May 7, 2023
Automotive industry: how much can I save with AR optimizations of my downstream processes?
How much could you save if you invested in augmented reality-powered solutions to support your after-sales processes? Our extensive experience collaborating with brands such as BMW and Toyota has allowed us to identify three key ways augmented reality (AR) can help you save money on after-sales and dealer support. Find out what factors to consider here [by Stinne Mattle].
#1: Save money and increase ROI through first-time resolutions
Time is money, and it is absolutely essential in customer service. When anyone – whether consumer or company – brings a car to service, their satisfaction with the service is closely connected to the amount of time it takes to fix the issue at hand. Faster is better. But the quality of the service must be impeccable.
AR can significantly speed up time-to-resolution by offering technicians the option to call a remote expert directly with their smart glasses, share what they see, and discuss any issue at hand directly with that expert while having their hands free to test out ideas directly.
When implementing this type of AR-powered support, your savings potential will center around:
- Total service cases per year
- Current average time-to-resolution per service case
- Time saved in % with the help of AR
- Current number and cost of service-level agreement (SLA) violations
- Reduction in number of SLA violation with AR-powered support
Furthermore, offering a superior after-sales service can translate into a new revenue stream and a faster return on investment (ROI), e. g. with superior service levels being offered at a premium price.
To get an idea of the impact of AR-powered remote expert assistance in the industry, look towards BMW. After implementing TeamViewer Frontline solution, xAssist, BMW reported gaining a significant competitive advantage because of the improved time-to-resolution.
„ This (AR-powered workflow support) is a great example of how we are applying new technologies to help our technicians work more efficiently and further our commitment to offer the best possible service experience for BMW customers. By solving issues faster, BMW dealers can get customers back into their cars sooner.”
Claus Eberhart, VP Aftersales, BMW of North America
#2: Save money through reduced travel costs
If a car is brought in for service with a complicated issue that your on-site mechanics cannot handle, what is the standard procedure? At Toyota, the mechanics would need to contact the manufacturer with a description of the problem. In addition, they would need to reach out to the dealer‘s technical support department to ask for assistance. Only after scheduling an appointment with an expert and waiting for them to arrive on-site, could the team make progress on the issue.
Imagine what happened when they got the option to simply put on a pair of smart glasses, contact a remote expert, and share exactly what they saw to discuss how to best fix the car. Not only could they fix complicated issues faster, but Toyota could also reduce their field visits by an impressive 20%, cutting down on travel time and costs significantly.
To get a rough idea of the savings you could achieve in this area, take into consideration:
- Travel time per case in hours
- Travelling time saved in %
- Total trips saved per year
- Average travel costs per trip
By implementing AR-powered remote expert assistance, Toyota was also able to improve customer satisfaction and ultimately leverage AR as a competitive advantage for their brand.
#3: Save money through lower training costs
In a highly competitive industry such as the automotive industry, it is essential to keep training and onboarding procedures accurate and efficient. Oftentimes, current setups require in-person training sessions, which are not only costly but also hard to organize if you only have a limited number of trainers available. AR presents an opportunity to streamline training through more substantial content creation capacity, allowing for a partly or fully remote on-boarding process.
Furthermore, this represents opportunities in terms of strengthening knowledge sharing and on-going employee training. Particularly in the mechanical field, a large portion of the experienced personnel is retiring in the coming years. The workforce that is to replace them are generally attracted to other job types and tend to have a greater focus on the more software-heavy electric vehicles. This creates a knowledge gap on both sides. The “old-school” workforce are stronger in traditional mechanics and the younger workforce are better at fixing software related issues – however, both need each other and both groups are often scarce. Here, AR represents a great chance to make the valuable knowledge of different expert groups easily accessible to other groups – either through standard training modules or direct calls.
Reducing costs in the area of employee training can be an incredibly efficient way to cut costs and make training more widely available to employees. Estimate your savings potential by taking these factors into account:
- Number of training hours per new employee
- Number of new employees per year
- Cost per training hour per new employee
- Time saved in % with the help of AR
Now you know what you can save, but what is your ROI?
Of course, you cannot realize any of these savings without an upfront investment in the hard- and software required to boost either up- or downstream workflows in your company.
To get a rough idea of the costs you can expect, factor in the following:
- Hardware costs
- Software licenses
- Service costs
- Labor costs
To calculate your return on investment (ROI), factor in how much money you would save yearly including any extra money you might make by being able to offer up faster time-to-resolution etc. Compare that number to your estimated upfront investment to see how long it would take you to break even.
If you’d like a more specific idea of how much the type of AR solution you have in mind would cost and when you can expect to see a return on investment, get in touch with one of our AR experts via the form at the end of this page. Based on your unique business case, we can help you crunch the numbers and share tips on suitable hardware to go with your AR solution.
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