FORD ROLLS OUT GLOBAL DEALER NETWORK WITH REALWEAR AND TEAMVIEWER FRONTLINE
We recently spotted a great article in Automotive News about Ford’s RealWear rollout. In case you missed it, we wanted to share a few highlights of it.
The respected industry publication reported on how RealWear is transforming age-old processes of literally emailing HQ back and forth to solve challenging, time-sensitive issues. Suffice to say, the industry has come a long way!
SOLVING ISSUES WITH SUPERCARS
In the article, the well-known automotive journalist discusses Richard Hershey – a Florida-based “Master Technician” who is one of the few people in the US that is certified to work on the gorgeous Ford GT supercar.
Here’s a picture of the most powerful Ford GT ever:
Credit: ford.com
The story made a great point that the introduction of RealWear and SWIS (Ford’s program is called SWIS, which stands for “see-what-I-see”) produced instant benefits when the Master Technician was tasked with solving an issue with the Ford GT where the cause was not immediately visible. By remotely liaising with their technical assistance center, the conversation yielded a solution that would fix the problem once and for all. Noting the advantages, Hershey stated,
This is more cost-effective, user-friendly and quicker. On one car, [RealWear] could save you a month. Without the SWIS device, they would just be guessing.
Ford wanted a premium level of customer service—and rightly so—for this very special sports car. Following its success with the GT, Ford immediately looked to apply it to their mass market vehicles. They soon rolled out the HMT-1 across the US, supplying up to two devices to almost 3,000 dealerships.
SWIS IS BECOMING THE FUTURE OF SERVICE
The article continues, suggesting that assisted reality is the future of how vehicles will be serviced – particularly as electric cars revolutionize the industry further . The piece also addresses the inevitable resistance to change, noting that the advantages swiftly laid any hesitancy to rest.
Another testimonial comes from Ford employee, Jorge Juarez – Fixed Operations Director at Vancouver Auto Group in Washington, who noted the importance of these tools as the industry develops.
“You can find a problem, but there could be another problem lurking behind that one,” Juarez said. “I think it’s good, and with the hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles coming out, we need all the help we can get.”
A REAL IMPACT THROUGHOUT THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
It’s not just in the US that Ford has embraced RealWear devices. The company has also launched solutions in other countries, including South Africa. Elsewhere in the industry, we see other renowned manufacturers turning to RealWear solutions. Mercedes-Benz, for instance, is no stranger to the benefits of assisted reality, rolling out devices across 56 service centers across Turkey.
French manufacturer Groupe PSA has utilized RealWear technology to connect maintenance teams across ten countries to solve complex problems immediately, while other major brands (including VW, Mini and BMW) are also reaping the benefits of our solutions to boost repair efficiency by 93% and improve after-sales service. On the commercial bus and truck side of things, MAN Commercial Vehicles use RealWear to reduce vehicle downtime, which they expect will save 2,700 liters of fuel each month!
We would like to thank Automotive News for the great coverage. If you’d like to read the full article, you can do so at