van Dyk Vision-AR, the augmented reality device is a communication headset that allows the customer to receive innovative guidance from the Van Dyk service desk remotely. While wearing the headset, the customer has the ability to call the Van Dyk service desk and speak to an expert technician. The headset is equipped with a small camera and a flashlight, which highlights what the customer is looking at and records their field of vision. The camera streams this footage to a computer at the Van Dyk desk in real time so the technician can see what the customer sees. This approach is designed to improve MRF troubleshooting and allow operators to get to a diagnosis quickly and without confusion. In addition to seeing the customer’s field of vision, the Van Dyk technician can use augmented reality technology to give the customer directives for problem solving. Specifically, the Van Dyk technician can superimpose arrows, circles and other digital elements onto the customer’s display…